2,500 4,000 Result Inconclusive | Date 10 May 1864 | |
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Location Wythe County, Virginia, United States Combatants Confederate States of America, Union Similar American Civil War, Battle of Cloyd's Mountain, Second Battle of Auburn, Battle of Chester Station, Battle of Swift Creek | ||
Battle of cove mountain
The Battle of Cove Mountain was a minor skirmish of the American Civil War, fought on May 10, 1864, in the southwest corner of Virginia near Cove Mountain in Wythe County.
Contents
On that day, Union Brig. Gen. William W. Averell's cavalry brigade encountered a Confederate brigade under the command of Brig. Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones. Averell attacked the Confederate positions but was repulsed. The Confederates received reinforcements from Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and counterattacked, chasing the Union forces through the cove area of Wythe County, Virginia. The Confederates held the battlefield as the sun went down. The next day, Averell returned to West Virginia after failing to accomplish his objectives.
Aftermath
Following the battle, Union forces were forced to retreat to the Crockett's Cove Presbyterian Church. Seventeen severely wounded of Averell's men were left in the church where they were found the next morning by local people who gave attention to wounds and fed the men. A few died and were buried behind the church. The residents of the neighborhood were grateful that their homes and buildings were not burned by the retreating Union forces. This was probably due to the fact that the Union soldiers’ demands for food were met by the women of the homes they passed—at the Elijah Smith home, and later by the cooks and Sallie Carpenter Crockett at her home who fed corn cakes to the retreating men.