WV Civil War Trail Zone 5 - Battle of B'ville Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

ExploreWV: It's been a great series! Thank you to everyone who participated!

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Hidden : 7/28/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

ExploreWV
Civil War Geotrail
Zone 5

The Battle of Barboursville


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It has been said that all good things must come to and end. The Civil War Trail will come to that end on October 31, 2014. Thanks to all that have visited the many wonderful caches.

As many as 600 Confederates used this hill for its strategic location overlooking the Mud River. It was known as Fortification Hill. The Confederates, including a party of Jenkins Border Rangers led by Capt. James Ferguson; the Sandy Rangers led by Capt James Corn and a local Militia made up of men from Cabell, Wayne and Lincoln counties, under the leadership of Colonel J. J. Mansfield merged under the command of Capt. Ferguson to defend Barboursville. The Confederates for the most part were raw recruits with muzzle loading rifles, shotguns, blunderbuses. The bulk of men present that day were untrained and had no intention of engaging in warfare other than defending their homes. On July 14th the well trained Union troops of 5 companies of the 2nd Kentucky commanded by General Jacob Cox and led by Lt, Colonel George Neff and Colonel William Woodruff advanced into Barboursville. Coming from all directions the trained Union Forces continued despite being fired upon to scamper up the hill. Francis B. Gunter's account of the Battle states that the federals "fixed bayonets to their guns and began a wild charge up the hill. Since bayonets were a new commodity to the surprised Confederates, they thought the federals were shooting knives at them." One of the confederates wrote that "I loaded and fired till the Yankees began to load with butcher knives, then I thought it was time to be going." The over confident Confederates soon dispersed. Fortification Hill belonged to the Union and the Courthouse was used as a hospital. This battle was a very early battle of the war.

 What better way to celebrate our 150th birthday, learn about our involvement in the Civil War, and explore the beautiful State of West Virginia than to launch a statewide geotrail?

ExploreWV is happy to be launching our fourth series, with cooperation with the WV Division of Culture and History and the WV Sesquicentennial Commission. We have divided the state into five zones. Each zone contains 15 geocaches placed on or near historical Civil War sites for a total of 75 geocaches. In order to earn a geocoin for each zone, geocachers must find and document eight of 15 caches per zone. These geocoins have been created in the shape of each zone, meaning that if you are fortunate enough to be one of the first 140 geocachers to complete each zone and receive all five coins, they will form the State of West Virginia. As a bonus, a sixth geocoin was created to commemorate the state’s 150th birthday: be one of 75 people to complete all 75 caches in this series to receive this special coin.

In order to claim a geocoin, geocachers must take ONE sticker from each cache and place it in an official playbook. WHICH CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE. Once eight caches have been found, geocachers may proceed to the corresponding hotel located in the zone and receive your geocoin. All addresses are located within the official playbook.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Only 140 geocoins for each zone were created. Please be aware there is a possibility that you may complete a zone but not make it in time to receive a coin for your efforts.

 We hope you enjoy learning about the significant role West Virginia played in this monumental war. It has been a privilege to create this challenge and share some great history with you!

Special thanks go to CTGEOSCOUT & WVGEOSCOUT for helping place this cache!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

ABG va yvggyr oevpx puhepu

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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