Time Frame

• The Battle of Scary Creek took place on July 17, 1861, just four months into the Civil War. Scary Creek was one of the first noteworthy land battles of the Civil War.
  
  

Geography

• The battle took place along the banks of the Kanawha River in Putnam County, 10 miles north of Charleston, West Virginia. The wooded area, river, hills and creeks gave the Confederates a defensive advantage over the Union troops.
  
  

Significance

• Colonel George Smith Patton, the grandfather of the famous World War II general, George S. Patton, led the Confederate forces at Scary Creek. The battle lasted for 5 hours but had minimal casualties. The Confederates won the battle despite being outnumbered.
  
  

History

• Civil War era cannons
  
  The Confederate 22nd Virginia Regiment was deployed along a ravine to the east of the Kanawha River. Their artillery defended the Poca River, where it met Scary Creek. A Union scouting party tried to overrun the Confederate pickets but was driven off by Confederate cannon. The main body of Union troops, comprised of companies from the 21st and 12th Ohio Regiments and the 1st Kentucky Regiment arrived and struck at Patton's position at the mouth of Scary Creek. The Confederates retired to a bridge crossing the Creek. Over the next several hours both sides exchanged rifle and cannon volleys. The 12th Ohio Infantry Regiment used all of its ammunition without breaking the Confederate defenders. The Confederates defeated all Union attempts to take the bridge or cross Scary Creek.
  Patton received a severe wound and was captured during one charge. Colonel Albert Jenkins took command of the Confederate forces. The Confederate rifles out-ranged the Union's muskets, which allowed the Confederates to hit the Union troops on the hill from a relatively safe distance. The Union commander, Colonel J.S. Norton, ordered a bayonet charge to clear the Confederates from the trees and log buildings along Scary Creek.
  A second charge of Union soldiers drove off the Confederate gunners. Norton ordered another charge by the remainder of the Union troops to break the retreating Confederates. Norton was then badly wounded. He relinquished command to Colonel Lowe with the understanding that Lowe would continue the Union attack. After Lowe took command, however, he failed to attack. The Confederates received reinforcements, counter-attacked and captured Norton. The Union troops retreated.
  Despite the Confederate advantage, rumor of Union reinforcements concerned Confederate commanders. In the confusion, both sides retreated. When the Confederates realized their mistake, they returned to claim the field and the victory.
  
  

Effects

• The impact of the clash at Scary Creek was minimal. The battle was important to the men who fought there, but did not affect the outcome of the war. While the battle of Scary Creek was a Confederate victory, the major Confederate success at the First Battle of Manassas four days later overshadowed it.