Buffalo Presbyterian Church

Buffalo Presbyterian Church. Mustering the Troops. Here at Buffalo Presbyterian Church on May 13, 1861, Confederate Capt. William E. Fife mustered the Buffalo Guards, the militia company he had raised in 1859. The families of church members who served in the company included the Alexanders, Bronaughs, Bryans, Craigs, Fraziers, and Sterrets. Soon, the unit was designated Company A in Col. John A. McCausland’s 36th Virginia Infantry (Fife later rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the regiment). The company assembled in the church shortly before marching away, and a “Rev. Neely” delivered a farewell sermon. Later during the war, the pews were removed and stored in a nearby barn when the church served as a military hospital. , The 36th Virginia Infantry at first was posted in this area, at the time the western part of Virginia, and fought at the Battle of Carnifix Ferry on September 10, 1861. It was also at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. When the fort was surrendered in February 1862, the regiment was captured but soon exchanged. The Guards fought at Cloyd’s Mountain and Piedmont in Virginia in 1864. The unit’s last battle was at Waynesboro, Virginia, on March 2, 1865. Of 52 original Guards, 3 were killed, 6 were wounded, and 3 died later. , (sidebar) , During the first half of the 19th century, Presbyterian membership grew in this part of the state. Ministers from neighboring Point Pleasant Church conducted services regularly in Buffalo between 1834 and 1855, when the Presbyterian governing body in Greenbrier recognized the need for a church building here. This structure was completed in 1857 and dedicated on August 22, with 20 charter members. The Greek Revival-style building, constructed with separate entrances for men and women as was typical for Presbyterian churches of the time, still has its original interior including a slave balcony and stairs. The organ, though not original, is more than a century old.