Over 116,000 US soldiers perished in WWI, including 1,120 West Virginians who were killed during combat and 691 soldiers and sailors who died of disease or other causes while serving in the armed forces. West Virginia had one of the highest rates of enlistment during the war and was home to the oldest living World War I veteran, Frank Buckles who passed away at the age of 110. Although not a native West Virginian Buckles resided in WV for many years before passing. West Virginia has also been the home of other famous soldiers such as Chuck Yeager and Hershel "Woody" Williams.&nbsp;

The monument includes the names of men who served from Putnam County 

Together We Won The Great War West Virginia and WWI tells Wv's role in the first world war. 

More Info

WWI and Jefferson County tells the story of those from Jefferson County and their roles in the war 

WarMemorial.us gives the number of casualties per war and the heroes names and hometowns  

This World War I memorial statue is located next to the Putnam County Courthouse and commemorates the men from Putnam County who served in World War I. West Virginia provided 58,000 troops to serve in WWI and the names of hundreds of Putnam County men are engraved on this monument. 

WWI Memorial Statue 

Admin

Red House Shoals was the name of the area before the assigning of the county seat. The old 1848 courthouse building was starting to fall apart. Soon there was a plan to create a new building. M. Hensley, E.S. Honaker, and M.V.B. Deal who were commissioners at the time, were to decide on a contractor to start building the county seat building replacement. They chose A.D. and S.J. Ross of Kenova. The two brothers did not post a bond that was needed to start the building process and pushed the entire project to a standstill. The annual county taxes were found too small an amount to start the construction on the building and there was an attempt to get a bond issue put on the Election Day ballot1.Three years passed by and part of the old courthouse collapsed in the midst of a storm in 1899. This building was deemed no longer usable and the county seat was moved to a church. For the rest of the year, what remained of the old courthouse was torn down. This was the start of building a new county courthouse. Almost exactly one year after the storm that collapsed part of the old courthouse, the county had its new county courthouse building1.Today, the Putnam County Courthouse includes vital statistics (birth, death, and marriage certificates), County Clerk, Circuit Clerk, Assessor’s Office as well as other important governmental offices.

Putnam County was created in 1848, and Winfield was selected as the county seat due to its proximity to the Kanawha River. The courthouse was designed in 1900 by architect Frank Piece Milburn in the Romanesque Revival style with design features such as towers and arches. New additions were added in 1953, 1963, and 1974.



This monument serves to honor those lost, taken prisoner, and killed in action during times of&nbsp;war. This is one of many monuments across the United States to honor missing and imprisoned soldiers. Each year on the third Friday in September is POW/MIA Recognition Day, where a moment of silence is taken and the POW/MIA flag is flown across all military installations.&nbsp;In 1971, Mary Hoff, an MIA wife and member of the National League of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, saw the need for a symbol for&nbsp;POW/MIAs. She set out to find someone to help her design it, and was able to get help from those that had created the banner welcoming the Peoples Republic of China into the United Nations.&nbsp;The flag is Black, and in the center, in Black and white, the emblem of the League. The emblem is a white&nbsp;circle with a&nbsp;Black silhouette of a man, watch tower with a guard holding a rifle, and barbed wire. Above the circle are the white letters POW and MIA; below the circle is the motto "you are not forgotten".This Flag serves as a powerful symbol and is still flown at the White House. On March 9, 1989, a POW/MIA Flag&nbsp; was installed in the United States Capitol Rotunda as a result of legislation passed during the 100th session of Congress. To date this is the only non-federal flag displayed in the United States Capitol Rotunda.&nbsp;

This monument serves to honor those who have serve, died, or gone missing in action. The monument resides in front of the Putnam county courthouse. This began in 1971 by a MIA wife who pushed for further recognition of those taken POW and MIA during the Vietnam War. Agencies such as the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) keep track and account for all men who have been captured or declared missing during times of war and provide statistics on them.

