Mason-Dixon Civil War Roundtable

06/04/2026

165 years later: “Philippi Races” Takes Place as One of the Civil War’s Opening Acts on June 3, 1861.
On June 3, 1861, one of the opening acts of the Civil War unfolded in the town of Philippi. At daybreak, the road of Union cannons shook some 800 slumbering Confederate soldiers from their tents. The routed Confederates made a hasty retreat, derisively remembered as the “Philippi Races.” The brief engagement was one of the first land battles of the Civil War involving organized troops. The battle also provided an interesting footnote as a wounded soldier, James Hanger, had his leg amputated and later crafted an artificial leg for himself - eventually founding Hanger Prosthetics.
Learn more by visiting our museum or checking out the article by WV Public Broadcasting - link in comments

05/19/2026

From the satirical outlet The Babylon Bee.

"It was only a matter of time." https://buff.ly/znhrnnL

05/10/2026

Confederate general Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson died in 1863 from pneumonia, eight days after he was accidentally shot by Confederate soldiers at the Battle of Chancellorsville, a wound that resulted in the amputation of his left arm. He was 39. Link in the comments for more about his death.

02/13/2026

Join us for the Rich Mountain Battlefield Symposium in April

09/26/2025

08/19/2025