Virginia 50th Infantry (Confederate)
1861-07-03
Organized - Virginia 50th Infantry - Virginia
1861-09-10
Battle - Carnifex Ferry - Nicholas County, West Virginia
On September 10, 1861, Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result the movement f…READ MORE
1862-02-11
Battle - Fort Donelson - Fort Donelson, Tennessee
Early in the war, Union commanders realized control of the major rivers would be the key to success in the Western Theater.READ MORE
1862-05-23
Battle - Lewisburg, West Virginia
1862-05-31
Battle - Seven Pines - Henrico County, Virginia
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston withdrew his army from the Virginia Peninsula toward the Confederate capital of Richmond as Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's army pursued him. By the end of May, Johnston held a defensive position seven miles east of the city on the Richmond and York River Railroad. McClellan's army facing Johnston straddled the Chickahominy River and stretched south. Capturing the initiative from his Union foe, Johnston attempted to overwhelm two Federal corps isolated south of the river. The Confed…READ MORE
1862-09-13
Battle - Charleston (1862) - Charleston, West Virginia
1863-04-30
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Alexander S. Vandeventer, and Major Lynville J. Perkins
ColonelAlexander S. Vandeventer
MajorLynville J. Perkins
1863-04-30
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General John R. Jones, Colonel Alexander S. Vandeventer, and Colonel Thomas S. Garnett
1863-04-30
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Raleigh E. Colston
Brigadier GeneralRaleigh E. Colston
1863-04-30
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Thomas S. Garnett
ColonelThomas S. Garnett
1863-04-30
Battle - Chancellorsville - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
On April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a turning movement designed to pry Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia out of its lines at Fredericksburg.READ MORE
1863-06-13
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Logan H. N. Solyer
Lieutenant ColonelLogan H. N. Solyer
1863-06-13
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General John M. Jones
Brigadier GeneralJohn M. Jones
1863-06-13
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Edward "Allegheny" Johnson
Major GeneralEdward "Allegheny" Johnson
1863-06-13
Battle - Second Winchester - Frederick County, Virginia; Winchester County, Virginia
1863-07-01
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Logan H. N. Salyer, and Major L. J. Perkins
Lieutenant ColonelLogan H. N. Salyer
MajorL. J. Perkins
1863-07-01
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General John M. Jones, and Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. Dungan
Brigadier GeneralJohn M. Jones
Lieutenant ColonelRobert H. Dungan
1863-07-01
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Edward Johnson
Major GeneralEdward Johnson
1863-07-01
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General John M. Jones
Brigadier GeneralJohn M. Jones
1863-07-01
Battle - Gettysburg - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE
1863-07-06
Battle - Williamsport - Washington County, Maryland
During the night of July 4-5th, General Robert E. Lee's battered army began its retreat from Gettysburg, moving southwest toward Hagerstown and the Potomac River crossing at Williamsport, screened by Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry. Lee's infantry reached the rain-swollen Potomac but could not cross, the pontoon bridge having been destroyed by a cavalry raid. On July 11th, Lee entrenched a line protecting the river crossings at Williamsport and waited for Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's army to advance. On…READ MORE
1863-07-06
Battle - Williamsport, Maryland
1863-07-10
Battle - Hagerstown, Maryland
1863-11-27
Battle - Mine Run - Orange County, Virginia
After the inconclusive Bristoe Campaign in the fall of 1863, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade planned one more offensive against Gen. Robert E. Lee in northern Virginia before winter weather ended military operations. In late November, Meade attempted to steal a march southeast from Culpeper Courthouse, turn south through the Wilderness and strike the right flank of the Confederate army south of the Rapidan River. On November 27th, Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early, in command of Ewell's Corps, marched east on the Orange…READ MORE
1863-11-28
Battle - Mine Run, Virginia
1863-11-30
Battle - Mine Run, Virginia
1864-05-05
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General John M. Jones, and Colonel William A. Witcher
Brigadier GeneralJohn M. Jones
ColonelWilliam A. Witcher
1864-05-05
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General John M. Jones
Brigadier GeneralJohn M. Jones
1864-05-05
Battle - Wilderness - Spotsylvania County, Virginia; Orange County, Virginia
The first battle between Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee erupted late in the morning of May 5, 1864, as Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union V Corps attacked Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps on the Orange Turnpike southwest of the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Although Federal infantry managed to break through at several points, the Confederate line held. Fighting shifted to the south as Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps engaged Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps and ele…READ MORE
