Virginia 11th Cavalry (Confederate)

Philippi

Fighting at Philippi in Barbour County on June 3, 1861, was the first organized land battle of the war. Union troops had been ordered to the vicinity to secure the critical river crossings and rail junctions. Confederate units in the area recruiting troops for Southern service concentrated at Philippi as Union columns advanced from the north and west.READ MORE

McDowell

As Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan prepared to march his Army of the Potomac up the Virginia Peninsula and capture Richmond, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to prevent Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley from reinforcing McClellan. After his tactical defeat at the First Battle of Kernstown, Jackson moved up the valley to confront a Union force entering it from western Virginia. Joining forces with Brig. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's Army of the…READ MORE

Chantilly

Confederate Maj. Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson hoped to cut off the Union retreat from Manassas the day after the Confederate victory at the second battle fought there. Jackson's wing of Lee's army made a wide, flanking march, screened by Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, north and then east, to take the strategically important village of Germantown. There, Maj. Gen. John Pope's only two retreat routes to Washington - the Warrenton Pike and the Little River Turnpike - converged. On September 1st, beyond Chanti…READ MORE

Antietam

The Army of the Potomac, under the command of Maj. Gen. George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against General Robert E. Lee's forces along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17th, 1862.READ MORE

Fredericksburg

In early November, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside took command of the Army of the Potomac, and made immediate plans to move the army once again toward Richmond.READ MORE

Chancellorsville

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

Brandy Station

> *As we emerged from the woods into an open space or field where our mounted skirmishers were deployed, it was clearly discovered that our troops were confronted with a heavy line of infantry, who, with weapons of a longer range than that of our carbines, were dismounting our men at a fearful rate, whilst they were unable to inflict any punishment upon the enemy. As Colonel Devin approached the skirmish line, he at once became the target for the Rebel sharp shooters and, the way the minnie balls were whiz…READ MORE

Upperville

On June 21st, Union cavalry made a another determined effort to pierce Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry screen of Robert E. Lee's invading army as it moved north. Two days after skirmishing with the Union cavalry brigade of Col. J. Irvin Gregg in and around Middleburg, Brig. Gens. Wade Hampton and Beverly Robertson's brigades made a stand and beat back Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's division near a stone bridge over Goose Creek, four miles east of Upperville. Gregg called for infantry support, and received…READ MORE

Major GeneralJ. E. B. Stuart

Gettysburg

In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE

Mine Run

After the inconclusive Bristoe Campaign in the fall of 1863, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade planned one more offensive against Gen. Robert E. Lee in northern Virginia before winter weather ended military operations. In late November, Meade attempted to steal a march southeast from Culpeper Courthouse, turn south through the Wilderness and strike the right flank of the Confederate army south of the Rapidan River. On November 27th, Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early, in command of Ewell's Corps, marched east on the Orange…READ MORE

Brigadier GeneralThomas L. Rosser

Major GeneralWade Hampton

Wilderness

The first battle between Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee erupted late in the morning of May 5, 1864, as Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union V Corps attacked Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps on the Orange Turnpike southwest of the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Although Federal infantry managed to break through at several points, the Confederate line held. Fighting shifted to the south as Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps engaged Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps and ele…READ MORE

Spotsylvania Court House

Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant marched the Union army south with the hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House and preventing Robert E. Lee's army from retreating further. Lee's Confederates, however, managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. Fighting began on May 8th, when the Union Fifth Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and the Sixth Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick engaged Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson's First Corps at Laurel Hi…READ MORE

Brigadier GeneralThomas L. Rosser

Lieutenant ColonelRichard H. Dulany

Brigadier GeneralThomas L. Rosser

Cold Harbor

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

ColonelOliver R. Funsten

Brigadier GeneralThomas L. Rosser

ColonelRichard H. Dulany

Brigadier GeneralThomas L. Rosser

Trevilian Station

In June of 1864, hoping to draw attention away from Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's movement south, destroy supply lines, and join up with Brig. Gen. David Hunter in Charlottesville, Union cavalry commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan embarked on a cavalry raid. Near Trevilian Station, Virginia, he clashed with Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gens. Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee. On June 11th, while Hampton's men struggled against Union forces on one road, Lee's men advancing on a parallel road fell back, allow…READ MORE

Third Winchester

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

Tom's Brook

After his victory at Fisher's Hill, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan pursued Gen. Jubal Early's army up the Shenandoah Valley to near Staunton. On October 6th, Sheridan began withdrawing, as his cavalry burned everything that could be deemed of military significance, including barns and mills in what became known as "Red October" or "the Burning." Reinforced by Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw's division, Early followed Sheridan. Maj. Gen. Thomas Rosser arrived from Petersburg to take command of Fitz Lee's cavalry divis…READ MORE

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Brigadier GeneralThomas L. Rosser

Cedar Creek

Also known as: Cedar Creek, Belle GroveREAD MORE

Fort Stedman

By March of 1865, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's grip on the Confederate lines around Petersburg was having its desired effect. Outnumbered and weakened by disease, desertion and shortage of food and supplies, Gen. Robert E. Lee had few options. After careful study of the Union troops in his sector of the line, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon suggested to Lee the possibility of a successful offensive strike against Grant. In front of Gordon's men, Union-held Fort Stedman seemed the best target for a Confederate a…READ MORE

Five Forks

The Union victory along the White Oak Road on March 31st threatened to destabilize the entire Confederate line west of Petersburg. General Robert E. Lee ordered Maj. Gen. George Pickett with his infantry division and the cavalry divisions of Col. Thomas Munford, Maj. Gen. W.H.F. Lee, and Maj. Gen Thomas Rosser to hold the vital crossroads of Five Forks, along the White Oak Road five miles west of the previous fighting there. Pickett's defensive line was not well constructed, and much of his cavalry force w…READ MORE

High Bridge

Harried mercilessly by Federal troops and continually cut off from turning south to reach Gen. Joseph Johnston's army in North Carolina, General Robert E. Lee and his army headed west along the Appomattox River, eventually arriving in Cumberland County on April 6th. Food and supplies that Lee's men desperately needed were waiting at Farmville, across the river. To get there, Lee needed to use the 2,500-foot long, 130-foot tall High Bridge, which carried the South Side Railroad over the Appomattox. A small…READ MORE

Appomattox Court House

Between 26,000 and 28,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered and were paroled.READ MORE