Buffington Island

[hoosier]

We just had a question on the trivia game which involved Morgan's Raid. That raid came to a climax at the Battle of Buffington Island, the only Civil War battle fought in Ohio. The Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial Park is located on a portion of the battlefield. (Note that although the battle is named after an island in the Ohio River, the battle was not fought on the island, but on the shore of the river nearby.)

My wife and I recently visited Ohio and made a side trip to see this park.

I have to say it was a disappointment.

It's located on a small patch of ground which was donated for the purpose and while I guess it lies within the confines of the battlefield, there is no indication that any significant incident happened on the grounds of the battle. Neither Buffington Island nor the Ohio River is visible from the park, which is some distance inland. There is not much of anything else located nearby.

There is a website for the park which gives an address of 55890 State Route 24, but that really isn't where the park is located. Apparently it is an address where you should write if you want to contact somebody who has something to do with the park. The park is some distance north of that address.

Approaching the park from the south, we saw a marker indicating the route of Morgan's Raid was down a side road. We followed that, expecting it would lead to the park, which it didn't - it led to an industrial site, instead.

After returning to State Route 24 and finally locating the park, my wife really wanted to use a restroom. We had picked up a brochure listing Ohio historic sites, and the brochure indicated restrooms were available at the park.

So we got out of the car and I started to look around, while my wife headed for the restroom.

And she was back, moments later, to inform me that the ladies' room consisted of pit toilets that smelled to high heaven and there was no toilet paper available.

So we left in search of better restroom facilities.

Looks like it might be a nice little park and there are some tablets around that I guess explain the history of the place. But my advice to anyone tempted to go there is - make sure you visit a restroom before you get there.

 

[drezac]

The park is just only a small part of the entire area. unfortunately, a large part of the battlefield was mined for sand and gravel. The Ohio River is just to the east, not visible due to the trees and it's lower elevation at that point. Buffington island is just to the southwest, again not visible due to the trees and it's lower elevation. I was there for a Morgan's raid reenactment about a week ago, and will admit, its not a very developed battlefield as compared to most. It's for the most part operated with a fairly low budget, mostly by the Ohio Historical Society and a local preservation organization. At this point, parts are preserved but not a lot else as to the battle. A lot of work has been done on a driving Morgan's trail route, with many markers.

 

[Private Watkins]

Interesting... thanks for sharing this.

 

[Michael W.]

I was there once, I can't remember where I was at specific to the battlefield, but I was standing on a bluff overlooking the river and saw Buffington's Island in the river...

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

A little bit I wrote a few years back on the Navy's part at Buffington Island, in case it's of interest:

http://users.wowway.com/~jenkins/ironclads/buffingt.htm

 

[tbuckley]

A little bit I wrote a few years back on the Navy's part at Buffington Island, in case it's of interest:

http://users.wowway.com/~jenkins/ironclads/buffingt.htm

Ohio's only Civil War battle and West Virginia's only naval battle. I occasionally meet people who don't know that the Ohio River isn't in Ohio.

 

[tbuckley]

The park is just only a small part of the entire area. unfortunately, a large part of the battlefield was mined for sand and gravel. The Ohio River is just to the east, not visible due to the trees and it's lower elevation at that point. Buffington island is just to the southwest, again not visible due to the trees and it's lower elevation. I was there for a Morgan's raid reenactment about a week ago, and will admit, its not a very developed battlefield as compared to most. It's for the most part operated with a fairly low budget, mostly by the Ohio Historical Society and a local preservation organization. At this point, parts are preserved but not a lot else as to the battle. A lot of work has been done on a driving Morgan's trail route, with many markers.

I would imagine that the Ohio Historical Society only provides funds for mowing and minor upkeep.

 

[drezac]

The Ohio Historical Society lists the site as a Memorial Park.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

For a number of years, I was the vice president of the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation, which has since petered out for reasons set forth below. I know that battlefield very well, having spent many hours on it.

Let me address a few things.

