The Roanoke Front was opened in 1914 when the United States Army invaded Confederate, Virginia over the Catawba Mountains. The Confederate Army stopped the assault at Big Lick, Virginia in 1915, and the Roanoke Front remained stationary for several years. The front was among the first theaters in North America where either the US or CS armies used poison gas and barrels. President Theodore Roosevelt was nearly hit by a stray bullet while touring the battlefield. He was saved when Chester Martin tackled him to the ground.