Buffington Island

[ohioreb]

It seems that the state of Ohio is not as concerned about the future of its historical sites as perhaps it should be.
Portland OH is the site of The Battle of Buffington Island, where federal forces under Gen. Hobson (numbering around 8,000) caught up with forces under Gen. John Hunt Morgan (numbering around 1,500) during Morgan's daring 1863 raid. (Here I highly reccommend reading Lester V. Horwitz's book "The Longest Raid of the Civil War" - reads like a novel and is certainly the definitive work on the raid.) It is certainly no "Gettysburg" by scale comparison, however the land on which the 19 July '63 engagement took place is Ohio's *only* WBtS battlefield. The greater portion of the field is owned by a local gravel company. Buffington Island Battlefield Group and locals have managed to stall the start of gravel-mining operations for the time being, but the company has no intentions of indefinitely post-poning their business in Portland. The state will not intervene unless grave sites are found on gravel co. land. I am interested in who all is aware of this.

[ohiofed]

What about Old Washington, Ohio? At that time it was known as Washington. It is all of 8 miles from where I live in Cambridge, and 3 confederates are buried in the cemetary there from the skirmish that took place on Jul. 23 (?) with Gen. Shackleford's troops. This was a small fight where a small amount of the confederate raiders where captured and sent to Cambridge's jail before being transported to Camp Chase/ various other prison's. So to call Buffington Island the *only* battle in Ohio is a false statement. Not to be a burr in the seat of your pants, but just a little tid-bit.

[ohioreb]

It's nearly impossible to raid deep into enemy territory without having quite a number of skirmishes along the way, and Morgan's Raid was no exception to that.
I do not discount those skirmishes. A smaller one (than even Old Washington) took place not far from my house, in fact. (other side of the county from Buffington Island).
When I refer to Buffington Island/ Portland Bottoms as being Ohio's "*only* WBtS battlefield," the term "battlefield" is applied based more on the scale of the battle & no. of losses (dead, wounded, captured), rather than the fact that there was fighting at that location. I trust that the place of skirmish at Old Washington is in friendlier hands than Portland at present, however, Ohio's *only* Civil War "battlefield" or not, this issue deserves more consideration from authorities at the state level.
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also, I'm sure you may be aware of the "party" we're having today, friday, saturday and sunday, however- in case you are not- today, roughly 300 cavalry troopers will be riding out of Vinton county into Meigs to mark the beginning of the 2nd (SE Ohio) re-enactment of Gen. Morgan's Great Raid. This is the biggest cavalry event I have ever been privileged to see, & promises to be better than the 2003 event. (There will actually be federal cavalry in full pursuit this time around.) (No battles *scheduled* for today, but if you come, I would highly reccommend tomorrow. There will be a battle, and afterward- a big to-do in Chester.) Of course by now registration is over, but spectators are more than welcome. Come if you can.

[Pete K]

Am I wrong here , but wasn't Morgan's raid ended in Lisbon, Ohio? Though it was mostly a skirmish, Lisbon is farther north than Buffington Island, being very close to the Pennsylvania border. I believe some of Morgan's officers shared the hospitality of the Western Pennsylvania State Penitentiary in Pittsburgh (Allegheny City in 1863). The Battle of Buffington's Island is of interest to our re-enacting group as one of our members is related of the Buffington family.

[tompritchett]

You are correct, Morgan's raid did not end at Buffington Island. Rather this is the site at which the Federal forces blocked his attempt to escape back over the Ohio River and gave him his first real defeat of the campaign. For more information on this campaign see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan's_Raid

[Forquer]

Am I wrong here , but wasn't Morgan's raid ended in Lisbon, Ohio? Though it was mostly a skirmish, Lisbon is farther north than Buffington Island, being very close to the Pennsylvania border. I believe some of Morgan's officers shared the hospitality of the Western Pennsylvania State Penitentiary in Pittsburgh (Allegheny City in 1863). The Battle of Buffington's Island is of interest to our re-enacting group as one of our members is related of the Buffington family.

Pete -

Sounds like you are talking about Scott. He came to the event at Buffington a few years ago.

Anyway, Morgan and the remnant of his command were captured near Lisbon, at a place called Salineville, up in Columbiana County. It was one week to the day from the battle at Buffington Island.

[RJSamp]

Well it isn't much to look at....even though the ground we fought on yesterday was 'better' than previous reenactments.......you get this feeling from talking to the locals that the sand/gravel company isn't interested in finding any human bones or artifacts which would slow up their shovelling up of the lowlands.

Had a lot of fun riding down from Wilkesville.....through/near Rutland, Chester, Bashan, along the Ohio River and into the battle site. although I'm stiff and sore.

[ohioreb]

I can imagine.
Y'all did an awesome job.
I believe this was even better than last time, even without state funding.
I thought the charges/cavalry engagements at Bashan were done especially well. They won't start talking about another event just yet... but when they do, I plan to make sure I am in the thick of it.
All of my personal animosity aside, I think it was a nice gesture of SHELLY to provide water & shuttles to/from the battle... not to mention allowing us to use their property for the event.

[VaTrooper]

I had a great time but as far Raids go the one in SC last year was better. But I do have interest in Ohio now that will be bringing me back in the future.

[ohioreb]

It is good to know that we have so many fine people from across the country such as yourself, Mr. Shifflett, that take such an interest in the preservation of such neglected sites as Buffington Island.