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Outnumbered, Porterfield withdrew south to Philippi and encamped beside the Buckhannon River.

Kelly advanced and at dawn on June 3rd Union cannon opened fire.

“We were startled by a loud explosion with a cry ‘the enemy, the enemy’. The balls were falling and hissing all around us. All was now confusion. The infantry was rushing toward Dixie’s Land in great disorder.” Pvt. John Lion Hill.

The first land battle of the Civil War was over in a few minutes. No one was killed, but Kelly was seriously wounded in the chest.

Federal troops pursued the fleeing Confederates in what became known as the Philippi Races.