History of WV Civil War Troops
The following information is taken from
Myer's "History of West Virginia", 1915.
The population of what is now West Virginia, when the war broke
out, was, approximately, 360,000 men, women, and children. Of this
number about nine and two-thirds per cent served in the armies -
28,000 in the Federal cause and 7,000 in the Confederate army. The
Federals lost 3,200 men and the Confederates 824, or a total loss
of 4,024 men during the war.
West Virginia paid out approximately $2,000,000 in the way of
bounties and for caring for her soldiers and their families.
Following is the roster of West Virginia troops:
 | First Regiment, three months service. Organized at Wheeling,
May, 1861, from volunteer companies from Hancock, Brooke, Ohio
and Marshall Counties, at Camp Carlile, Wheeling Island;
participated in battle of Philippi, June 3rd, 1861; mustered out
of service at Wheeling, August 28, 1861. |
| First Regiment, three years service. Organized in the
Northern Panhandle in the fall of 1861; served three years;
non-veterans mustered out of service at Wheeling, November 26,
1864. The veterans, or re-enlisted men, were consolidated with
the veterans of 4th Infantry, to form 2nd Veteran Infantry
regiment. |
| Second Regiment, three years service. Organized at Beverly,
in August, 1861; consisted of companies from Wood, Taylor and
other counties. Company G was transferred to 1st Regiment Light
Artillery. By order of June 26, 1864, regiment was changed to
Mounted Infantry, but is known thereafter as 5th Regiment
Volunteer Cavalry, but never equipped as such. The non-veterans
were mustered out of service in August, 1863, and the
re-enlisted, 200 in number, consolidated with veterans of the
6th Mounted Infantry (then known as the 6th Regiment Volunteer
Cavalry) to form 6th Veteran Cavalry. |
| Third Regiment, three years service. Formed at Clarksburg,
July, 1861. January 26, 1864, regiment was changed to mounted
infantry, but henceforth known as 6th Regiment Volunteer
Cavalry. The non-veterans were mustered out of service at
Beverly, August, 1864, while the re-enlisted men were organized
into six companies, consolidated with re enlisted men of 5th
Regiment Cavalry - The mounted infantry of the 2nd Regiment -
and thus formed the 6th Regiment Veteran Cavalry, which should
have been designated in the military establishment as the 1st
Regiment Veteran Cavalry. |
| Fourth Regiment, three years service. Organized at Point
Pleasant, June to September, 1861. Non-veterans mustered out of
service when time expired in summer of 1864; re-enlisted men
consolidated with re-enlisted men of the 1st Regiment Volunteer
Infantry, to form 2nd Regiment Veteran Infantry. |
| Fifth Regiment, three years service. Organized at Ceredo,
July and August, 1861. Non-veterans mustered out of service at
the expiration of term of service, summer of 1864; re-enlisted
men consolidated with re-enlisted men of 9th Regiment Infantry,
to form 1st Regiment Veteran Infantry. |
| Sixth Regiment, three years service. Organized in August,
1861, and by special authority recruited to fifteen companies.
Non-veterans mustered out at the end of their term; while the
re-enlisted men, together with a large number of recruits,
preserved the regimental organization until June 10, 1865, when
it was mustered out at Wheeling. |
| Seventh Regiment, three years service. Organized at Wheeling
and Grafton, in July, August, September and October, 1861. No
regiment from West Virginia saw harder service. The non-veterans
were mustered out at the end of their term of service, but the
re-enlisted men, together with recruits, continued the regiment
in the field until it was mustered out of service at Munson's
Hill, Virginia, July 1st, 1865. |
| Eighth Regiment, three years service. Organized in Great
Kanawha Valley in autumn of 1861. June 13, 1863, by order of War
department, mounted and drilled as mounted infantry. By a second
order the 8th Mounted Infantry was changed to 7th Regiment
Cavalry. The non-veterans were discharged, but nearly 400
re-enlisted as veterans, and with about 250 recruits, preserved
the regimental organization until mustered out of service in
1865. |
| Ninth Regiment, three years service. Organized at
Guyandotte, February 28th, 1862, of companies from Cabell, Wood,
Jackson, Mason and Roane; the men in this regiment represented
twenty-four counties. In 1864 the non-veterans were discharged,
term of service expired, and 357 men re-enlisted, and with the
veterans of the 5th Regiment were consolidated and formed the
1st Veteran Infantry Regiment. |
| Tenth Regiment, three years service. Organization begun in
March, 1862; mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia,
August 9th, 1865. |
| Eleventh Regiment, three years service. Organization begun
in December, 1861, but not completed until September, 1862;
mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia, June, 17, 1865.