1. The Ohio Historical Society owns just over four acres there. That is the only piece of the battlefield that it owns, and it's where the interpretive kiosk (I helped to write the content of the interpretive signs in that kiosk), the stinky bathrooms, the 1930's reproduction of an Indian burial mound, and the picnic pavilion are located. It also owns a tiny sliver where the marker to Maj. Dan McCook is located. The rest of the battlefield is 100% in private hands. OHS has an extremely limited budget to do much of anything there and there is no interest among the locals to increase the preserved portions.

2. We engaged in a hard-fought preservation fight there and lost. Meigs County, where the battlefield is located, is the poorest county in Ohio, and the promise of jobs for the sand and gravel pit proved overpowering. We proposed a land swap, and the sand and gravel company refused, claiming that the size and grade of gravel found there was unique. Since it had owned the land for nearly sixty years, there was nothing we could do to stop it once the Army Corps of Engineers issued the permit for the loading facility in the Ohio River. At that point, only an appropriation by the State of Ohio could have saved the battlefield. I tried to get a meeting with then-gubernatorial candidate Bob Taft--great grandson of a U.S. President, and grandson and son of U.S. Senators--about it, but they refused. And that was that. Today, a large sand and gravel pit sits in the heart of that portion of the battlefield where the heaviest fighting occurred. And when they're done mining, they're under no obligation to fill the pit back in, since it was sold to the Corps of Engineers that it could be used for recreational purposes once mining is completed.

3. The battlefield is actually quite large, if one knows where one is going. Keep in mind that this was a running fight, with Judah's and Kautz's men pursuing Morgan and Morgan's guys largely fighting rearguard actions. Only when Shackleford's flanking column arrived did the fighting become general, widespread, and desperate (in the area where the sand and gravel pit is today). However, because all but the four acres owned by OHS is private property, if you don't go there with someone who can actually interpret the battlefield for you, you would be hard-pressed to understand either the battle or how things played out. There's a great story to be told there, but you HAVE to see it with someone who knows the field.

4. There are 52 Confederate battle dead buried on the battlefield. I am one of about six people who know where those graves are located. I will never, ever tell anyone where they are because I don't want those graves disturbed. We had hoped that they were in the area where the sand and gravel pit is, and that we could use that as a means of blocking the development, but ground penetrating radar showed that they were not there, but rather nearly a mile away.

5. Calling it the Battle of Buffington Island really is a misnomer. The island itself was not the battlefield. The ford to West Virginia was located there, and some Ohio militia had picket posts overlooking it on the bluff mentioned by @MichaelW in his post, but the island does not factor into the battle at all. A more accurate name would be the Battle of Portland, for the now abandoned small town there.

6. The locals are for the most part not friendly to preservation. An old elementary school immediately adjacent to the OHS parcel has been purchased and turned into a community center by the local community government. It has a small museum-style display associated with the battle, and sits on core battlefield land, but it's rarely open to the public. None of the locals are interested in selling their property for preservation purposes. Further, our preservation efforts were greatly derailed by local politics. The locals didn't want OHS dictating to them and didn't want city slickers like me involved. When we were unable to get any traction and with no funding, the effort died on the vine. The battlefield remains in imminent danger of being lost (beyond what's already been lost to the sand and gravel pit, that is).

7. The battle itself consisted of about 13,000 men, 10,000 Union and about 3,000 Confederate plus the Union sailors on the gunboats in the river. As mentioned previously, two future U.S. Presidents in Hays and McKinley were present. Duke sacrificed himself and about 800 men so that Morgan and the rest of his command could escape. The surrender site, fortunately, remains pristine if one knows where it is and how to get to it. Interestingly, the site of the old Ohio Pen, where Morgan, Duke, and their officers were held, is now the site of the arena where our local NHL team, the Columbus Blue Jackets--named for Ohio's contribution to the Civil War--plays.

8. Fortunately, with the notable exception of the sand and gravel pit, the only development other than the elementary school are a handful of modern homes and a small junkyard in the area where the first shots were fired. The old house that served as a field hospital remains extant and is in good shape, but it's privately owned. I doubt that the owners know that it was used as a field hospital and I doubt even more that they care.

