The 38th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an
infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation.
In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
raised in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
for service in the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
during the
War Between the States
War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...
. It fought mostly with the
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was a field army of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed agains ...
.
The 38th Virginia was organized in
Pittsylvania County
Pittsylvania County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 60,501. The county seat is Chatham.
Pittsylvania County is included in the Danville, VA Micropolitan Statistical ...
, Virginia in June 1861. Its members were recruited in Pittsylvania,
Halifax, and
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...
counties. It served under the command of Generals Early, Garland, Armistead, Barton, and Stuart. Among the founders of the regiment was Lt. Col. (later Colonel) Powhatan Bolling Whittle of Mecklenburg County, who was later wounded at the
Battle of Williamsburg
The Battle of Williamsburg, also known as the Battle of Fort Magruder, took place on May 5, 1862, in York County, James City County, and Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the first pitc ...
.
The 38th participated in the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from Williamsburg to Gettysburg, then served in North Carolina. Later it was attached to the Department of Richmond, fought at Drewry's Bluff and Cold Harbor, endured the hardships of the Petersburg trenches, and ended the war at Appomattox.

The regiment totaled 544 effectives in April 1862, and sustained 9 casualties at Williamsburg, 147 at Seven Pines, 94 at Malvern Hill, and 16 in the Maryland Campaign. More than fifty-five percent of the 400 engaged at Gettysburg were disabled and it reported 11 killed, 30 wounded, and 10 missing at Drewry's Bluff. The unit surrendered 12 officers and 82 men.
Its commanders were Colonels Joseph R. Cabell, Edward Claxton Edmonds, George K. Griggs, and Powhatan Whittle; Lieutenant Colonel George A. Martin; and Majors
Isaac H. Carrington and Henderson L. Lee.
Thomas Benton Fitzgerald, founder of Dan River Inc., served in Company A of the 38th Virginia.
See also
*
List of Virginia War Between the States units
References
*
Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Virginia
1861 establishments in Virginia
Military units and formations established in 1861
1865 disestablishments in Virginia
Military units and formations disestablished in 1865
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