Where Is Rich Mountain?

Rich Mountain Battlefield is located in Randolph County, which is located several miles west of Beverly in the state of West Virginia in the United States. Beverly is just south of Elkins on the US Route 219/250. It was the venue of the Rocky Mountain battle that took place between June and December 1861. The two warring factions were the Union States (US) and the Confederate States (CS). The objective of this war was to be in control of the operations in the state of West Virginia. One of the important dates in nineteenth-century American history was July 11, 1861, when a reinforced group of Union brigades, led by Brigadier-General William S. Rosecrans, took a mountain path and seized the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike from behind the Confederate States' principal commander Lieutenant-Colonel John Pegram. It was won by the Union States, led by principal commander Major-General George B. McClellan. Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States at the time of the Rich Mountain battle. Rosecrans' opposite number on the Confederate States side was Brigadier-General Robert S. Garnett.