Fort Mill Ridge Civil War Trenches

Fort Mill Ridge Civil War Trenches
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
File:Fort Mill Ridge Civil War Trenches Romney WV 2008 10 30 09.JPG
Location	Fort Mill Ridge Rd., Springfield, West Virginia
Coordinates
Area	201 acres (81 ha)
Built	c. 1861 (1861)-1862
NRHP Reference #	13001121
Added to NRHP	January 22, 2014

The Fort Mill Ridge Civil War Trenches are battle trenches originally dug between 1861 and 1862 and lined with chestnut logs by the Confederate artillery during the American Civil War to defend the approaches to Romney on the Northwestern Turnpike and the South Branch Potomac River. The trenches were then refurbished between March and June 1863 by the 54th Pennsylvania Infantry and the 1st West Virginia Infantry. When Colonel Jacob M. Campbell (54th PVI) garrisoned Union forces at Romney, camps were set up at nearby at Mechanicsburg Gap.

The Fort Mill Ridge trenches are believed to be the best preserved battle trenches dating from the Civil War in existence. The trenches are located three miles southwest of Romney adjacent to the Fort Mill Ridge Wildlife Management Area off of the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50/West Virginia Route 28).

A Civil War museum relating to the construction and use of the Fort Mill Ridge trenches is located within the Taggart Hall Civil War Museum & Visitors Center on the corner of High Street and Gravel Lane in downtown Romney.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

See also

• List of historic sites in Hampshire County, West Virginia

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons