The Battle of Droop Mountain, fought on November 6, 1863, in Pocahontas County, was the last large-scale battle in West Virginia and ended Confederate efforts to control it.

Union Gen. William W. Averell led a force of 5,000 soldiers in a raid to disrupt the Confederate-controlled Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. He planned to trap Confederate forces near Lewisburg, but the battle at Droop Mountain became a direct confrontation with 1,700 Confederates under Gen. John Echols. After hours of fighting, Averell's forces broke through the Confederate line, forcing a retreat.

Although the Union won, they didn’t achieve their main goal, and the Confederates quickly regained control. In 1929, Droop Mountain became our first state park.