Country United States Branch Cavalry | Allegiance Union (loyal Virginia) Colonel Henry Anisansel 1861 | |
Active July 10, 1861 to July 8, 1865 Equipment First Battle of Kernstown
Battle of Second Bull Run
Battle of Chantilly
Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Port Republic
Battle of Kernstown II
Battle of Lynchburg
Battle of Rutherford's Farm
Battle of Opequon (a.k.a. Third Battle of Winchester)
Battle of Fisher's Hill
Battle of Cedar Creek
Battle of Five Forks
Battle of Sailor's Creek | ||
The 1st West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was organized in Wheeling, Clarksburg, and Morgantown in western Virginia (now West Virginia between July 10 and November 25, 1861. About one third of the members of the regiment were from what is now West Virginia, especially Wheeling. Others were from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and what is now the current state of Virginia. The unit was the 1st Regiment of Loyal Virginia Volunteer Cavalry until the state of West Virginia was created in 1863.
Contents
The regiment was often split during the first two years of the war. Four companies fought at the Battle of Philippi, three at Battle of Cedar Mountain, and two at the Battle of Antietam. The entire regiment fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. The regiment also spent time guarding the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. During July 1864, the regiment began fighting in the Shenandoah Valley—often in concert with the 2nd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and the 3rd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment In August 1864, the regiment was involved in a surprise attack and defeat of two Confederate cavalry brigades led by General John McCausland. This Union victory ruined the Confederate cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley, and it was never again the dominant force it once was.
By the end of 1864, the regiment was part of General George Armstrong Custer's 3rd Division, Cavalry Corps—which, along with another division, remained under the command of General Philip Sheridan. Sheridan's two cavalry divisions continued to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, and were responsible for eliminating Confederate General Jubal Early's Army of the Valley from the war. During March 1865, Sheridan moved his two divisions eastward toward Petersburg, Virginia. The regiment, as part of Capehart's Fighting Brigade in Custer's division, was part of a crucial cavalry charge in the Union victory at the Battle of Sailor's Creek. The regiment was also present during the Appomattox Campaign and the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. After the war, the 1st West Virginia Cavalry participated in the Grand Review of the Armies, and was mustered out on July 8, 1865.
Service
An analysis of the regiment by the George Tyler Moore Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia shows that it was composed of 32% native West Virginians, while 23% were from Pennsylvania, 16% Ohio, 6% Virginia, 10% were German immigrants and 13% were from other U.S. states.
The regiment was mustered out on July 8, 1865.
Fourteen men of the regiment performed action that later earned them the Medal of Honor, the most of any Civil War regiment:
Casualties
The 1st West Virginia Cavalry suffered 10 officers and 71 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded in battle and 126 enlisted men dead from disease, for a total of 207 fatalities.[1]