
The 7th Virginia Cavalry Regiment also known as Ashby's Cavalry was a
Confederate
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
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 the spring of 1861 by
Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
Angus William McDonald The regiment was composed primarily of men from the counties of the
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...
as well as from the counties of
Fauquier and
Loudoun
Loudoun () is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston parish, Galston Parish (which encompasses ...
. Two companies contained men from the border counties of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
.
History
The regiment was initially assigned to guarding the upper
Potomac and was attached to the command of
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...
in the Valley. In the spring of 1862 the regiment took part in Jackson's
Valley Campaign, where the exploits of the unit and its commander,
Turner Ashby, became famous on both sides of the war. Near the conclusion of the campaign, Ashby was mortally wounded and Col.
Richard Henry Dulany took command of the regiment, which had swelled to 29 companies. The regiment was reorganized at the end of the campaign, with the original 10 companies remaining and the excess 19 forming the
12th Regiment and
17th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. Together with these two regiments, the 7th would become the nucleus of the famed
Laurel Brigade.
As part of the brigade, the 7th saw major action during the
Gettysburg Campaign in 1863 and was at the famed cavalry
Battle of Brandy Station
The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil. It was fought on June 9, 1863, around ...
that same year. They took part in
Jubal A. Early
Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was an American lawyer, politician and military officer who served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, ...
's ill-fated
Valley Campaigns of 1864 and were at
Appomattox Courthouse, though much of the unit escaped through federal lines and returned home to disband rather than taking parole with the rest of 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 ...
.
Companies
* A – Fauquier Mountain Rangers (Fauquier Co.)
* B -
** (1st) Howard Dragoons (Howard Co., Md.)
** (2nd) Letcher Brock's Gap Rifles (Rockingham Co.)
* C – Shenandoah Rangers (Shenandoah Co.)
* D – Jordan's Company (Page Co.)
* E – Bowen's Mounted Rangers (Warren Co.)
* F – Hampshire Rifleman (Hampshire Co.)
* G – Mason Rangers (Maryland and Loudoun Co.)
* H -
** (1st) Brock's Gap Sharpshooters (Rockingham Co.)
** (2nd) Shoup's Co. (Rockingham Co.)
* I – Shand's Company (Rockingham Co.)
* K – Miller's Company (Shenandoah Co.)
See also
*
List of Virginia Civil War units
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
List of West Virginia Civil War Confederate units
The following is a list of West Virginia Confederate Units which were composed mostly or notably by citizens of the 50 counties of western Virginia which eventually became West Virginia. These units, with the exception of the Kentucky units, are ...
Notes/References
Bibliography
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External links
7th Virginia Cavalry: A Brief History of the Regiment
{{Loudoun County in the American Civil War
Units and formations of the Confederate States Army from Virginia
Loudoun County, Virginia, in the American Civil War
Fauquier County, Virginia, in the American Civil War
The Laurel Brigade
Hampshire County, West Virginia, in the American Civil War
Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the American Civil War
1861 establishments in Virginia
Military units and formations established in 1861
1865 disestablishments in Virginia
Military units and formations disestablished in 1865