The Battle of Philippi formed part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War, and was fought in and around Philippi, Virginia (now West Virginia) on June 3, 1861.

A Union victory, it is the first organized land action of the war, though generally viewed as a skirmish rather than a battle.

However, the Northern press celebrates it as an epic triumph, and this encourages Congress to call for the drive on Richmond that ends with the Union defeat at First Bull Run in July.

It brings overnight fame to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, and is notable for the first battlefield amputations.

It also encourages the western counties of Virginia to form their own Union state.

As the largely-untrained Confederates had fled the battlefield with barely any resistance, the Union jokingly refers to the engagement as the Philippi Races.