Battle of Wytheville

Battle of Wytheville. The First Skirmish. On July 13, 1863, Union Col. John T. Toland led 872 officers and men of the 34th Regiment Mounted Ohio Volunteer Infantry from Camp Piatt, West Virginia, into Southwest Virginia to attack the railroads, telegraphs, and salt and lead mines essential to the Confederate cause. At Tug Ridge in Abb’s Valley, on July 17, Toland surprised and captured a small company of Confederate pickets commanded by Capt. J.E. Stallings of the 45th Virginia Infantry. As Toland’s raiders descended to the foot of Walker Mountain, Confederate Maj. Andrew J. May followed close behind with about 250 cavalry men., May had been pursuing and harassing Toland’s rear guard for more than a hundred miles. Gen. John S. Williams, hoping to block the Federals’ avenues of escape, had ordered May to “advance and check them at advantageous positions.” At or near where you are now standing May struck a sudden blow. During a brief engagement, he freed all of the thirty-five soldiers taken by Toland at Abb’s Valley. He also killed eight of Toland’s men and captured twenty, as well as a “number of citizens and Negroes.” May’s attack reduced the strength of the 34th Regiment Mounted Ohio Volunteer Infantry to 802 officers and men. The Confederate losses are unknown. Despite May’s assault, however, Toland pressed on toward Wytheville and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad., (caption) , This is the Stony Fork Road (old highway 52) looking north about six miles from Wytheville. Walker Mountain can be seen in the distance. On July 18, 1863, Col. John T. Toland marched into Wytheville on this road. , Courtesy of the Wythe County Historical Society