Union General Thomas Maley Harris of Harrisville (Ritchie County) recruited the 10th West Virginia Infantry and became its colonel in 1862. Harris was promoted to brevet major general near the end of the war in 1865 for his part in the Union assault on Petersburg, Virginia. Soon after, he rose to prominence by serving on the military commission that tried the conspirators who acted with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.