| Sinking Creek Raid | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
 Greenbrier County in West Virginia | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States (Union) |
 CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Col. John C. Paxton Major William H. Powell 2nd Lt. Jeremiah Davidson | Lt. Col. John A. Gibson | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| 2nd Loyal Virginia Volunteer Cavalry | 14th Virginia Cavalry | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 22 | 500 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 0 |
2 killed, 2 wounded, 100+ prisoners | ||||||
| Entire rebel camp surprised and surrendered to union cavalry regiment's advance guard. | |||||||
The Sinking Creek Raid took place in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) during the American Civil War. On November 26, 1862, an entire Confederate army camp was captured by 22 men from a Union cavalry during a winter snow storm. The 22 men were the advance guard for the 2nd Loyal Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, which was several miles behind. This cavalry unit was renamed 2nd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry in 1863, after West Virginia became a state.
The Confederates, who were the rebels in the American Civil War, had an army camp near the foot of a mountain in Sinking Creek Valley. Their camp contained about 500 soldiers, who were surprised by the small group of Union cavalry men. Many of the rebels did not have their weapons loaded. The Union cavalry raced into the camp with sabers drawn, and quickly convinced the rebels to surrender in exchange for their lives. Over 100 rebel soldiers were taken prisoner. More than 100 horses and about 200 rifles were also captured, in addition to supplies and tents.
The leaders of the raid, Major William H. Powell and 2nd Lieutenant Jeremiah Davidson, both received promotions shortly afterwards. Powell was later awarded the Medal of Honor for this action. General George R. Crook said the Sinking Creek Raid was "one of the most daring, brilliant and successful of the whole war". Powell would eventually become a general. Davidson would rise to the rank of captain in the cavalry, and major in the infantry.