1864-05-08
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel John C. Higginbotham, Colonel Robert H. Dungan, and Colonel William Witcher
1864-05-08
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel William Witcher
ColonelWilliam Witcher
1864-05-08
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel John C. Higginbotham
ColonelJohn C. Higginbotham
1864-05-08
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Edward Johnson
Major GeneralEdward Johnson
1864-05-08
Battle - Spotsylvania Court House - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant marched the Union army south with the hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House and preventing Robert E. Lee's army from retreating further. Lee's Confederates, however, managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. Fighting began on May 8th, when the Union Fifth Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and the Sixth Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick engaged Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson's First Corps at Laurel Hi…READ MORE
1864-05-31
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General William Terry
Brigadier GeneralWilliam Terry
1864-05-31
Leadership Change - Division - Major General John B. Gordon
Major GeneralJohn B. Gordon
1864-05-31
Battle - Cold Harbor - Hanover County; near Mechanicsville, Virginia
After two days of inconclusive fighting along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee turned their sights on the crossroads of Cold Harbor. Roads emanating through this critical junction led to Richmond as well as supply and reinforcement sources for the Union army. On May 31, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry captured Cold Harbor. The next day, Sheridan held the crossroads against a Confederate attack. With reinforcements from both armies arriving…READ MORE
1864-07-09
Battle - Monocacy - Frederick County, Maryland
After marching north down the Shenandoah Valley from Lynchburg, the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early side-stepped the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry and crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown into Maryland on July 5-6th, 1864. On July 9th, a makeshift Union force under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace attempted to stop Early's invading Confederate divisions along the Monocacy River, just east of Frederick. The strategic area was near the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Georgetown…READ MORE
1864-07-10
Battle - Monocacy, Maryland
1864-07-11
Battle - Fort Stevens - District of Columbia, DC
After his victory over Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace at the Battle of Monocacy in central Maryland on July 9th, Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early pressed his advantage and moved south toward the Union capital in Washington, DC. On July 11th, Early's exhausted Confederates reached the outskirts of Washington near Silver Spring. Skirmishers advanced to feel the fortifications that encircled the city, which at the time were manned only by Home Guards, clerks, and convalescent troops. During the night, Union reinfo…READ MORE
1864-07-19
Battle - Winchester, Virginia
1864-09-19
Battle - Third Winchester - Frederick County, Virginia; Winchester, Virginia
To clear the Shenandoah River valley of Confederates, Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan moved on Winchester in mid-September 1864. Sheridan's force of over 39,000 men was more than twice the size of Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Confederate army defending the valley. After Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw's division left Winchester to rejoin Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg, Early renewed his raids on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Martinsburg in the lower valley, dispersing his four remaining infantry divisions. On Septem…READ MORE
1864-09-21
Battle - Fisher's Hill - Shenandoah County, Virginia
Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Army of the Valley, bloodied by its defeat at the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19th, retreated 20 miles up the valley and took a defensive position in an east-west line across Fisher's Hill, southwest of Strasburg. Maj. Gen. Phillip Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah, in accordance with Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's orders, aggressively pursued Early. Sheridan, outnumbering Early about three to one, noted that the right of the Confederate line was anchored o…READ MORE
1864-10-19
Leadership Change - Brigade - undefined --
1864-10-19
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton
Brigadier GeneralGabriel C. Wharton
1864-10-19
Battle - Cedar Creek - Frederick County, Virginia; Shenandoah County, Virginia; Warren County, Virginia
Also known as: Cedar Creek, Belle GroveREAD MORE
1865-03-02
Battle - Waynesboro, Virginia - Augusta County, Virginia
1865-03-02
Mustered Out - Virginia 50th Infantry - Virginia
1865-04-09
Battle - Appomattox Court House - Appomattox Court House, Virginia
Between 26,000 and 28,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered and were paroled.READ MORE
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