This Battle Preserved Part of Virginia for Union

The battle of Carnifex Ferry, fought on Tuesday, September 10, 1861, in the opening days of the Civil War, may be said to have had a profound influence upon subsequent political and military history in West(ern) Virginia. The little town of Summersville, resting on the old Weston and Gauley Turnpike, was then, as now, the county capital of Nicholas County. Formed in 1818, this county embraced 656 square miles in 1860 and had a population of 4,627, of which only 76 were foreign-born. There were in the county only 154 slaves, and the citizens were only mildly interested in politics and knew nothing of war.

Benjamin W. Byrne rode over to Richmond, sat in the noted Virginia Convention, voted against secession, and came home. Life went on as usual. But slowly the Confederate troops from the northeast and south were closing in on the regions along the "laughing" Gauley River. The Federals from the west were doing likewise. The old state highways controlled the entire military situation. General Henry A. Wise (Confederate) and General Jacob D. Cox (Federal) paraded up and down the valley of the Great Kanawha, while General George McClellan and General W. S. Rosecrans (Federal) operated in the region around Grafton, Weston, and present Elkins.

The James River and Kanawha Turnpike (Midland Trail) wound over Sewell and Gauley mountains, down to and along the Great Kanawha. The Northwestern reached over from Winchester to Parkersburg and was joined on the south by the Staunton and Parkersburg, which intersected the Gauley Road at Weston. These were all joined by the Weston and Gauley Turnpike through Bulltown, Sutton, and Summersville to Gauley Bridge. At the apex of the triangle near Gauley Bridge two or three important crossroads tied up the larger turnpikes. The "Sunday" road left the" "Midland Trail" about present Hico, and the Saturday road left east of Ansted. These converged on Meadow River, followed to the mouth, and crossed to a junction with the Weston road by a ferry called variously Carnifex, Carnifax, or Carnifix.