Northwest Academy

Northwest Academy. A Temporary Home. , During the Civil War, Clarksburg was packed with hundreds of Union soldiers, too many to be quartered in tents and huts. The Northwest Academy, which stood just in front of you, served at various times as a barracks, were erected to quarter he men, military prison, and hospital. Soldiers spilled into the streets to escape the overcrowding. Besides the school, each church here sheltered sick soldiers, some of who did a great deal of damage to the buildings., The soldiers viewed Clarksburg in different ways, Charles Leib, a Union quartermaster stationed here, wrote that the town “lies on the West Fork of the Monongahela River. On all sides loom up wild, desolate-looking hills, covered to their summits with the 'forest primeval.' The town itself is only approached by streams before mentioned, and is laid out irregularly, with little regard to artistic taste or beauty. It is a motley collection of rickety frame houses, dirty-looking brick dwellings, and old stone buildings.”, In contrast, a soldier in the 22nd Ohio Infantry described Clarksburg as a “beautiful town . . . situated on the West Fork of the Monongahela River. The town is surrounded by miniature mountains. . . . It is, we believe one of the oldest towns in Western Virginia, not withstanding there are many tasteful residences. The streets are named and laid off regularly, unlike most of our Buckeye towns. The citizens are affable in their manners and generous and hospitable.”, (Sidebar):, Gordon Battelle was principal of Northwest Academy from 1843 to 1851. He became an ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1847. In October 1861, Governor Francis H. Pierpont of the Restored Government of Virginia appointed him to visit the military camps in the mountain regions of western Virginia, where insufficient clothing, lack of necessary medical doctors, nurses, and medicines had been reported. Battelle examined camps at Philippi, Elkwater, Cheat Mountain, and elsewhere. The next month he became chaplain of the 1st West Virginia Infantry., (Captions):, Northwest Academy - Courtesy Richard A. Wolfe, There has been a school on this site since 1787, when Randolph Academy was established., Gordon Battelle - Courtesy Richard A. Wolfe