Western Virginia Campaign The Western Virginia Campaign , also known as Operations in Western Virginia , occurred from May to December 1861 during the American Civil War . Union forces under Major General George B . McClellan invaded the western portion of Virginia ; this area occupied by the Union later became the state of West Virginia . Although Confederate forces would make several raids into the area throughout the remainder of the war , they would be unable to reoccupy the state . Western Virginia was an important source of minerals the Confederates needed for the production of arms and ammunition . It also contained several roads and turnpikes which would grant the Union access to Tennessee , North Carolina , and the Shenandoah Valley , while the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the northern part of the area connected the eastern Union states to the Midwest . Background . In April 1861 a Virginia state convention voted to secede and join the Confederacy . However , there was much opposition to this action from the western counties of the state , which were economically tied closer to western Pennsylvania and Ohio than to eastern Virginia . Following the secession vote in Richmond , John Carlile , a Unionist leader from northwest Virginia , led a meeting at Clarksburg which called for a convention to meet at Wheeling the next month for determining what steps " the people of Northwest Virginia should take in the present emergency . " To organize Union forces in the area , George B . McClellan was appointed commander of the Department of the Ohio , covering Ohio , Indiana , Illinois , western Pennsylvania , and western Virginia . He gathered several regiments raised in Ohio , Indiana , and western Virginia and moved into Virginia in early May , moving along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Kanawha River . The Confederates appointed several commanders to organize troops in western Virginia : Colonel George A . Porterfield in northwestern Virginia , and Brigadier General s John B . Floyd and Henry A . Wise in the Kanawha Valley . This divided command structure prevented the Confederates from coordinating their response to the Union invasion ; in addition , General Robert E . Lee , commander of the Virginia militia forces , underestimated the strength of Unionist support in western Virginia . Battles . Philippi . Confederate Colonel Porterfield concentrated a force of 775 new recruits at the town of Philippi during the month of May . On June 3 , a Union column under the command of Brigadier General Thomas A . Morris launched a two pronged attack on the Confederate camp . The Confederates fired a single volley and then retreated from the town . Only a few were wounded on each side . Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill . Confederate Brigadier General Robert S . Garnett concentrated a small force around Laurel Hill and Rich Mountain . McClellan detached a small force which outflanked and routed the Confederate left wing on Rich Mountain , which left the main Confederate force at Laurel Mountain isolated and forced Garnett to retreat . Corrick ’ s Ford . During the Confederate retreat from Rich Mountain , Garnett deployed a small force of skirmishers at a ford at the Cheat River in order to delay the Union pursuit . However , Garnett was killed by a Union volley , thus becoming the first general officer of either army to die in the war . The Confederate force was routed . Kessler ' s Cross Lanes . The Confederate brigade of Floyd attacked a Union regiment under Colonel Erastus Tyler at Kessler ’ s Cross Lanes and routed it , temporarily securing the eastern Kanawha Valley for the Confederates . Carnifax Ferry . Brigadier General William S . Rosecrans took three brigades from Clarksburg and attacked Floyd ’ s bragde at Carnifex Ferry . Although the Confederates were able to hold off the Union attacks , they were outnumbered and were forced to retreat that night . Cheat Mountain . During the summer , the Union army concentrated their forces to protect the main highways through western Viriginia . Brigadier General Joseph J . Reynolds commanded the Union garrison on Cheat Mountain that was supposed to protect the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike . Lee attempted to drive this force off the mountain with a complicated plan involving several columns which would converge on and surround the garrison . However , one of the brigade commanders who was scheduled to start the attack retreated at the last minute , forcing Lee to cancel the offensive . Greenbrier River . Union Brigadier General Reynolds attacked the camps of Henry R . Jackson ' s brigade but was repulsed . Following an artillery bombardment , Reynolds withdrew back to Cheat Mountain . Camp Allegheny . Union Brigadier General Robert H . Milroy attacked Camp Allegheny , where Colonel Edward Johnson ' s main Confederate force in western Virginia was located . The Federal soldiers were repulsed . Aftermath . The Union army would occupy the western region of Virginia for the rest of the war , despite several raids by the Confederates into the area . West Virginia would later be split from the Department of the Ohio and be formed into a new Department of Western Virginia . The Wheeling convention eventually organized a new state government for the region , which would be admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia in 1863 . Due to his victories in western Virginia , McClellan ' s reputation quickly grew in the North , where the newspapers called him the “ Young Napoleon . ” Following the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run , he was given command of the Army of the Potomac . Lee was much criticized in the press because of his defeat in Western Virginia . Called by the press and the soldiers “ Granny Lee ” and “ Evacuating Lee ” , he was transferred to South Carolina to supervise construction of coastal fortifications . The remaining forces in Western Virginia were organized into the Army of the Northwest until it was incorporated into the Valley District of the Army of Northern Virginia .