. On August 26,
Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, commanding
Confederate forces in the
Kanawha Valley, crossed the
Gauley River to attack
Col. Erastus Tyler's
7th Ohio Infantry Regiment encamped at Kessler's Cross Lanes. The
Union forces were surprised and routed and the regiment was defeated with severe loss. The two wings of Tyler's line retreated in opposite directions. Throughout the rout and carnage
Major Jack Casement, at the head of Tyler's left wing, commenced a retrograde march through Confederate territory over mountain ranges to the Elk River and what is now the Town of Clendenin and then on to Charleston, West Virginia without the capture of a man. Floyd then withdrew to the river and took up a defensive position at
Carnifex Ferry. During the month,
Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived in western
Virginia and attempted to coordinate the forces of
Brig. Gens. Floyd,
Henry A. Wise, Col. Douglas Micklich and
William W. Loring. == References ==