South, especially to Virginia and the Carolinas. Each side
therefore tried to control this area itself. The Federals, under
McClellan, of whom we shall soon hear more, had two lines of
invasion into West Virginia, both based on the Ohio. The northern
converged by rail, from Wheeling and Parkersburg, on Grafton, the
only junction in West Virginia. The southern ran up the Great
Kanawha, with good navigation to Charleston and water enough for
small craft on to Gauley Bridge, which was the strategic point.

In May the Confederates cut the line near Grafton. As this broke
direct communication between the West and Washington, McClellan
sent forces from which two flying columns, three thousand strong,
converged on Philippi, fifteen miles south of Grafton, and
surprised a thousand Confederates. These thereupon retired, with
little loss, to Beverly, thirty miles farther south still. Here
there was a combat at Rich Mountain on the eleventh of July. The
Confederates again retreated, losing General Garnett in a
skirmish the following day. This ended McClellan's own campaign
in West Virginia. But the Kanawha campaign, which lasted till
November, had only just begun, with Rosecrans as successor to
McClellan (who had been recalled to Washington for very high
command) and with General Jacob D. Cox leading the force against
Gauley. The Confederates did all they could to keep their
precarious foothold. They sent political chiefs, like Henry A.
Wise, ex-Governor of Virginia, and John B. Floyd, the late
Federal Secretary of War, both of whom were now Confederate
brigadiers. They even sent Lee himself in general commend. But,
confronted by superior forces in a difficult and thoroughly
hostile country, they at last retired east of the Alleghanies,
which thenceforth became the frontier of two warring States.