Battle of Wytheville

Battle of Wytheville. Avenue of Death. , On the evening of July 18, 1863, an imposing force of Union cavalry clattered into town along the road in front of you, bent on destroying the railroad near Wytheville. Nearing this spot, they found their path blocked by a thin line of armed civilians, arrayed along a low ridge to your right., Union commander Col. John Toland ordered the 1st and 2nd West Virginia Cavalry to charge the skirmishers. Unable to see what threats lay beyond the ridge. Col. William Powell, commander of the 2nd West Virginia, suggested that infantry first clear the way, but Toland rejected the suggestion and forcefully renewed the order to charge., The cavalry advanced in columns of four from this spot on the Tazewell Turnpike, now Tazewell Street, and the skirmishers quickly broke and fled. "Men's hearts failed," one resident remembered. "and many left us for safer places.", Crossing over the ridge, the cavalry charged into town. To their alarm, they discovered that the road was hemmed in by a high fence, and that armed citizens and home guardsmen were posted in the houses along the street, guns waiting. "Into this avenue of death, the column dashed," and the defenders "opened from every house a terrible fire" into the charging cavalry. Col. Powell fell wounded, Col. Toland was killed shortly afterwards and the charge faltered - but the battle was far from over.,

"Several hundred yards in front of us stood the head of the column of Yankees [in] amazement at our audacity to try and stop them." , - Local resident James Gibboney, 15 years old at the time, who was part of the skirmish line.

, [Sidebar:] , The Huffard House: Witness to Battle , The house behind you was the home of William Huffard, a master brick mason in Wytheville in the mid-19th century. The house, which was built in 1848 and features its original Greek revival interior was here during the battle. Members of the Huffard family stand in front of the home around 1915. The house remained unpainted until the Umberger family purchased the home in 1924.