West Virginia 1st Volunteer Infantry (Union)

Philippi

Fighting at Philippi in Barbour County on June 3, 1861, was the first organized land battle of the war. Union troops had been ordered to the vicinity to secure the critical river crossings and rail junctions. Confederate units in the area recruiting troops for Southern service concentrated at Philippi as Union columns advanced from the north and west.READ MORE

Brigadier GeneralJames Shields

First Kernstown

In the spring of 1862, relying on faulty intelligence that under-reported the strength of the Union garrison at Winchester in the lower Shenandoah Valley, Confederate Maj. Gen. 'Stonewall' Jackson marched aggressively north with his 3,800-man division. In Winchester, the 8,500 Federals were a detachment from the Army of the Potomac's Fifth Corps, and were commanded by Col. Nathan Kimball, who outnumbered Jackson more than two to one. Kimball established a defensive position on the Valley Turnpike and Midd…READ MORE

ColonelJoseph Thoburn

Brigadier GeneralErastus B. Tyler

Brigadier GeneralJames Shields

Port Republic

One day after the battle at Cross Keys, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson concentrated his division east of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River near Port Republic against the isolated brigades of Brig. Gen. Erastus Tyler and Col. Samuel S. Carroll. Confederate assaults across the bottomland of the Lewis family farm, along the River Road, spearheaded by the Stonewall Brigade, were repulsed with heavy casualties. A Confederate flank attack, including a brigade of the Louisiana Tigers, overtook an ar…READ MORE

ColonelSamuel S. Carroll

Brigadier GeneralJames B. Ricketts

Cedar Mountain

Maj. Gen. John Pope was placed in command of the newly-constituted Army of Virginia on June 26th. Pope's orders were to defend Washington DC and Union-held northern Virginia while the Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan battled Robert E. Lee outside of Richmond. When McClellan was defeated at the end of the Seven Days battles less than a week later, Lee turned his attention north toward Pope while McClellan regrouped his army. Pope's three army corps were arrayed in a line from the Blu…READ MORE

Thoroughfare Gap

After the early summer collapse of the Union Peninsula Campaign offensive to capture Richmond, Robert E. Lee sought to move his army north and threaten Washington DC before Union forces could regroup. His trusted and highly capable "wing" commanders, Maj. Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson and Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet, brought Lee's army within 35 miles of the Union capital by the end of August. Jackson waited for the arriving Union army near Manassas. Longstreet, trailing Jackson by a day, met the Union divisi…READ MORE

Second Bull Run

After the early summer collapse of the Union Peninsula Campaign offensive to capture Richmond, Robert E. Lee sought to move his army north and threaten Washington DC before Union forces could regroup.READ MORE

ColonelJoseph Thoburn

Brigadier GeneralJeremiah C. Sullivan

New Market

In conjunction with other spring 1864 offensives against strategic points in the Confederacy, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel to move up the Shenandoah Valley along the Valley Turnpike to destroy the railroad and canal complex at Lynchburg. Union control of the strategic and agriculturally rich valley was a crucial part of Grant's plans. Receiving word that the Union Army had entered the valley, Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge pulled together all available troops to repulse the invad…READ MORE

Colonel William B. Curtis

ColonelJoseph Thoburn

ColonelThomas M. Harris

ColonelJoseph Thoburn

Cedar Creek

Also known as: Cedar Creek, Belle GroveREAD MORE