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45-636: The mountain was once home to the largest red spruce forest south of Maine and a large portion of it now lies within the Monongahela National Forest . Cheat Mountain traverses the entire length of central Randolph County, West Virginia , from a northern point just west of Parsons to a southern point about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of the Randolph/ Pocahontas county line, near the community of Stony Bottom , where it impinges upon Back Allegheny Mountain . All but

90-997: A distinct ecosystem found only in the highest elevations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Its habitat is moist but well-drained sandy loam, often at high altitudes. Red spruce can be easily damaged by windthrow and acid rain . Notable red spruce forests can be seen at Gaudineer Scenic Area , a virgin red spruce forest located in West Virginia , the Canaan Valley , Roaring Plains West Wilderness , Dolly Sods Wilderness , Spruce Mountain and Spruce Knob all also in West Virginia and all sites of former extensive red spruce forest. Some areas of this forest, particularly in Roaring Plains West Wilderness, Dolly Sods Wilderness as well as areas of Spruce Mountain are making

135-425: A glossy red-brown color and stiff scales. The cones hang down from branches. Red spruce grows at a slow to moderate rate, lives for 250 to 450+ years, and is very shade-tolerant when young. It is often found in pure stands or forests mixed with eastern white pine , balsam fir , or black spruce . Along with Fraser fir , red spruce is one of two primary tree types in the southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest ,

180-454: A narrow conical crown. The leaves are needle-like, yellow-green, 12–15 mm ( 15 ⁄ 32 – 19 ⁄ 32  in) long, four-sided, curved, with a sharp point, and extend from all sides of the twig. The bark is gray-brown on the surface and red-brown on the inside, thin, and scaly. The wood is light, soft, has narrow rings, and has a slight red tinge. The cones are cylindrical, 3–5 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 –2 in) long, with

225-1000: A narrow ecological niche, meaning the tree is easily susceptible to changes within its environment. The Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI) seeks to unite diverse partners with the goal of restoring historic red spruce ecosystems across the high-elevation landscapes of central Appalachians. The partners that make up this diverse group are Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture, Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The Mountain Institute , The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, West Virginia Division of Forestry, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West Virginia State Parks, and West Virginia University. Prior to

270-481: A rather substantial recovery. It is closely related to black spruce , and hybrids between the two are frequent where their ranges meet. Genetic data suggests that the red spruce peripatrically speciated from the black spruce during the Pleistocene due to glaciation . Red spruce is used for Christmas trees and is an important wood used in making paper pulp . It is also an excellent tonewood , and

315-551: A two pronged attack to flank the Confederate camp. The first column advanced up the Staunton-Parkersburg Pike, engaging the Confederate right side for several hours before withdrawing. Because of the difficult mountain terrain, the second Union column arrived shortly after the withdrawal of the first column, therefore unable to support the main body of Union troops on the right as planned, but then attacked

360-479: Is more remote. However, all but the northernmost 15 miles (24 km) or so of it is skirted by the Western Maryland Railroad , connecting (from north to south) the communities of Bowden , Bemis and Cheat Bridge . Cheat Mountain is crossed (east/west) by two federal highways: U.S. Route 33 in its northern third and U.S. Route 250 in its southern third. The Cheat River , a tributary of

405-537: Is now West Virginia had solidified control in much of the western mountains of Virginia, emboldening a Union move to take the Staunton to Petersburg Pike. Perhaps thinking that Confederate morale was low, a Union brigade of 2,000 men under Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy attacked Johnson and his 1,200 Confederates at sunrise on December 13. Milroy's advance and a Confederate scouting party had skirmished on December 12. The next morning, Milroy divided his troops into

450-512: Is the spruce budworm , although it is a bigger problem for white spruce and balsam fir. Other issues that have been damaging red spruce have included the increase in acid rain and current climate change. One of the consequences of acid rain deposition is the decrease of soil exchangeable calcium and increase of aluminum .  This is because acid precipitation disrupts cation and nutrition cycling in forest ecosystems. Components of acid rain such as H , NO 3 , and SO 4 limit

495-424: Is used in many higher-end acoustic guitars and violins, as well as musical soundboard. The sap can be used to make spruce gum . Leafy red spruce twigs are boiled with sugar and flavoring to make spruce beer . Also it can be made into spruce pudding. It can also be used as construction lumber and is good for millwork and for crates. Like most trees, red spruce is subject to insect parasitism. Their insect enemy