It's a sad situation. The State of Ohio had the opportunity to do something great there to preserve its Civil War legacy, but Taft--a doofus of the highest order who left office with a conviction for ethics violations on his record--blew it, big time. You would think that someone with his pedigree would care about history, but he and his staff couldn't have cared less and sent us packing. That spelled doom for the battlefield and for our preservation efforts.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I appreciate all your efforts, Eric, even if they didn't bear fruit. That was a very frustrating situation.

I think I've told this story before, but please bear with me if it's a rerun... I wrote that article in response to a plea for assistance from Martha Boltz, who was part of an AOL Civil War discussion group ("Forlorn Hope") I participated in. She was hoping to find if there was U.S. Marine Corps involvement in the battle, because it was thought there might be some assistance of some kind from the Marine Corps Association and other groups. Unfortunately, I had to tell her that the only actual Marines on the inland rivers were a handful of guards at the Mound City (IL) naval station. (Naval commanders constantly asked for Marines to be assigned them, but the Corps was still very small during the war-- even after wartime augmentation-- and the seagoing vessels got first dibs.)

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

I appreciate all your efforts, Eric, even if they didn't bear fruit. That was a very frustrating situation.

Unfortunately, frustrating doesn't begin to describe it, Mark. I was absolutely flabbergasted that soon-to-be Governor Doofus had no interest in history given his family pedigree. Karma paid him back. But in the process, we lost a precious battlefield, and now that that bell has been rung, it can never be unrung.

 

[Michael W.]

This is sad, especially for the State of Ohio. Indiana's one actual battlefield (also by Morgan's Cavalry, before they turned East for Ohio), is located in Corydon. Not so much a battle but more of a skirmish, as State emergency troops and some local civilians came together in time to fire of a few volleys before surrendering. There is not much to the State Park there, but Indiana did preserve at least a part of it.

 

[bdtex]

4. There are 52 Confederate battle dead buried on the battlefield. I am one of about six people who know where those graves are located. I will never, ever tell anyone where they are because I don't want those graves disturbed.

So those graves are unmarked and on private land? Is there a record of the named of the soldiers buried there? I would hope that the info about them gets passed on.

 

[hoosier]

Eric, I do wish that I had been able to read the content of the interpretive signs in the kiosk, but my wife was in such a hurry to find a more amenable ladies' room that I just didn't have time.

 

[bdtex]

For a number of years, I was the vice president of the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation, which has since petered out for reasons set forth below. I know that battlefield very well, having spent many hours on it.

Let me address a few things.

1. The Ohio Historical Society owns just over four acres there. That is the only piece of the battlefield that it owns, and it's where the interpretive kiosk (I helped to write the content of the interpretive signs in that kiosk), the stinky bathrooms, the 1930's reproduction of an Indian burial mound, and the picnic pavilion are located. It also owns a tiny sliver where the marker to Maj. Dan McCook is located. The rest of the battlefield is 100% in private hands. OHS has an extremely limited budget to do much of anything there and there is no interest among the locals to increase the preserved portions.

2. We engaged in a hard-fought preservation fight there and lost. Meigs County, where the battlefield is located, is the poorest county in Ohio, and the promise of jobs for the sand and gravel pit proved overpowering. We proposed a land swap, and the sand and gravel company refused, claiming that the size and grade of gravel found there was unique. Since it had owned the land for nearly sixty years, there was nothing we could do to stop it once the Army Corps of Engineers issued the permit for the loading facility in the Ohio River. At that point, only an appropriation by the State of Ohio could have saved the battlefield. I tried to get a meeting with then-gubernatorial candidate Bob Taft--great grandson of a U.S. President, and grandson and son of U.S. Senators--about it, but they refused. And that was that. Today, a large sand and gravel pit sits in the heart of that portion of the battlefield where the heaviest fighting occurred. And when they're done mining, they're under no obligation to fill the pit back in, since it was sold to the Corps of Engineers that it could be used for recreational purposes once mining is completed.

3. The battlefield is actually quite large, if one knows where one is going. Keep in mind that this was a running fight, with Judah's and Kautz's men pursuing Morgan and Morgan's guys largely fighting rearguard actions. Only when Shackleford's flanking column arrived did the fighting become general, widespread, and desperate (in the area where the sand and gravel pit is today). However, because all but the four acres owned by OHS is private property, if you don't go there with someone who can actually interpret the battlefield for you, you would be hard-pressed to understand either the battle or how things played out. There's a great story to be told there, but you HAVE to see it with someone who knows the field.

