On January 31, 1864, Kitchen's home in Shanghai, West Virginia, was attacked by a Confederate guerilla unit. Kitchen and his son Joseph Garrison Kitchen threatened the soldiers with revolvers after they entered the house. Kitchen's daughter sneaked onto a second-story porch and played a bugle call, convincing the Confederates that Federal cavalry were approaching. After the Confederates fled, Kitchen quickly left Berkeley County and returned to the congressional session in Washington, DC. This incident was later cited by the House Committee of Elections as evidence of the wartime conditions found in Berkeley County and other border counties in the 7th District. These conditions were attributed to disrupting the election process in the area.