10th Virginia Cavalry Regiment

10th Virginia Cavalry Regiment
Flag of Virginia, 1861
ActiveMay 1862 – April 1865
DisbandedApril 1865
Country CSA
Branch Confederate States Army
TypeCavalry
SizeRegiment
EngagementsAmerican Civil War
  • Seven Days' Battles
  • Second Battle of Bull Run
  • Battle of Antietam
  • Battle of Fredericksburg
  • Battle of Chancellorsville
  • Battle of Brandy Station
  • Battle of Gettysburg
  • Bristoe Campaign
  • Overland Campaign
  • Siege of Petersburg
  • Valley Campaigns of 1864
  • Appomattox Campaign
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Col. Robert A. Caskie
Col. William B. Clement
Col. J. Lucius Davis
Military unit

The 10th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry 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.

Organization

Virginia's 10th Cavalry Regiment, formerly called 1st Cavalry Regiment, Wise Legion and 8th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, was organized in May 1862. Many of the men were from Richmond, Albemarle, Rockingham, Kanawha, Jackson and Henrico counties of Virginia.[1]

Service

The 10th Virginia Cavalry served in Hampton's, W.H.F. Lee's, Chambliss' and Beale's brigades in the Army of Northern Virginia.[2] After fighting in the Seven Days Battles, it saw action at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Brandy Station, Upperville, Gettysburg, Bristoe, and Mine Run. It was involved in the Wilderness Campaign, the defense of Richmond and Petersburg, and the Appomattox Courthouse operations.[3][4][5]

The regiment fought at Gettysburg at 236 soldiers strength.[6][7]

Officers

Its commanders were Colonels Robert A. Caskie, William B. Clement, and J. Lucius Davis; and Lieutenant Colonel Zachariah S. McGruder.

Captain William Hartman Kable of the 10th Virginia was also the founder of the Kable School, later Staunton Military Academy, many of the facilities of which are now in use by Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.

Surrender

The 10th Virginia Cavalry surrendered at Appomattox with 3 officers and 19 men; all others escaped hiding the regimental colors with the help of a local woman.[8]

  • Soldiers of the 10th Virginia Cavalry
  • Col. Robert Alexander Caskie
    Col. Robert Alexander Caskie
  • Col. James Lucius Davis Sr.
    Col. James Lucius Davis Sr.
  • Capt. William Hartman Kable
    Capt. William Hartman Kable
  • Sergeant Al. Speirs George
    Sergeant Al. Speirs George
  • Private William Anthony Holland of Co. K, with Bowie knife and Colt Army Model 1860 revolver
    Private William Anthony Holland of Co. K, with Bowie knife and Colt Army Model 1860 revolver
  • Charles Chapman of Company A, left, and unidentified soldier
    Charles Chapman of Company A, left, and unidentified soldier

See also

  • American Civil War portal
  • flagVirginia portal

References

  1. ^ Hudnall, William Roosevelt. Three Confederate Soldiers from Kanawha County, West Virginia: The Hudnalls, Why and How They Served and the Men Who Led Them. New Canton, Va: Kellys Creek Publishers, 2001.
  2. ^ McClellan, Henry Brainerd. The life and campaigns of Major-General J. E. B. Stuart: Commander of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia. Richmond, Va.: J. W. Randolph and English, 1885, p. 187.
  3. ^ Reports of the Operations of the Army of Northern Virginia, Volume 1. By Confederate States of America, p. 398.
  4. ^ Driver, Robert J. 10th Virginia Cavalry. Virginia regimental histories series. Lynchburg, Va: H. E. Howard, 1992. ISBN 978-1561900398
  5. ^ The War of the Rebellion: Formal reports, by War Department, p. 475.
  6. ^ Journal of the United States Cavalry Association, Volume 1, p. 348.
  7. ^ 10th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (1st Cavalry Regiment, Wise Legion), NPS
  8. ^ Coski, John M. The Confederate Battle Flag: America’s Most Embattled Emblem. Harvard University Press, 2006, p. 41. ISBN 9780674019836

Further reading

  • Archibald Atkinston, Jr, Surgeon, CSA, 31st Virginia Infantry and 10th Virginia Cavalry, 1861-65: A Memoir
  • Whither bound? By the chaplain 10th Virginia cavalry.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 10th Virginia Cavalry.
  • 10th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry (1st Cavalry Regiment, Wise Legion) Roster, NPS
  • Antietam: 10th Virginia Cavalry
  • 10th Virginia Cavalry, Richmond-Petersburg Campaign Site