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540-578: The Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike that offered a point of access from the mountains of western Virginia into the strategic Shenandoah Valley. This was called the "Monterey Line," named for the village behind them in Highland County. The occupation of the high mountain pass coincided with a bitter winter, with much suffering and disease among the Southern troops. Early Union victories in what

585-429: The 52nd Virginia Infantry : I had a splendid position in this battle and could see the whole fight without having to take any part in it, and I remember how I thought Colonel Johnson must be the most wonderful hero in the world, as I saw him at one point, where his men were hard pressed, snatch a musket in one hand and, swinging a big club in the other, he led his line right up among the enemy, driving them headlong down

630-624: The Appalachians to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee . This species is also known as yellow spruce, West Virginia spruce, eastern spruce, and he-balsam . Red spruce is the provincial tree of Nova Scotia . Red spruce is a perennial, shade-tolerant, late successional coniferous tree that under optimal conditions grows to 18–40 m (59–131 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of about 60 cm (24 in), though exceptional specimens can reach 46 m (151 ft) tall and 100 cm (39 inches) in diameter. It has

675-794: The Battle of Allegheny Mountain , took place on December 13, 1861, in Pocahontas County, Virginia (now West Virginia ), about 3 miles from the mountainous border of Highland County, Virginia , as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War . The battle was a small brigade-level conflict, and while the Confederates technically won with a Union withdrawal, it

720-549: The Monongahela , is formed at Parsons , just east of the northern tip of Cheat Mountain, by the confluence of Shavers Fork and Black Fork . Cheat Mountain was strategically important during the early Operations in Western Virginia campaign of the American Civil War . One engagement — the Battle of Cheat Mountain — took place here September 12–15, 1861. Gen. Robert E. Lee directed his first offensive of

765-458: The ecosystem and community levels, Calcium availability is associated with community composition, mature tree growth, and ecosystem productivity. One study testing the effects of added aluminum to soil, found that P. rubens mortality rate increased under these conditions. During the 1980s, increased acid deposition contributed to a loss of high-elevation red spruce trees, due to leached calcium and decreased freezing tolerance. Additionally,

810-517: The Civil War against Brig. Gen. Joseph Reynolds ’s entrenchments on the summit of Cheat Mountain. The Confederate attacks were uncoordinated, however, and the Federal defense was so stubborn that Col. Albert Rust (who led the attacks) was convinced that he confronted an overwhelming force, when he actually faced only about 300 determined Federals. Lee called off the attack and, after maneuvering in

855-412: The Civil War, was actually one of the bloodiest in the initial year of the war (April–December 1861). The Union casualties are estimated at 137 and Confederate casualties at 147. Johnson would receive the nickname "Allegheny" Johnson for his role at the battle and for commanding the forbidding mountain post. Ironically, the Confederates had received orders to withdraw a few days prior to the battle. But

900-532: The Confederate infantry to dislodge. A Confederate artillery battery unlimbered and unleashed a "storm of round shot and canister among them, knocking their timber defences about their heads, and making their nest too hot to hold them..." The fighting on the right moved back and forth from advance to retreat, with the Union temporarily occupying the post, only to be driven off. The Confederates attempted their own flanking maneuvers which quickly failed because their force

945-447: The Confederate left. When the left column of Union forces arrived, an officer believed that they were his own pickets returning, ordered his men not to fire and rode forth to bring them into the camp. The Confederate officer was killed by a shot from the Union troops, and the second part of the battle commenced with fierce fighting. After the right Union column had withdrawn, Johnson ordered all his troops who had been fighting there to join

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990-644: The Daughters of the American Revolution. Tartt, a resident of Brevard, North Carolina, embarked on a mission to find the lost red spruce Pisgah Forest that had been planted by the DAR as a memorial to the lives lost during the American Revolution. The forest, consisting of 50,000 trees was dedicated in 1940 and had until recently been forgotten until Tartt located and identified the forest. Camp Allegheny The Battle of Camp Allegheny , also known as

1035-641: The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike as it passed west into the Tygart River Valley . Cheat Summit Fort (Fort Milroy) was occupied from July 16, 1861, until April 1862 when it was abandoned due to extremes of weather as well as strategic developments. An account of the Civil War activity on Cheat Mountain can be found in Ambrose Bierce's article " On A Mountain ". The West Virginia timber industry grew rapidly toward

