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By JULIEANNE COOPER, Staff Writer -
The Inter-Mountain
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(The Inter-Mountain/Julieanne
Cooper)
A PIECE OF HISTORY — Visitors in Parsons
can stop by the Corricks Ford
battleground and take in a piece of
history. The site — within walking
distance on the Allegheny Highland Trail
— features an encased sign with photos
of Confederate Gen. Robert Garnett, who
was the first general on either side
killed in the final battle of the first
land campaign in the Civil War. The site
is an important key with connections to
other surrounding battlegrounds
including Rich Mountain Battlefield and
Laurel Hill in Philippi, shown in the
map which depicts the sites where
skirmishes occurred. In the near future,
with the help of local concerned
citizens, the site will become the
Corricks Ford Memorial Park, preserving
more than 25 acres for camping and
picnic areas, an interpretive museum and
more.
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More than 140 years
ago, Union and Confederate soldiers met along a
stretch of forest, where the Corricks Ford crosses
the Shavers Fork River, scattering bullets and
blasting cannons in a fight to protect a cause that
each held dear. It was the site of the final battle
of the first land campaign in the Civil War, a site
filled with history, and until recently, had gone
unnoticed.
Corricks Ford, which lies near the city of Parsons,
was a piece of battleground that was part of the
military retreat of the Confederates from the
battles at Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill following
the first land action which occurred at Philippi.
And now the “endangered” battleground is about to be
preserved and transformed into an interpretive park,
all thanks to the efforts of local citizens
impassioned with the idea of keeping a part of West
Virginia history alive.
The Corricks Ford Round Table, an 18-member
committee, obtained $100,000 in matching funds, as
part of an 80 percent/20 percent agreement to
activate the Transportation Enhancement Grant, an
additional $297,000 made available through the West
Virginia Division of Transportation. The group
collected funding from the Civil War Preservation
Trust, personal donations from interested
individuals, Sens. Walt Helmick, D-15th District,
Jon Blair Hunter, D-14th District, and Delegate Stan
Shaver, D-46th District, through a state contingency
fund to assist tourism, economic development and
protecting historical sites, as well as others.
The round table is working to preserve more than 25
acres that will one day serve as the Corricks Ford
Memorial Park. The new park is the actual site where
the first general on either side was killed —
Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert Selden who was shot
and killed by the Union Army on Saturday, July 13,
1861.
For more than four years, the group has been working
to see the project come to fruition. Committee
members include: Chairman Riley Barb; Co-Vice
Chairwoman Marcy Evick; Co-Vice Chairman Mike Ledden;
Secretary Linda Evick; Treasurer Jason Myers; Ex
Officio Parsons Mayor Bill Rosenau; D.L. Tasker,
Clay Smith, Bill Dodge, Mary Dodge, Michelle
McKinnie, Julia Elbon, David Strahin, John Smith,
Hayward Phillips, Faye “Tag” Stiles, Marvin Parsons
and Tom Tuesing.
Myers said the project is currently in the
“acquisition phase” between the Department of
Highways, who will serve as a funding administrator,
and the property owners, the late Foster Mullenax’s
wife, Delaine Mullenax, and Business Enterprises
Ventures Inc. The property includes 24.28 acres from
BEV Inc. and Mullenax’s .84 acres and a home.
Myers said once everything is in order, the
committee will begin the design phase of the
project, bringing in engineers and looking at areas
to enhance the historic site.
He said the group has mentioned several ideas to
capitalize on tourism interests including picnic and
camping areas, a visitor center and an interpretive
museum, battle re-enactments at the river ford and
more — but nothing has been finalized as yet.
“We’re very excited,” Myers said. “It took us awhile
to get to this point. We’ve been working on this for
four years ... a fairly long road.”
And, Myers said, they’ve crossed the biggest hurdle
— acquiring the property. He said the city of
Parsons is now the owner and there’s just a few
minor details to take care of before the round table
moves forward.
Myers said he and Tuesing, at the request of the
city of Parsons and the Tucker County Commission,
filed the initial application “to get this thing
funded.” And now that it has gone through, those
involved couldn’t be happier.
“There was a gap missing,” Myers said, between other
battle sites, which have been preserved, and
Corricks Ford. “This will fill in the missing link.
“We (Corricks Ford Round Table members) felt that we
have an important role to play,” Myers said. “We’re
just very excited about getting this far. We’re not
done yet but we’ve jumped a huge hurdle.”
Linda Evick said the group plans to meet next week
to discuss the park’s progress. “The deal is signed
and sealed. It belongs to the city. It’s good to go
— we just don’t know which direction yet,” she said.
Evick said she got involved with the round table to
preserve the historical site and to enhance the
city’s property. “Right now it’s just and eyesore
coming in and out of Parsons. Something historical
happened there and it’s a shame that there’s just a
sign marking it,” she said.
“I’d just like to see a park there,” Evick added.
Even historian W. Hunter Lesser, the author of
“Battle at Corricks Ford — Confederate Disaster and
Loss of a Leader” and “Rebels at the Gate: Lee and
McClellan at the Front Line of a Nation Divided” has
been called into action. Lesser, who has given his
heartfelt support for the project, said, “Corricks
Ford is a key element of the historically
significant 1861 campaign of General George
McClellan — the first campaign of America’s Civil
War. The actions here not only propelled McClellan
to supreme Federal command, but also led directly to
West Virginia statehood.
“Acquisition and development of this site — with
linkage to Philippi, Laurel Hill, Rich Mountain
Battlefield and other sites on the Civil War
Discovery Trail — will boost heritage tourism and
economic development for our citizens.”
According to one of the funding contributors, the
Civil War Preservation Trust’s Web site (www.civilwar.org),
“our Civil War battlefields are being destroyed at
an alarming rate. Hallowed ground, where more than
600,000 Americans gave their lives, is being paved
over for shopping malls and housing tracts. The same
land upon which our nation was formed — where our
ancestors fought and died — is being consumed by
fast food restaurants, amusement parks and other
forms of urban sprawl.
“Nearly 20 percent of America's Civil War
battlefields have already been destroyed — denied
forever to future generations,” the site states. “Of
those that remain, only 15 percent are protected by
the Federal government.”
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