G.I. P.O.W. M.I.A. and K.I.A Memorial 

General Winfield Scott was born into a family of modest means and became fatherless at a young age, but rose to become one of the leading American military figures of the 19th century. After he fought on the Niagara frontier during the War of 1812, Scott urged for the Army to focus on enforcing standards of professionalism. In 1821, Scott assembled the "General Regulations for the Army," which became the first systematic set of military bylaws. These bylaws set standards for what now is every expected aspect of a soldier's life. Named commanding general of the U.S. Army in 1841, Scott then ran for president for the Whig Party. Although unsuccessful as a nominee in 1852, Scott continued to serve as the presiding general of the army. Winfield Scott became known as a master tactician and during his fifty-three years of service, and is best known for his use of combined arms and use of the navy to maneuver his army or prevent his opponents from moving men or materiel. General Scott also enforced standards of professionalism of the U.S. Army. During his first few months in the War of 1812, he witnessed firsthand the troubles inherent in a large reliance on ill-trained citizen militia. In 1814 to counter what he had experienced, Winfield trained rigorously with American soldiers in Buffalo, New York. That summer he demonstrated was a well group of disciplined troops could do in the decisive victory near Chippewa Creek and the bloody stalemate along Lundy's Lane.  During the Mexican-American War, Scott used the navy and repeatedly maneuvered his opponents out of their defensive positions. His chief engineer, Captain Robert E. Lee, helped scout the route for some of these flank maneuvers, thus molding his own skills for a later war. And while Scott was not averse to using frontal assault style attacks, he preferred though to win victories by sieges or turning movements to flank his enemy and minimize casualties. While his tactics were derided by some who romanticized cavalry and bayonet charges, he won the respect of soldiers and other officers who valued the way the use of tactics and strategy could provide victory with the fewest casualties.

The town of Winfield incorporated on February 21, 1868 , and named after General Winfield Scott. One of the nation's longest-serving military officers, Scott served in the War of 1812 and was the leading U.S. Army officer in the Mexican-American War and at the start of the Civil War. Scott was also the presiding officer at the signing of the peace treaty that ended the Black Hawk War. 

General Winfield Scott Historical Marker

The West Virginia 7th Cavalry Company D were sent
to Winfield, the county seat of Putnam County for two reasons, the first,
protect riverboats along the Kanawha River between Charleston and Point Pleasant;
second, protect the town of Winfield from Confederate raids. The company dug
rifle pits, and fortifications around their camp, next to a mill and the brick
court house building, which was situated on a small hill across the town from
the river. In charge of these forces was Captain John M. Reynolds. 

Captain Philip Thurmond and his brother William, from
Fayette County, had established a group of raiders from adjacent counties,
serving as support to various Confederate groups since 1863. By 1864, they had
combined with the 44th Virginia Cavalry and served under Lt. Col.
Vinson A. Witcher, along with the 34th Virginia Cavalry Battalion.
In October 1864, Witcher’s and Thurmond’s forces made their way up from the Mud
River area of Western Virginia, through Teays Valley, to Winfield, in an effort
to attack the federal position there. 

Around 9 at night, Witcher’s and Thurmond’s forces arrived
just upstream of Winfield. There they quietly divided up into two columnns, one
under Thurmond’s command and the other under Witcher. Around 10 that night,
they made their attack. Thurmond’s columnn was the first to meet the union
troops in his charge, and was mortally wounded in the attack. The attack was
repelled by Company D after a short fight. Elias Thurmond, the brother of
Philip and William, was a federal soldier at Winfield at the time, and was
given pass to be with his brother as he died from his wounds. The Confederate
forces reported an additional four wounded and three lost as prisoners,
including William. Philip Thurmond’s body was buried in an unmarked grave near
the Hoge house, nearby, and his body remained there unclaimed until 2010. &nbsp;

On October 26, 1864, Thurmond’s Partisan Rangers and the 44th Virginia Cavalry attacked Union fortifications near the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield, West Virginia. Led by Captain Philip Thurmond and Lieutenant Colonel Vinson A. Witcher, approximately 400 Confederate soldiers and rangers made a nighttime attack on Company D of the West Virginia Cavalry, about 85 federal troops camping near the Kanawha River. The Confederate forces were repelled, and Thurmond was mortally wounded in the initial charge. 

Putnam County Courthouse

WWI Memorial Statue

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information