Confederate Regiments & Batteries > Virginia
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1861
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| May 3 | Mustered into Virginia service for one year under the command of Acting Colonel J.H. Drake. Formed from companies of independent horse in the field at Harpers Ferry. Virginia. It was made up of 12 companies of men from the counties of Amelia, Augusta, Berkeley, Clarke, Frederick, Gloucester, Jefferson, Loudoun, Rockbridge, Rockingham and Washington:
Company A, Newtown Light Dragoons: Captain J. H. Drake |
| July 1 | Mustered into one year’s Confederate service |
| July 16 | Lieutenant Colonel James E.B. Stuart, Provisional Army of Virginia, was appointed colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry. |
| July 21 |
Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)The 1st Virginia Cavalry’s charge helped shatter the Federal line. Captain Hardesty of company C resigned. H.M. Nelson was appointed captain but was not present for duty, so Lieutenant W. Taylor of Company D took temporary command of Company C for the battle. |
| August | Major William E. Jones was promoted to colonel |
| September 24 | Colonel Stuart was promoted to brigadier general. |
| September 29 | Fitzhugh Lee was appointed lieutenant colonel |
| October 9 | Company D was assigned to the 6th Virginia Cavalry. |
| Colonel Jones lost to Lieutenant Colonel Fitzhugh Lee in the election for colonel in the fall reorganization of the army. Lee was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry and Jones became colonel of the 7th Virginia Cavalry. | |
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1862
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| April | The regiment totaled 437 men. Fitzhugh Lee was elected colonel, James H. Drake to lieutenant colonel and and Captain Luke Tiernan Brien to major. |
Seven Days Before Richmond |
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| June 12-15 |
Stuart’s Ride Around McClellan |
| July 24 | Colonel Lee was promoted to brigadier general. Lieutenant Colonel Drake was promoted to Colonel, Major Brien to lieutenant colonel, and Captain Richard W. Carter of Company H was promoted to major. |
| July 28 | The Cavalry Division of the Army of Northern Virginia was created under the command of Major General James E.B. Stuart. The 1st Virginia was assigned to the brigade of Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee, along with the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 9th Virginia Cavalry and Breathed’s Battery of Horse Artillery. |
| September 17 |
Battle of AntietamCommanded by Lieutenant Colonel Brien. From the War Department marker for F. Lee’s Brigade on the Antietam battlefield: The 1st Cavalry, detached on the 10th, rejoined on the morning of the 17th and the Brigade took position on the left of Jackson’s Command, which it assisted in resisting the Union advance. On September 18th and 19th the Brigade covered the withdrawal of the Army of Northern Virginia to the south bank of the Potomac. |
| October | Lieutenant Colonel Brien resigned, probably due to health reasons. Major Carter was promoted to lieutenant colonel. |
| December |
Battle of Fredericksburg |
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1863
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| March 17 |
Battle of Kelly’s Ford |
| April 30-May 6 |
Chancellorsville Campaign |
| June 9 |
Battle of Brandy Station |
| July 1-3 |
Battle of GettysburgThe 1st Virginia Cavalry was commanded by Colonel James Drake. It lost 25 men out of the 310 engaged From the monument to F. Lee’s Brigade on the Gettysburg battlefield: July 3. The Battalion being on duty with Ewell’s Corps the Brigade brought only five regiments to this field where it arrived soon after midday and took position on the left of Hampton’s Brigade on the edge of the neighboring woods. It participated actively in the conflict which ensued. |
| July 15 | Shepherdstown, West Virginia |
| July 16 |
Leetown, West VirginiaColonel James Drake was killed. Major William A. Morgan was wounded, but remained with the regiment and took command. Morgan was promoted to lieutenant colonel effective the next day. |
| September 9 | Stuart’s Cavalry Division was enlarged to a corps. Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee was promoted to major general and given command of a division. Colonel Williams Wickham was promoted to brigadier general and given command of the brigade, which was assigned to Fitz Lee’s division. |
| November 26-December 2 |
Mine Run Campaign |
| December 17 | Colonel Carter was captured at Upperville, near his home and well away from his regiment. He would spend the next eight months in Federal prison camps at Camp Chase, Ohio, Fort Delaware and Hilton Head. |
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1864
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| February 6-7 | Operations on the Rapidan, Morton’s Ford |
| February 28 – March 4 |
Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid, Defence of Richmond |
| March 1 | Skirmishes at Hanover Junction and Ashland |
| March 3 | Skirmish at Tunstall Station |
| May 5-7 |
Battle of The Wilderness |
| May 7 |
Battle of Todd’s Tavern |
| May 8 | Alsop’s Farm, Spotsylvania |
| May 9-24 | Sheridan’s Expedition to the James |
| May 9-10 | Beaver Dam Station |
| May 11 |
Yellow TavernColonel William Cheek was badly wounded. |
| May 11 | Ground Squirrel Church |
| August 4 | Colonel Carter was exchanged and returned to command of the regiment. |
| mid-August | The regiment transferred with Fitz Lee’s Division to the Shenandoah Valley with Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s Army of the Valley |
| August 16 | Front Royal |
| August 18 | Opequon Creek |
| August 19-21 | Berryville |
| September 1864 | The 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment reported 318 men fit for duty |
| October 9 |
Battle of Tom’s BrookColonel Carter was cashiered for “misbehavior in the face of the enemy” and neglect of duty.” |
| November | Brigadier General Wickham resigned to take up his seat in Congress. Colonel Thomas Mumford of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry took command of the brigade as senior colonel. |
| December | Lieutenant Colonel Morgan was promoted to colonel. |
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1865
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| January | The brigade’s men were disbanded to their homes to forage their mounts through the winter. |
| mid-March | The regiment re-formed and moved to the Richmond area |
| April 1 |
Battle of Five Forks |
| April 6 |
Battle of High Bridge |
| April 9 |
Appomattox Court HouseThe Cavalry cut through Union lines and escaped, leaving behind only one member who surrendered there. |
| April 11 | the 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment disbanded at Lynchburg. |