4. There are 52 Confederate battle dead buried on the battlefield. I am one of about six people who know where those graves are located. I will never, ever tell anyone where they are because I don't want those graves disturbed. We had hoped that they were in the area where the sand and gravel pit is, and that we could use that as a means of blocking the development, but ground penetrating radar showed that they were not there, but rather nearly a mile away.

5. Calling it the Battle of Buffington Island really is a misnomer. The island itself was not the battlefield. The ford to West Virginia was located there, and some Ohio militia had picket posts overlooking it on the bluff mentioned by @MichaelW in his post, but the island does not factor into the battle at all. A more accurate name would be the Battle of Portland, for the now abandoned small town there.

6. The locals are for the most part not friendly to preservation. An old elementary school immediately adjacent to the OHS parcel has been purchased and turned into a community center by the local community government. It has a small museum-style display associated with the battle, and sits on core battlefield land, but it's rarely open to the public. None of the locals are interested in selling their property for preservation purposes. Further, our preservation efforts were greatly derailed by local politics. The locals didn't want OHS dictating to them and didn't want city slickers like me involved. When we were unable to get any traction and with no funding, the effort died on the vine. The battlefield remains in imminent danger of being lost (beyond what's already been lost to the sand and gravel pit, that is).

7. The battle itself consisted of about 13,000 men, 10,000 Union and about 3,000 Confederate plus the Union sailors on the gunboats in the river. As mentioned previously, two future U.S. Presidents in Hays and McKinley were present. Duke sacrificed himself and about 800 men so that Morgan and the rest of his command could escape. The surrender site, fortunately, remains pristine if one knows where it is and how to get to it. Interestingly, the site of the old Ohio Pen, where Morgan, Duke, and their officers were held, is now the site of the arena where our local NHL team, the Columbus Blue Jackets--named for Ohio's contribution to the Civil War--plays.

8. Fortunately, with the notable exception of the sand and gravel pit, the only development other than the elementary school are a handful of modern homes and a small junkyard in the area where the first shots were fired. The old house that served as a field hospital remains extant and is in good shape, but it's privately owned. I doubt that the owners know that it was used as a field hospital and I doubt even more that they care.

It's a sad situation. The State of Ohio had the opportunity to do something great there to preserve its Civil War legacy, but Taft--a doofus of the highest order who left office with a conviction for ethics violations on his record--blew it, big time. You would think that someone with his pedigree would care about history, but he and his staff couldn't have cared less and sent us packing. That spelled doom for the battlefield and for our preservation efforts.

I kinda wish I hadn't wandered into this thread and read that. Sad and infuriating.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

So those graves are unmarked and on private land? Is there a record of the named of the soldiers buried there? I would hope that the info about them gets passed on.

Correct--both unmarked and on private property. I don't know whether there is a record of them or not. They were Confederate KIA or men who died shortly after the battle. Since Morgan bugged out and Duke surrendered, there were no Confederates around to identify those men.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

This is sad, especially for the State of Ohio. Indiana's one actual battlefield (also by Morgan's Cavalry, before they turned East for Ohio), is located in Corydon. Not so much a battle but more of a skirmish, as State emergency troops and some local civilians came together in time to fire of a few volleys before surrendering. There is not much to the State Park there, but Indiana did preserve at least a part of it.

Actually, that's a nice little park. I enjoyed my visit there.

 

[drezac]

Eric, Thank you for the information. That's something I'll need to keep for future reference. That is the type of information that is rarely heard, but needs to be known.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

Eric, Thank you for the information. That's something I'll need to keep for future reference. That is the type of information that is rarely heard, but needs to be known.

Any time, Duane. My pleasure.

How are you doing, by the way?

 

[John Winn]

Ohio's only Civil War battle and West Virginia's only naval battle. I occasionally meet people who don't know that the Ohio River isn't in Ohio.

The pedant speaks:

actually, the portion of the river north of the 1792 historic low-water line is in Ohio.

An old KY boy.