During the summer of 1862, General William W. Loring’s Department of Southwestern Virginia (Confederate States of America) made some plans to move into the Kanawha Valley of western Virginia and take the city of Charleston. On September 6, 1862, General Loring, with 5,000 men, left Narrows, Virginia on a march toward Charleston. The Confederate troops first encountered Union forces near Fayetteville on September 10, driving them back toward Charleston. The pursuit continued all day on September 11, with the Federals splitting their forces near Gauley's Bridge on both sides of the Kanawha River, the CSA doing the same while in hot pursuit. By late afternoon on September 13, the Battle for Charleston had begun and was over by 7:30 p.m. when Loring's troops broke off the engagement at the Elk