West Grove Cemetery

West Grove Cemetery. A Running Fight. On July 26, 1863, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's plan to direct his Confederate raiders through Salineville had to be altered quickly when his scouts reported that Union troops occupied the village. Major General Ambrose Burnside, commander of the Department of the Ohio, was using the state's railroad system to put Union forces in front of the rebels., Shielded by Colonel Leroy Cluke's rear guard, Morgan's main column rode southwestward cross-country to avoid the trap set by Union infantry at Salineville and Union cavalry north of Monroeville. Attempting to head off Morgan, Major William B. Way's 9th Michigan Cavalry retraced its steps through Monroeville before turning west on Opal Road. Way's troopers caught up with Cluke at West Grove Cemetery. After a spirited running fight, three Confederates were seriously wounded and were left behind. The rest of the rear guard retreated northwest toward Norristown, following a different route than Morgan's column., Confederate Graves: , Union cavalrymen carried wounded Confederates to the porch of the nearby John Moore farmhouse, where two died from their injuries. They were buried in the rear portion of West Grove Cemetery. Their graves remained unmarked until 1910, when a local historian learned of their story. One soldier's grave was identified as that of Private John Miller. Local citizens remembered the other fatality as only "Unknown -A Mere Boy." Both graves face south instead of the traditional east-facing orientation of the remainder of the cemetery. The third wounded Confederate, Frank Bixby, Co. B, 8th Kentucky Cavalry, survived only to die in captivity at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio, in January 1864., Picture Caption: , Morgan had started his raid with several thousand raiders. By the time they reached Jefferson County, his command had dwindled to several hundred. They were exhausted from riding hundreds of miles with few opportunities for sound sleep or regular provisions since leaving Confederate lines.