|
| Twelfth Regiment, three years service. Organized at Camp
Wiley, Wheeling Island, November 30th, 1862, composed of
companies recruited from Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall,
Marion, Taylor, and Harrison Counties; mustered out of service
at Richmond, Virginia, June 16, 1865. |
| Thirteenth Regiment, three years service. Organized with
eight companies at Point Pleasant, October 10th, 1862; mustered
out at Wheeling, June 22, 1865. |
| Fourteenth Regiment, three years service. Organized at Camp
Wiley, Wheeling Island, August and September, 1862; mustered out
at Cumberland, Maryland, June 27, 1865. |
| Fifteenth Regiment, three years service. Organized with nine
companies at Wheeling, and ordered to field October 16, 1862;
the tenth company was organized in February, 1864. Mustered out
of service at Richmond, Virginia, June 14, 1865. |
| Sixteenth Regiment. This regiment has an unique history. It
was organized at the old town of Alexandria, on the Potomac
River, nine miles below Washington City, and was the only
regiment in the Federal service from that part of Virginia east
of the Blue Ridge. It was largely composed of men from the
counties of Alexandria, Fairfax, Fauquier and Prince William,
with quite a number from the vicinity of Norfolk. The recorded
history of this regiment is very incomplete, hence nothing
appears in connected form concerning it in the
adjutant-general's reports. |
| Seventeenth Regiment, one years service. Organized at
Wheeling in August and September, 1864; nearly all the men
enlisted for one year; mustered out of service at Wheeling, June
30, 1865. |
| First Regiment, Veteran Infantry. Regiments were formed by
consolidation of re-enlisted men of 5th and 9th Regiments
Infantry; mustered out of service at Cumberland, Maryland, July
21st, 1865. |
| Second Regiment Veteran Infantry. Formed by consolidation of
re-enlisted men of 1st and 4th Regiments Infantry; mustered out
of service at Clarksburg, July 16, 1865. |
Cavalry Artillery Volunteers
| First Regiment Light Artillery Vols., three years service.
This was the only artillery regiment in the service of the U.S.
from W. Va. It consisted of eight batteries, as follows: Battery
A, the first battery organized under the Restored Government of
Virginia. Its non-veterans were mustered out of service August
8, 1864, its re-enlisted men being added to Battery F. Battery B
was mustered out October 23, 1864; its re-enlisted men were
added to Battery E. Batteries C and D continued in service until
the close of the war. Battery E was recruited at Buckannon,
August, 1862. Battery F was organized in 1861 as Company C of
the 6th Regiment Infantry, and was transferred to the artillery
regiment. It was mustered out of service September 14, 1864; its
re-enlisted men, with those previously transferred from Battery
A, now reorganized a veteran battery called Battery A. Battery G
was organized in 1861 as Company G of the 2nd Regiment Infantry
Vols., but was transferred to the artillery regiment; it was
mustered out of service August 8th, 1864. Battery H remained in
the service until the end of the war. The regiment was mustered
out at Wheeling. |
| The Wheeling Independent Exempt Infantry was a body of
infantry consisting of two organizations styled Company A and
Company B, which had no regimental connection. They were made up
of men enlisted in the Northern Panhandle, who were stationed at
Wheeling throughout the war as city guard or, more strictly
speaking, Capitol Guards, for Wheeling was not only the seat of
the Restored Government, but the capital of West Virginia after
the admission of the State into the Union. These two companies
were on duty during the entire Civil War period, and were not
required to perform other military service. |
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