War stories are often shaped by bloody engagements and decisive victories, but sometimes, the most haunting tales come from battles that never happened. The Sewell Mountain Campaign of 1861 was meant to be a clash between Union and Confederate forces, yet no great battle ever materialized. Instead, soldiers on both sides suffered through weeks of relentless rain, freezing temperatures, and dwindling supplies—only to retreat without firing a shot.
As hunger spread and disease claimed lives, Confederate soldiers huddled in mud-soaked camps, watching their enemies from barely a mile away. One soldier, writing home to his sister, described the grim realities of the campaign—half rations, men freezing to death, corpses abandoned in barns and stables, and the constant threat of battle that never came. His words paint a picture of the true horror of war: not just combat, but the misery of waiting, suffering, and dying - without glory.
This is the story of Sewell Mountain—the battlefield where death came, but war never did.
As Union and Confederate forces stared each other down across Sewell Mountain [what is now West Virginia] in early October 1861, men on both sides found themselves trapped in a grim waiting game. The rain poured, the nights froze, and disease spread unchecked through the ranks. Supplies dwindled. Rations grew smaller. The air was thick with tension—not from impending battle, but from the sheer misery of the soldiers who endured it.
One Confederate soldier, James Harden, 36th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment encamped at Rich Hill on Big Sewell Mountain, wrote to his sister on October 3, 1861, painting a brutal picture of life at the front:
"We are encamped in full view of the enemy… so close that we can readily distinguish them drilling with the naked eye. Since I wrote last, a new order of things has come around—General Lee now commands here. General [Henry] Wise has been superseded by General [John B.] Floyd, and the two commands have been united." [1]
Even with Robert E. Lee’s arrival, the soldier understood the dire reality:
"Our force has been considerably increased but is not near strong enough. The enemy’s reported strength at their position on top of Sewell is twelve thousand… but they have nearly as many more between them and Charleston. Our little force of two thousand would be nowhere unless they attack us in position." [1]
Yet, the real enemy wasn’t just the opposing army—it was the elements. The soldier vividly described the suffering in camp:
"All we get is three biscuits a day and a piece of tough beef. Soldiers can’t live in this country where it rains every other day and is cold enough to freeze them. We have had several heavy frosts… Last Saturday morning, a soldier from a Mississippi regiment was found dead in a wagon, supposed to have frozen to death." [1]
With soldiers starving, freezing, and dying from sickness, bodies were abandoned—sometimes left in barns and stables with no one to bury them. The soldier’s words capture the grim scene:
"Every house from here to the White Sulphur Springs is a hospital. I was told the other day by a man who saw three dead men lying in a stable, left so long they were actually putrefying. And I shouldn’t be surprised if it were so." [1]
The soldier lamented the lack of action—the army suffered, but it did not fight. With generals bickering, troops dwindling, and supplies vanishing, soldiers were left in limbo, waiting for a decisive battle that never came. [2]
"There is to be a decisive battle fought here ere long—whether we shall winter in Charleston or not. And I don’t care how soon, for I am tired of undergoing such hardships and doing nothing." [1]
Finally, on October 5, 1861, Union General William Rosecrans withdrew his forces from Sewell Mountain, leaving behind a battlefield that never saw its fight—only starvation, death, and disease.
Robert E. Lee, whose campaign in western Virginia had been disastrous, left for Richmond by October 31. His time in West Virginia had done little for his military reputation, but it did provide one small consolation: During the campaign, he encountered a gray horse named Jeff Davis, that he later renamed Traveller—the steed that would carry him through the war.
Sewell Mountain may not be remembered for its bloodshed, but the suffering endured by soldiers on its slopes proved just as devastating. For those who died in the rain and cold, war didn’t need cannon fire to claim them, it only needed time - and the elements
There are millions of stories from the Irrepressible Conflict. This was one of them.
Mac
[**] James A. Harden came to Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in the early summer of 1861 to receive military training. After a few weeks he joined the Confederate Army, serving with the 36th Virginia Infantry Regiment and the 23rd Virginia Battalion before being captured at the third battle of Winchester. He was held at Ft. Delware until the end of the war.
Works Cited
[1] "James Harden Correspondence, 1861-1865". Letters, Diaries and Manuscripts, VMI Archives Digital Collections, Virginia Military Institute. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
[2] "The Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1861- Sewell Mountain". A Civil War Traveler - July 2, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2025.
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