The 46th 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

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. It fought mostly in Virginia and the Carolinas. 46th Infantry Regiment (also called 1st or 2nd Regiment, Wise Legion) was organized in August, 1861. It was soon ordered to North Carolina and placed in a brigade commanded by former governor

Henry A. Wise Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American attorney, diplomat, politician and slave owner from Virginia. As the 33rd Governor of Virginia, Wise served as a significant figure on the path to the American Civil ...

. After Wise fell severely ill with pleurisy (and was confined to bed for a week), Federal forces captured

Roanoke Island Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English colonizat ...

. Although only 23 Confederates died in the 2-day battle before Wise's second in command surrendered, those dead included Wise's eldest son Capt. Obediah Jennings Wise (editor of the

Richmond Enquirer The ''Richmond Examiner'', a newspaper which was published before and during the American Civil War under the masthead of ''Daily Richmond Examiner'', was one of the newspapers published in the Confederate capital of Richmond. Its editors viewed ...

before the war and whose funeral at St. James Church in Richmond would be the capitol's most elaborate before that of Stonewall Jackson the following year) and Roberts Coles (son of former Illinois Territorial Governor and abolitionist

Edward Coles Edward Coles (December 15, 1786 – July 7, 1868) was an American abolitionist and politician, elected as the second Governor of Illinois (1822 to 1826). From an old Virginia family, Coles as a young man was a neighbor and associate of presi ...

). Following a prisoner exchange, as well as additional soldiers being added to replace those who failed to re-enlist and those lost through disease and to a lesser extent, battle casualties, the unit reassembled in Virginia, saw some action in the Seven Days' Battles in June 1862. This unit contained 401 effectives during the Seven Days' Battles. Afterward, it remained in Virginia and mainly dealt with false alarms about Union troop movements on the James River, then for the next 16 months, remained stuck on the Peninsula as a counterforce to the Union presence at Norfolk and Fortress Monroe.Collins, pp. 36-41 Then, the 46th Virginia was reassigned to the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. It defended besieged Charleston, before returning to Virginia during the spring of 1864. It then endured the hardships of the lengthy Petersburg trenches north of the James River and helped set the Confederate capitol afire per orders as the CSA army evacuated. During the final Appomattox Campaign, many officers and men were captured during the Battle at Sailor's Creek. Fifteen officers and 116 men surrendered on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox. The field officers were Colonels J. Lucius Davis, Richard T. W. Duke, Randolph Harrison, and John H. Richardson; Lieutenant Colonel Peyton Wise; and Majors Hugh W. Fry Jr. and James C. Hill.

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 {{AmericanCivilWar-unit-stub

See also

References