 |
Civil War Battles |
|
State War Records |
| AL - AK - AZ - AR - CA - CO - CT - DE - FL - GA - HI - ID - IL - IN - IA - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MS - MO - MT - NE - NV - NH - NJ - NM - NY - NC - ND - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VT - VA - WA - WV - WI - WY |
The Battle of Fort Kelley
November 28, 1864 in New Creek, West Virginia
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
On November 28, Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Rosser and his Confederate raiders headed to New Creek. New Creek was located about 22 miles southwest of Cumberland, Maryland. It was a key railroad station on the Baltimore & Orange Railroad and also an important supply depot for the Union Army. The area was guarded by two blockhouses and a 800-man garrison of Union soldiers. Rosser knew that a surprise attack was critical for a successful raid.
The Confederates met a Union patrol and captured most of the Union soldiers but a few escaped. Rosser pressed his force forward before word got back to New Creek about the Confederate presence. Rosser split his force in two. Maj. E.H. McDonald and the 11th Virginia Cavalry was to approach New Creek from the east and cut the railroad and telegraph about 1/2 mile from the station. This would keep word from getting out about an attack. Rosser would take the rest of the force and make the main attack.
Using captured Union uniforms, an advance party of Confederates entered town in front of the rest of the Confederates. They got to within 1/2 mile of the forts before making a full charge. The fort's garrison was surprised and captured while another detachment of Confederates surprised the Union artillery battery and captured that garrison. Along with the Union prisoners, Rosser managed to capture 400 horses and 4 pieces of srtillery.
