Attack on Fairmont
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garmin_geek
N 39° 29.028 W 080° 08.419
17S E 573932 N 4370819
Trails sign describes the scene as Confederate Gen. Jones sent two columns of men through Fairmont. Part of the raiding party attacked a suspension bridge here then headed for the nearby B&O Railroad bridge.
Waymark Code: WM8GA4
Location: West Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 03/29/2010
Views: 8
Attack on Fairmont
Watching from the Kearsley House
Jones - Imboden Raid
Here, at the foot of the Fairmont suspension bridge, confederate Gen. Williams E. Jones watched on April 29, 1863, as his men attacked Fairmont to distroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge upstream at present-day 12th Street. Jones, behind you at the Kearsley House, later Skinner's Tavern, watched the fight for the suspension bridge. You can still see some of the bullit-pocked bridge piers on the riverbanks. The suspension bridge (1852-1908) spanned the Monongahela River between Fairmont and Palatine.
Jones divided his force, sending the main column up the Beverly and Fairmont Turnpike on his side of the river to the railroad bridge, while the 12th Virginia Cavalry and the 35th Virginia Battalion fought their way across the suspension bridge here. The Union defenders at the Palatine foundry included the Fairmont and Mannington Home Guards and detachments from the 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry and the 6th West Virginia Infantry. The foundry garrison had removed the floorboards, but the Confederates replaced them, charged across, captured the foundry, and rode upstream to the railroad bridge.
A trainload of Union reinforcements arrived from Grafton but was driven off. Jones reported "12 enemy killed and many wounded" amoung the defenders, and only three Confederates wounded, whom he left in the care of "kind friends." That night, Jones paroled 260 Federal prisoners confined in the courthouse (1844-1897) yard before leaving to attack Bridgeport. The B&O Railroad bridge was distroyed but was repaired a few weeks later.
Type of site: Transportation Route or Facility
Address:
cleveland Ave
Fairmont, WV USA
26554
Admission Charged: No Charge
Website: [Web Link]
Phone Number: Not listed
Driving Directions: Not listed
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