1080-460: The battle on the left flank, and the concentrated Confederate fire broke up the left Union assault and the final Union troops withdrew. In a piercing winter wind, fighting had raged for much of the sunlit morning as each side maneuvered on the hillside slopes, fields and woods to gain the advantage. On the right flank, Milroy's force found a position in a mountain clearing, among the fallen timber, stumps and brush, which proved to be too difficult for

1125-548: The connected Back Allegheny Mountain .) In 1974, the Snowshoe Mountain ski resort opened on the southern tip of Cheat Mountain near Thorny Flat . Red spruce Picea rubens , commonly known as red spruce , is a species of spruce native to eastern North America , ranging from eastern Quebec and Nova Scotia , west to the Adirondack Mountains and south through New England along

1170-412: The failed Union assault convinced the Confederate higher command to reinforce Johnson's force in place at Camp Allegheny with five regiments through the remainder of the harsh winter of 1861–62. The weather was bitter snow was often knee deep, something the southern soldiers, mainly from Georgia and Virginia, were not accustomed to. The toll on the Confederate troops was brutal. On March 18, 1862, prior to

1215-533: The late 1800s, 600,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) of red spruce were in West Virginia. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a vast amount of logging began in the state and the number of red spruce dwindled to 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres). Silviculture is being used to help restore the population of the lost red spruce. Significant efforts have been made to increase the growth of red spruce trees in western North Carolina. Most notably by Molly Tartt on behalf of

1260-643: The men in this little remembered battle in a remote area, and hauntingly about how little the battlefield had changed. The battle is also known as the Battle of Alleghany Camp, or the Battle of Alleghany Mountain, and Johnson was actually referred to in the South as "Alleghany Johnson", reflecting the usage that derives from the English colonial era rather than the French derivative, Allegheny . Contemporary accounts from

1305-500: The morning as each side maneuvered to gain the advantage. Finally, Milroy's troops were repulsed, and he retreated to his camps near Cheat Mountain. At the end of 1861, Johnson remained at Camp Allegheny with five regiments, with Henry Heth at Lewisburg with two regiments. The highest Union camp of the War was located at Cheat Summit , also known as White Top, at the southern end of Cheat Mountain. This commanding stronghold controlled

1350-477: The mountain, killing and wounding many with the bayonet and capturing a large number of prisoners... Confederate units under Johnson's command during the battle were the 12th Georgia Regiment, the 52nd Virginia, the 31st Virginia , a detachment of Pittsylvania (Virginia) cavalry, which fought dismounted with carbines, and the "Lee Battery" of Virginia light artillery, consisting of four pieces. The battle, though considered insignificant compared to later battles in

1395-481: The northernmost 4 miles (6.4 km) and the southernmost 5.5 miles (8.9 km) are within Randolph County. The western flank of Cheat Mountain is skirted by U.S. Route 219 which connects a string of communities in the Tygart River Valley (notably, from north to south, Montrose , Kerens , Elkins , Beverly , Huttonsville and Valley Head ). The eastern flank, overlooking the valley of Shavers Fork ,

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1440-497: The nucleus of the new state of West Virginia. Because of the Battle of Camp Allegheny (and the subsequent Battle of McDowell,) the future state line between Virginia and West Virginia would begin and stop at the Pocohantas and Highland County line, even though the counties shared the same geographic traits and mountain culture. Neither Pocahontas County nor Highland County participated in the creation of West Virginia, but Pocahontas

1485-516: The site on Shenandoah Mountain, just 26 miles west of Staunton. However, the new fortification was soon abandoned on April 19, when Johnson left to rendezvous with the Confederate Army of Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in advance of the Battle of McDowell. The battles in the rugged and mountainous region of western Virginia were small by later standards but left an enduring footprint because those counties that were in Union control formed

1530-518: The southeast, was a better position to defend the Staunton to Parkerburgs Pike and the approaches to the Shenandoah Valley. Combined with the loss of men in the harsh mountain winter and the logistical challenges of keeping the remote mountain post effectively supplied, General Robert E. Lee agreed to let Johnson abandon the post in favor of Shenandoah Mountain on April 2, 1862. By April 6, 1862, Johnson's constructed Fort Edward Johnson at

