Confederates attack Oilfield

Rebel cavalry destroyed Burning Springs, Virginia, in May 1863 — the first attack on an oilfield in war.

Referring to his Confederate oilfield attack on petroleum facilities in northwestern Virginia (soon to be West Virginia), the rebel cavalry general reported to Gen. Robert E. Lee: “Men of experience estimated the oil destroyed at 150,000 barrels. It will be many months before a large supply can be had from this source…” 

On May 9, 1863, the booming oilfield community of Burning Springs fell to Confederate raiders led by Gen. William “Grumble” Jones. His Rebel cavalry burned cable-tool drilling tools, production equipment, storage tanks, and thousands of barrels of oil.

Scene of a troop of Confederate cavalry in Harpers illustration

“The First Virginia (Rebel) cavalry at halt. Sketched from nature by Mr. A. R. Waud.” From Harper’s Weekly, September 27, 1862. Gen. Jones’ Brigade consisted of the 6th, 7th, 11th, 12th Virginia Cavalry Regiments and 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

The surprise attack along the Kanawha River by Gen. Jones marked the first time an oilfield was targeted in war, “making it the first of many oilfields destroyed in war,” proclaimed oil historian and author David L. McKain in a 1992 book. 

Heritage District Map of oil and gas wells and Civil War sites in West Virginia.

The Burning Springs oilfield (at bottom) was destroyed by Confederate raiders in May 1863 when Gen. William “Grumble” Jones and 1,300 troopers attacked in what some call the first oilfield destroyed in a war. Map courtesy Oil & Gas Museum, Parkersburg, West Virginia.

According to McKain, Gen. Jones later reported his rebel troops left burning oil tanks, a “scene of magnificence that might well carry joy to every patriotic hear.” 

West Virginia Oil History

“After the Civil War, the industry was revived and over the next fifty years the booms spread over almost all the counties of the state,” explained McKain, who founded an oil museum in downtown Parkersburg.

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McKain spend decades collection the artifacts on display in the former warehouse — and often was seen driving his black truck loaded with historic oilfield equipment.

Detail from map showing oil wells attacked by Rebels at Burning Springs.

In May 1861, the Rathbone brothers used a spring-pole to dig a well at Burning Springs that producied 100 barrels of oil a day.

Almost a century before the Civil War, George Washington had acquired 250 acres in the region because it contained oil and natural gas seeps.

“This was in 1771, making the father of our country the first petroleum industry speculator,” noted McKain, author of a comprehensive history of the West Virginia petroleum industry. As early as 1831, natural gas was moved in wooden pipes from wells to be used as a manufacturing heat source by the Kanawha salt manufacturers.

Rathbone Well

In 1861, at Burning Springs, the Rathbone brothers used a spring-pole to drill an oil well reaching 303 feet deep. Their well began producing 100 barrels of oil a day.

A commercial oil industry began in Petroleum and California, towns near Parkersburg, which later became a center for oilfield service and supply companies.

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According to McKain (1934-2014), the Rathbone brothers well and commercial oil sales at Petroleum marked the true beginnings of the oil and gas industry in the United States.

Oil Museum exterior in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

David L. McKain established the Oil and Gas Museum at 119 Third Street in Parkersburg, West Virginia. As early as 1831, local salt manufacturers used natural gas as a heat source. Photo by Bruce Wells.

Further, the founder of the Oil and Gas Museum in Parkersburg said the sudden wealth created by petroleum was key to bringing statehood for West Virginia during the Civil War.

“Many of the founders and early politicians were oil men — governor, senator and congressman — who had made their fortunes at Burning Springs in 1860-1861,” McKain explained.

President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation admitting the state on June 20, 1863.

Burning an Oilfield

When Confederate Gen. William “Grumble” Jones and 1,300 troopers attacked Burning Springs in the spring of 1863, they destroyed equipment and thousands of barrels of oil.

Portrait of Confederate cavalry Gen. William "Grumble" Jones.

Confederate cavalry Gen. William “Grumble” Jones.

“The wells are owned mainly by Southern men, now driven from their homes, and their property appropriated either by the Federal Government or Northern men,” said Gen. Jones of his raid on this early oil boom town.

Gen. Jones officially reported to Gen. Robert E. Lee: All the oil, the tanks, barrels, engines for pumping, engine-houses, and wagons — in a word, everything used for raising, holding, or sending it off was burned.  Men of experience estimated the oil destroyed at 150,000 barrels. It will be many months before a large supply can be had from this source, as it can only be boated down the Little Kanawha when the waters are high.

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The West Virginia Oil and Gas Museum was established thanks to David McKain, who added a small museum at the site of Burning Springs and an oil history park at California (27 miles east of Parkersburg on West Virginia 47). In addition to his Where It All Began, McKain in 2004 published The Civil War and Northwestern Virginia.

Learn more about petroleum’s strategic roles in articles linked at Oil in War.

