In western forces, Union and Confederate forces fight the first planned engagement of the war at Philippi

As part of General G.B. McClellan's drive into the western counties of Virginia, in what is described as the first dsigned battle of the war, Union forces made up of Indiana and Ohio, and loyal Virginia regiments under Colonel B. F. Kelley attacked Confederate positions around Philippi in Barbour County. Advancing at dawn, the Union regiments surprised the 800 largely untrained Confederates under the command of Colonel George Porterfield  and drove them east towards Huttonsville in Randolph County, Virginia.  Casualties were light on both sides.  (By John Osborne)