1575-724: The structure of the spruce needle enhances the capture of water and particles, which has been shown to add to soil acidification , nutrient leaching, and forest decline. However, more recently, reductions in acid deposition have contributed to red spruce resurgence in some mountain areas in the northeastern United States. This increase in red spruce growth has been associated with an increase in rainfall pH , which reduces bulk acidic deposition. This suggests that policies aiming to reduce atmospheric pollution in this area have been effective, although other species sensitive to soil acidification, such as sugar maple , are still continuing to decline. The red spruce has low genetic diversity as well as

1620-492: The subsequent Battle of McDowell in Highland County (May 8, 1862,) Johnson, by then promoted to General, had roughly 4,000 men stationed at Camp Allegheny in Pocahontas County, but his effective strength was only 2,784, as nearly 1,200 men were sick or unavailable. After the Battle of Camp Allegheny, Johnson also knew that the post was vulnerable to being flanked, and believed that Shenandoah Mountain, 40 miles to

1665-588: The time in the South use the wording "Alleghany," including Johnson's own account of the battle published in the Staunton Spectator in March 1862. The Camp Allegheny Historic District is a national historic district encompassing one contributing structure and four contributing sites. They are the earthworks, site of hut and campground, cemetery, church site, and the site of the Yeager farmstead. It

1710-561: The troops of Floyd and Loring , but the operation was called off because of poor communication and lack of supplies. Lee was recalled to Richmond on October 30 after achieving little in western Virginia. In December, Confederate forces under Col. Edward Johnson occupied the summit of nearby Allegheny Mountain to defend the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike . A Union force under Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy attacked Johnson on December 13. Fighting continued for much of

1755-510: The turn of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, Cheat was extensively timbered by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company and its Cass operation, West Virginia Spruce Lumber Company. By 1905, the summit had been reached by loggers and by 1960 the mountain was virtually barren. The timbering of Cheat has been chronicled in many books. Notable is W. E. Blackhurst's Of Men and A Mighty Mountain (1965) which details how difficult life

1800-445: The uptake of calcium by trees and can increase aluminum availability. Calcium concentration is important for red spruce for physiological processes such as dark respiration and cold tolerance, as well as disease resistance, signal transduction , membrane and cell wall synthesis and function, and regulation of stomata . Conversely, dissolved aluminum can be toxic or can interfere with root uptake of calcium and other nutrients. At

1845-617: The vicinity, withdrew to Valley Head on September 17, 1861. During the night of October 2–3, Reynolds with two brigades advanced from Cheat Mountain to reconnoiter the Confederate position at Camp Bartow on the Greenbrier River . He drove in the Confederate pickets and opened fire with his artillery. After sporadic fighting and an abortive attempt to turn his enemy's right flank, Reynolds withdrew to Cheat Mountain. Also in October, Lee renewed operations against Laurel Mountain with

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1890-427: Was considered militarily indecisive. However, it had critical implications for the future border of Virginia and West Virginia, ensuring Highland County remained in Confederate hands and would not be involved in the formation of the future state of West Virginia. In December, Confederate forces under Col. Edward Johnson occupied the summit pass of Allegheny Mountain (roughly 4,400 feet above sea level) to defend

1935-589: Was included in the new state nevertheless as part of the Congressional statehood bill while Highland remained part of Virginia. In 1903, Ambrose Bierce wrote a column in The New York American about the visiting the battle site, entitled "A Bivouac of the Dead, " recalling his involvement in the battle as a member of a Union regiment. Bierce wrote movingly about the sacrifice and suffering of

1980-410: Was on the mountain for the mostly immigrant workers of the lumber operation. A state park and tourist service, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park , opened in 1960 and takes visitors up the side of Cheat Mountain to Bald Knob via the same route the logging railroad used in the 1900s. (Contrary to popular belief, Cass Railroad does not take visitors to the summit of Cheat Mountain, but rather the summit of

2025-413: Was too thin. The fighting was in such close quarters that the Confederate cannons in the fortification could not be used. After fighting for over seven hours without taking the positionMilroy's troops withdrew, retreating to his camps at Green Spring Run near Cheat Mountain. Johnson claimed the Confederate losses were 20 men killed and 96 wounded and 28 missing. According to one Confederate soldier in

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