On June 8, 1861, Confederate troops operating in northwestern Virginia were designated the "Army of the Northwest" with Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett as commanding general. Troops of this command were engaged by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Department of the Ohio forces in a series of battles and skirmishes early in summer 1861. Garnett's army was defeated at Battle of Rich Mountain, and pursuing Union troops killed Garnett at Corrick's Ford July 13, 1861.