District of Columbia 1st Battalion Cavalry (Union)
1861-10-21
Battle - Ball's Bluff - Loudoun County, Virginia
On the evening of October 20, 1861, Union army commander George B. McClellan ordered Gen. Charles Stone to send a scouting party across the Potomac River to identify the positions of Confederate Col. Nathan Evans's troops near Leesburg. In the darkness the party's inexperienced leader, Capt. Chase Philbrick, mistook a line of trees for a line of tents, and reported that he had stumbled across an unguarded Confederate camp. Early the next day, Col. Charles Devens was sent across the river to attack the ca…READ MORE
1863-06-01
Organized - District of Columbia 1st Battalion Cavalry - District of Columbia
1864-06-15
Battle - Second Petersburg - Petersburg, Virginia
As the Overland Campaign concluded, the strategic goals of Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant shifted from the defeat of Robert E. Lee's army in the field to eliminating the supply and communication routes to the Confederate capital at Richmond. The city of Petersburg, 24 miles south of Richmond, was the junction point of five railroads that supplied the entire upper James River region. Grant knew Petersburg was the key to the capture of Richmond and that Lee would be forced to defend it. Marching south from Co…READ MORE
1864-08-18
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Samuel P. Spear
ColonelSamuel P. Spear
1864-08-18
Leadership Change - Division - undefined Army of the James
1864-08-18
Battle - Globe Tavern - Petersburg, Virginia
1864-09-20
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General August V. Kautz
Brigadier GeneralAugust V. Kautz
1864-09-20
Battle - Chaffin's Farm - Henrico County, Virginia
1864-10-07
Battle - Darbytown and New Market Roads - Henrico County, Virginia
1865-04-01
Leadership Change - Regiment - Major J. Stannard Baker
MajorJ. Stannard Baker
1865-04-01
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Andrew W. Evans, and Colonel Samuel P. Spear
ColonelAndrew W. Evans
ColonelSamuel P. Spear
1865-04-01
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Ranald S. Mackenzie
Brigadier GeneralRanald S. Mackenzie
1865-04-01
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Samuel P. Spear
ColonelSamuel P. Spear
1865-04-01
Battle - Five Forks - Five Forks, Virginia
The Union victory along the White Oak Road on March 31st threatened to destabilize the entire Confederate line west of Petersburg. General Robert E. Lee ordered Maj. Gen. George Pickett with his infantry division and the cavalry divisions of Col. Thomas Munford, Maj. Gen. W.H.F. Lee, and Maj. Gen Thomas Rosser to hold the vital crossroads of Five Forks, along the White Oak Road five miles west of the previous fighting there. Pickett's defensive line was not well constructed, and much of his cavalry force w…READ MORE
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
1865-10-26
Mustered Out - District of Columbia 1st Battalion Cavalry - District of Columbia
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