"Ruinous Effect of War"

"Ruinous Effect of War". The Civilian Population Suffers. , As Union artillery fired on Philippi, Col. Dumont's infantry pounded across the covered bridge into the 500 people who lived here. In April, when the war was still a lark, local attorneys Thomas Bradford and Albert Gallatin Reger recruited men to form the "Barbour Greys.", In May most of those troops marched away to Grafton, only to return when the Union army under Gen. McClellan arrived in the region. Confederate commander Col. George Porterfield's Virginians camped in town, and some were even welcomed into residents' homes., (Sidebar) , War's Hard Hand , The Battle of Philippi was brief, but the resulting Union occupation was hard on the civilian population. Union troops scavenged houses and stores, burnt fences, and slaughtered livestock for meals. A reporter for the Cincinnati Times wrote: "The village bears more than any other I have seen, the ruinous effect of war. Many of the houses have been ransacked and maliciously damaged. Not half of them are now occupied, the inhabitants having fled." Union officers did arrest troops when they were caught looting. At one point, nearly 100 men were under guard for "breaking into dwellings and houses.", (Captions) , An 1878/79 photograph looking down on the town from the site of the Union artillery position. The white Presbyterian church remains. Courtesy West Virignia University Libraries, WV History OnView, To the dismay of the little boy at right, Union soldiers "capture" a sow and her piglets. Both sides foraged heavily during the war. Harper's Weekly, August 17, 1861., Turn right, and march on to sign 3.