History of Civil War Troops

NOTE: Many Lawrence County, Ohio men, served in the various WV Civil War Troops-men.

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 percent 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, 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 the battle of Philippi, June 3, 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 on November 26, 1864.
• The veterans, or re-enlisted men, were consolidated with the veterans of the 4th Infantry to form the 2nd Veteran Infantry regiment.
• Second Regiment, three years service. Organized at Beverly in August 1861, it consisted of companies from Wood, Taylor, and other counties. Company G was transferred to the 1st Regiment Light Artillery. By order of June 26, 1864, the Regiment was changed to Mounted Infantry, but is known thereafter as 5th Regiment Volafter thatalry, 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 the 6th Veteran Cavalry.
• Third Regiment, three years service. They were formed at Clarksburg in July 1861. On January 26, 1864, the Regiment was changed to mounted Infantry, now known as the 6th Regiment Volunteer Cavalry.
• The non-veterans were mustered out of service at Beverly in 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. They were organized at Point Pleasant from June to September 1861. Non-veterans mustered out of service when time expired in the summer of 1864; re-enlisted men consolidated with re-enlisted men of the 1st Regiment Volunteer Infantry to form the 2nd Regiment Veteran Infantry.
• Fifth Regiment, three years service. They were organized at Ceredo in July and August 1861. Non-veterans mustered out of service at the expiration of the term of service in the summer of 1864; re-enlisted men consolidated with re-enlisted men of the 9th Regiment Infantry to form the 1st Regiment Veteran Infantry.
• Sixth Regiment, three years service. They were organized in August 1861 and recruited to fifteen companies by special authority. Non-veterans mustered out at the end of their term. At the same time, the re-enlisted men, together with many recruits, preserved the regimental organization until June 10, 1865, when it was mustered out at Wheeling.
• Seventh Regiment, three years service. They were 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 service. Still, the re-enlisted men and recruits continued the Regiment in the field until it was mustered out of service at Munson’s Hill, Virginia, on July 1, 1865.
• Eighth Regiment, three years service. They were organized in Great Kanawha Valley in the autumn of 1861. June 13, 1863, by order of the War Department, mounted and drilled as Infantry. A second order changed the 8th Mounted Infantry to the 7th Regiment Cavalry. The non-veterans were discharged, but nearly 400 were 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 28, 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, the term of service expired, and 357 men re-enlisted, with the veterans of the 5th Regiment consolidated and forming the 1st Veteran Infantry Regiment.
• Tenth Regiment, three years service. The organization began in March 1862; mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia, on August 9, 1865.
• Eleventh Regiment, three years service. The organization began in December 1861 but was not completed until September 1862; it mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia, on June 17, 1865.
• Twelfth Regiment, three years service. Organized at Camp Wiley, Wheeling Island, November 30, 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 10, 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 and mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia, June 14, 1865.
• Sixteenth Regiment. This Regiment has a unique history. It was organized at the old town of Alexandria, on the Potomac River, nine miles below Washington City. It was the only Federal Service regiment 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 incomplete. Hence nothing appears in the connected form concerning it in the adjutant-general’s reports.
• Seventeenth Regiment, one year service. Organized at Wheeling in August and September 1864, nearly all the men enlisted for one year; mustered out of service at Wheeling on June 30, 1865.
• First Regiment, Veteran Infantry. Regiments were formed by consolidating re-enlisted men of the 5th and 9th Regiments Infantry, mustered out of service at Cumberland, Maryland, on July 21, 1865.
• Second Regiment Veteran Infantry. Formed by the 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 on August 8, 1864, its re-enlisted men being added to Battery F. Battery B was mustered out on 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 Buckhannon in 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 on 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 8, 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 was stationed at Wheeling throughout the war as a 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 Civil War and were not required to perform other military services.

SOURCE:  Myer’s “History of West Virginia,” 1915.