Active May 1861 – Spring 1865 Role Infantry | Country Confederacy Disbanded April 1865 | |
Allegiance Confederate States of America Engagements First Battle of Bull Run
Seven Days' Battles
Second Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Antietam
Battle of Fredericksburg
Siege of Suffolk
Battle of Cold Harbor
Siege of Petersburg
Battle of Five Forks
Battle of Sailor's Creek | ||
The 18th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia.
The 18th Virginia completed its organization in May, 1861. Its members were recruited at Danville and Farmville, and in the counties of Nottoway, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Appomattox, Pittsylvania, and Charlotte.
Company A (Danville Blues) - many men from Danville Virginia
Company B (Danville Grays) - many men from Danville, Virginia Company C (Nottoway Rifle Guards) - many men from Nottoway County
Company D (Prospect Rifle Grays) - many men from Prince Edward County
Company E (Black Eagle Rifles) - many men from Cumberland County
Company F (Farmville Guard) - many men from Farmville, Virginia (Prince Edward and Cumberland Counties) Company G (Nottoway Grays) - many men from Nottoway County
Company H (Appomattox Grays) - many men from Appomattox County
Company I (Spring Garden Blues) - many men from Pittsylvania County
Company K (Charlotte Rifles) - many men from Charlotte County, mustered in February 1861. Reorganized April 1862 with Captains Thomas J. Spencer, Mathew Lyle, Robert Morton Shepperson, Martin Luther Covington, William Henry Smith.
The unit fought at First Manassas under General Cocke, then was assigned to General Pickett's, Garnett's, and Hunton's Brigade. It participated in the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from Williamsburg to Gettysburg except when it was detached to Suffolk with Longstreet. Later it served in North Carolina, returned to Virginia, and took an active part in the battles of Drewry's Bluff and Cold Harbor. The 18th endured the hardships of the Petersburg trenches north of the James River and saw action around Appomattox.
It lost 6 killed and 13 wounded at First Manassas and in April, 1862, had 700 men fit for duty. The unit reported 206 casualties during the Seven Days' Battles, and of the 120 engaged in the Maryland Campaign, thirty-six percent of the 312 in action were killed, wounded, or missing. Many were captured at Sayler's Creek and only 2 officers and 32 men surrendered.
The field officers were Colonels Henry A. Carrington and Robert E. Withers, Lieutenant Colonel George C. Cabell, and Major Edwin G. Wall.
Robert Lewis Dabney briefly served as chaplain for the regiment, before becoming chief of staff for Stonewall Jackson.