Country Confederacy Role Light Infantry | Branch Infantry Nickname(s) Beckley's Battalion | |
Active December 21, 1863 – March 2, 1865 Allegiance Confederate States of America | ||
The 45th Virginia Battalion was formed in detachments throughout southern West Virginia, Logan, Wayne, Wyoming, and Boone counties, from April to December 1863 until it reached six companies with 287 men. Most men who joined the newly formed infantry unit had previously served with Lieutenant Colonel Henry M. Beckley in the 1st Regiment of the Virginia State Line, a unit that had disbanded that January. It was from their commander's name that the battalion received its nickname; since it served alongside the 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment it was more frequently referred to as Beckley's Battalion to reduce confusion.
The battalion and its detachments engaged in many skirmishes while serving with the Department of Western Virginia before becoming engaged at the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain where the battalion's strength was reported as 183 officers and men, suffering four killed and eleven wounded. With the rest of Colonel John McCausland's forces the Forty-Fifth was engaged along the New River before turning east to fight at the Battle of Piedmont with 175 men and the rest of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Like most other units of Early's army, the 45th Battalion surrendered after the defeat at Waynesboro.