The annual Civil War re-enactment of the Battle of Dry Creek will be held at the Greenbrier State Forest on Aug. 15-17. The re-enactment will commemorate the Battle of Dry Creek on Aug. 26-27, 1863, which occurred near the intersection of Route 92 and U.S. Route 60 on the east end of White Sulphur Springs.
On Saturday, Aug. 16, there will a skirmish at 12:30 p.m. followed by a variety of activities throughout the afternoon. A period concert and dance is scheduled for 6 p.m. followed by an artillery night firing at 9 p.m.
On Sunday, Aug. 17, a worship service will be held at 10 a.m. and the re-enactment of the Battle of Dry Creek is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The encampment is open to the general public on both Saturday and Sunday and there will be no charge for admission to all spectators on either day.
This year’s event is sponsored by the Greenbrier State Forest in conjunction with the Battle of Dry Creek Committee and Bryan’s Battery, a local Confederate artillery re-enactment group, based in Pocahontas and Greenbrier Counties.
So far this year, Bryan’s Battery has been involved in the National Civil War Artillery Association training at Jackson’s Mill, the Battle of Scary Creek & Hurricane Bridge (Hurricane), Gilbert Civil War Days (Gilbert), the 150th Anniversary of the Skirmish at Jeffersonville (Tazewell, VA) and the Wyoming County Civil War Days/Skirmish at Matheny Chapel (Oceana).
Following the Battle of Dry Creek on Aug. 15-17, the local group plans to participate in the Skirmish in the Hills at Chief Logan State Park in Logan on Sept. 26-28.
Anyone interested in Civil War re-enacting or wanting more information concerning Bryan’s Battery may contact Tim Walker at 304-653-4737. More details concerning the Battle of Dry Creek can be found at www.battleofdrycreek.org.
Originally organized in Lewisburg in March 1862, Bryan’s Battery was an actual artillery battery comprised of volunteers from Greenbrier and Monroe Counties and named for its founder, Captain Thomas Andrew Bryan.
Bryan’s Battery was active throughout the War in defense of the Commonwealth of Virginia and participated in the liberation of Pearisburg, Lewisburg, and in the Kanawha Valley campaign. Early in the War much of their time was spent defending the Greenbrier Valley and New River Valley from invasion which led to their involvement in the Battle of Fayetteville, Cloyd’s Mountain and New River Bridge. Later in the War, the Battery was transferred to the Shenandoah Valley and was active in the Battle of Piedmont (near Staunton), Lynchburg and Martinsburg.
Later in 1864, they were part of Jubal Early’s attempted encirclement of Washington, DC and participated in the Battle of the Monocacy in Maryland and skirmished near Rockville, MD, a mere 12 miles north of Washington, DC. Following the excursion into Maryland, Bryan’s Battery participated in the historic defense of the Shenandoah Valley in the battles of Winchester, Strasburg and Cedar Creek plus many skirmishes too numerous to mention. At the end of the War, they were holding their ground at Christiansburg. The history of this group is included in Lowry’s, Bryan’s and Chapman’s Batteries of Virginia Artillery by J. L. Scott, a volume in the Virginia Regimental Histories Series.