Battle of Princeton Courthouse

Battle of Princeton Courthouse

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Princeton Courthouse
partof=the American Civil War


caption=
date=May 15 to May 17, 1862
place= Mercer County, West Virginia
result= Confederate victory
combatant1=United States of America
combatant2=Confederate States of America
commander1=Jacob Dolson Cox
commander2= Humphrey Marshall
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=

The Battle of Princeton Courthouse was fought from May 15 to May 17, 1862, in Mercer County, West Virginia, in conjunction with Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. It was a minor victory for the Confederate States Army.

Background

By early May 1862, Union forces were positioned to invade Virginia at two places. Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy's column, its axis of march the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, advanced from Cheat Mountain and occupied in succession Camp Allegheny, Monterey, McDowell, and Shenandoah Mountain. Retreating before the oncoming Federals, Confederate Brig. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson pulled back to Westview, six miles west of Staunton.

Battle

Union soldiers of Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox's District of Kanawha threatened the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad. By mid-May, the Federals, although ousted from Pearisburg, held Mercer County and braced for a lunge at the railroad. Confederate Brig. Gen. Humphrey Marshall arrived from Abingdon, Virginia, with the Army of East Kentucky.

Seizing the initiative, Marshall bested Cox's two brigades during three days of fighting, May 15 to May 17, in Mercer County, centering on Princeton Courthouse. There were 129 casualties in total.

Aftermath

Breaking contact with the Confederates on the night of May 17, Cox withdrew 20 miles (30 km). Col. George Crook, commanding Cox's 3rd brigade, marched to and occupied the city of Lewisburg, where on May 23 he defeated Brig. Gen. Henry Heth's brigade. He withdrew upon learning that Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's army had routed a Union division at Winchester on May 25.

References

* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/wv009.htm National Park Service battle description]


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