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Recommended Reading: The Civil War and Northwestern Virginia — The Fascinating Story Of The Economic, Military and Political Events In Northwestern Virginia During the Tumultuous Times Of The Civil War (2004).  Where it All Began: The story of the people and places where the oil & gas industry began: West Virginia and southeastern Ohio (1994). Your Amazon purchase benefits the American Oil & Gas Historical Society. As an Amazon Associate, AOGHS earns a commission from qualifying purchases.

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The American Oil & Gas Historical Society (AOGHS) preserves U.S. petroleum history. Become an AOGHS annual supporting member and help maintain this energy education website and expand historical research. For more information, contact bawells@aoghs.org. © 2023 Bruce A. Wells.

Citation Information – Article Title: “Confederates attack Oilfield.” Authors: B.A. Wells and K.L. Wells. Website Name: American Oil & Gas Historical Society. URL:https://aoghs.org/oil-almanac/confederates-attack-oilfield. Last Updated: May 5, 2023. Original Published Date: May 5, 2013.

Petroleum and Sea Power

Reluctant Navy Admirals switched from coal to oil — adding to engine power and simplifying resupply.

 

Commissioned on March 12, 1914, the USS Texas was the last American battleship built with engines to be powered with coal-fired boilers. Converted to burn fuel oil in 1925, the “Mighty T” became even more dominant at sea as the worldwide maritime change from coal to oil became another chapter of U.S. petroleum history.

When the industrial revolution ended the “Age of Sail,” coal that fired the boilers of steam-powered ships became a strategic resource. Worldwide “coaling stations” were essential at a time when oil was little more than a lubricant or a resource for making lamp kerosene. (more…)

Roughnecks of Sherwood Forest

Secret WWII project sent Oklahoma drillers to British oilfield, adding one million barrels of oil production by 1944.

 

As the United Kingdom fought for its survival during World War II, a team of American oil drillers, derrickhands, roustabouts, and motormen secretly boarded the converted troopship HMS Queen Elizabeth in March 1943. Once their story was revealed years later, they would become known as the Roughnecks of Sherwood Forest.

The 42 volunteers from Noble Drilling and Fain-Porter Drilling companies who drilled in Sherwood Forest during WWII.

The 42 volunteers from Noble Drilling and Fain-Porter Drilling companies taken before they secretly embarked for the United Kingdom on March 12, 1943, aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth, which had been converted into a troop transport ship. Photo courtesy of the Guy Woodward Collection, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

By the summer of 1942, the situation was desperate. The future of Great Britain – and the outcome of World War II – depended on the supply of petroleum. At the end of that year, demand for 100-octane fuel had grown to more than 150,000 barrels every day — and German U-boats ruled the Atlantic.

British Secretary of Petroleum, Geoffrey Lloyd in August 1942 called for an emergency meeting of his country’s Oil Control Board to assess the “impending crisis in oil.” (more…)

Japanese Sub attacks Oilfield

Shelling of the Ellwood field near Santa Barbara created mass hysteria and the “Battle of Los Angeles.”

 

Soon after America entered World War II, an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine attacked a refinery and oilfield near Los Angeles, the first attack of the war on the continental United States. The submarine’s deck gun fired about two dozen rounds, causing little damage — but it resulted in the largest mass sighting of UFOs in American history. 

Santa Barbara News 1942 headline of Japanese submarine shells oilfield.

A February 1942 Imperial Japanese Navy submarine’s shelling of a California refinery caused little damage but created invasion (and UFO) hysteria in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy Goleta Valley Historical Society.

At sunset on February 23, 1942, Imperial Japanese Navy Commander Kozo Nishino and his I-17 submarine lurked 1,000 yards off the California coast. It was less than three months since the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Los Angeles residents were tense. (more…)

Big Inch Pipelines of WW II

“Without the prodigious delivery of oil from the U. S. this global war, quite frankly, could never have been won.”

 

A government-industry partnership built two petroleum pipelines from Texas to the East Coast that proved vital during World War II. “Big Inch” carried oil from East Texas oilfields. “Little Big Inch” carried gasoline, heating oil, diesel oil, and kerosene.

The final weld on the “Big Inch” was made in July 1943, just 350 days after construction began. “Without the prodigious delivery of oil from the U.S. this global war, quite frankly, could never have been won,” proclaimed historian Keith Miller. (more…)

Petroleum Survey discovers U-boat

Routine scan of Gulf of Mexico seabed for new petroleum pipelines reveals shipwrecks.

 

During World War II, U-boats prowled the Gulf of Mexico to disrupt the flow of oil carried by tankers departing ports in Louisiana and Texas.

Today’s petroleum companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico’s outer continental shelf routinely provide government scientists with sonar data for areas with potential archaeological value. Federal agencies review oil and natural gas-related surveys, and over the years the data have revealed more than 100 historic shipwrecks in U.S. waters.

Offshore oil industry sonar and photo images of U-boat in Gulf of Mexico

A 2001 archaeological survey by BP and Shell prior to construction of a natural gas pipeline confirmed discovery of U-166 about 45 miles off the Louisiana coast.

In 2001, the Minerals Management Service noted that “a German submarine definitely got our attention.”

(more…)

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