Virginia 51st Infantry (Confederate)
02/03/1861
Mustered Out - Virginia 51st Infantry - Virginia
01/08/1861
Organized - Virginia 51st Infantry - Virginia
10/09/1861
Battle - Carnifex Ferry - Nicholas County, West Virginia
On September 10, 1861, Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result the movement f…READ MORE
11/02/1862
Battle - Fort Donelson - Fort Donelson, Tennessee
Early in the war, Union commanders realized control of the major rivers would be the key to success in the Western Theater.READ MORE
30/04/1863
Battle - Chancellorsville - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
On April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a turning movement designed to pry Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia out of its lines at Fredericksburg.READ MORE
15/05/1864
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel John P. Wolfe
Lieutenant ColonelJohn P. Wolfe
15/05/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton
Brigadier GeneralGabriel C. Wharton
15/05/1864
Battle - New Market - Shenandoah County, Virginia
In conjunction with other spring 1864 offensives against strategic points in the Confederacy, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel to move up the Shenandoah Valley along the Valley Turnpike to destroy the railroad and canal complex at Lynchburg. Union control of the strategic and agriculturally rich valley was a crucial part of Grant's plans. Receiving word that the Union Army had entered the valley, Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge pulled together all available troops to repulse the invad…READ MORE
28/05/1864
Battle - Totopotomoy Creek - Hanover County, Virginia
Operations along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond opened with cavalry combat at the Pamunkey River crossing at Dabney's Ferry (near Hanovertown) and at Crump's Creek on May 27th. During the cavalry fight at Haw's Shop on May 28th, Union and Confederate infantry arrived in the vicinity and the Confederates entrenched behind Totopotomoy Creek. On the 29th, the Union army Second, Ninth, and Fifth Corps probed Lee's position along the creek, while the Sixth Corps felt its way toward Hanover Court House.…READ MORE
31/05/1864
Leadership Change - Division - Major General John C. Breckinridge
Major GeneralJohn C. Breckinridge
31/05/1864
Battle - Cold Harbor - Hanover County; near Mechanicsville, Virginia
After two days of inconclusive fighting along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee turned their sights on the crossroads of Cold Harbor. Roads emanating through this critical junction led to Richmond as well as supply and reinforcement sources for the Union army. On May 31, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry captured Cold Harbor. The next day, Sheridan held the crossroads against a Confederate attack. With reinforcements from both armies arriving…READ MORE
07/07/1864
Battle - Frederick, Maryland
09/07/1864
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Augustus Forsberg
ColonelAugustus Forsberg
09/07/1864
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General John Echols
Brigadier GeneralJohn Echols
09/07/1864
Battle - Monocacy - Frederick County, Maryland
After marching north down the Shenandoah Valley from Lynchburg, the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early side-stepped the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry and crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown into Maryland on July 5-6th, 1864. On July 9th, a makeshift Union force under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace attempted to stop Early's invading Confederate divisions along the Monocacy River, just east of Frederick. The strategic area was near the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Georgetown…READ MORE
10/07/1864
Battle - Monocacy, Maryland
11/07/1864
Battle - Fort Stevens - District of Columbia, DC
After his victory over Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace at the Battle of Monocacy in central Maryland on July 9th, Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early pressed his advantage and moved south toward the Union capital in Washington, DC. On July 11th, Early's exhausted Confederates reached the outskirts of Washington near Silver Spring. Skirmishers advanced to feel the fortifications that encircled the city, which at the time were manned only by Home Guards, clerks, and convalescent troops. During the night, Union reinfo…READ MORE
17/08/1864
Battle - Winchester, Virginia
19/09/1864
Leadership Change - Regiment - Major William A. Yonce
MajorWilliam A. Yonce
19/09/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Augustus Forsberg, and Major William A. Yonce
ColonelAugustus Forsberg
MajorWilliam A. Yonce
19/09/1864
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton
Brigadier GeneralGabriel C. Wharton
19/09/1864
Leadership Change - Regiment - Major William A. Yonce
MajorWilliam A. Yonce
19/09/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Augustus Forsberg
ColonelAugustus Forsberg
19/09/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - Major William A. Yonce
MajorWilliam A. Yonce
19/09/1864
Battle - Third Winchester - Frederick County, Virginia; Winchester, Virginia
To clear the Shenandoah River valley of Confederates, Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan moved on Winchester in mid-September 1864. Sheridan's force of over 39,000 men was more than twice the size of Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Confederate army defending the valley. After Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw's division left Winchester to rejoin Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg, Early renewed his raids on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Martinsburg in the lower valley, dispersing his four remaining infantry divisions. On Septem…READ MORE
21/09/1864
Battle - Fisher's Hill - Shenandoah County, Virginia
Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Army of the Valley, bloodied by its defeat at the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19th, retreated 20 miles up the valley and took a defensive position in an east-west line across Fisher's Hill, southwest of Strasburg. Maj. Gen. Phillip Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah, in accordance with Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's orders, aggressively pursued Early. Sheridan, outnumbering Early about three to one, noted that the right of the Confederate line was anchored o…READ MORE
19/10/1864
Leadership Change - Brigade - undefined --
19/10/1864
Battle - Cedar Creek - Frederick County, Virginia; Shenandoah County, Virginia; Warren County, Virginia
Also known as: Cedar Creek, Belle GroveREAD MORE
02/03/1865
Battle - Waynesboro, Virginia - Augusta County, Virginia
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