Battle of Lewisburg

Battle of Lewisburg. A Brief Fight. Early in May 1862, Union Col. George Crook, 36th Ohio Infantry, led his command from Charleston to raid the Virginia Central Railroad near Covington. After tearing up track and burning a bridge, he and his men arrived in Lewisburg on May 17, with Confederate Gen. Henry Heth’s forces pursuing at a distance., At about dawn on May 23, the sound of artillery and the rattle of small-arms fire awakened the inhabitants of Lewisburg. Crook’s forces were camped behind the grounds of the present-day community college. Heth approached from the east, advancing up Washington Street. At first it appeared as though the Confederate attack would succeed, but the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry charged and broke Heth’s line. With the Federals in pursuit, the Confederates retreated, crossed the Greenbrier River at Caldwell, and burned the bridge behind them. The battle lasted little more than an hour, and the Confederate casualties greatly exceeded those of the Federals., Several building in Lewisburg were used as temporary hospitals, including John Wesley Methodist Church, Old Stone Presbyterian Church, and the former Greenbrier County Library building. The Southern dead were laid out in the Old Stone Church and later buried without ceremony., Lewisburg, though primarily under Union control throughout the war, remained a point of contention between Union and Confederate forces contending for control of the railroads and turnpikes. The Ohio and Virginia units that fought here faced three more years of war and battles, including those at Antietam and Cold Harbor.