"Virginia Continental Line-Late War" Topic

Part of the confusion in keeping track of Virginia Continental infantry line late in the war stems from consolidations that occurred in 1778-1779. Part of the confusion stems from similar names being given to units that had no connection with each other. Virginia records add to this confusion as, like Maryland, Virginia maintained a paper organization of its continental line late in the war which did not correspond to the units in the field. This is intended to be a brief (albeit still way too wordy) summary of the Virginia Continental line in the field later in the AWI as I understand it.

In 1775 Virginia raised two regiments of infantry for the colony. In 1776 these two regiments plus seven others subsequently raised were contributed to the Continental line. In 1777 Virginia raised 6 additional regiments for Continental service, plus contributed troops to other regiments of infantry, horse and artillery. During the winter of 1778-79 a large number of enlistments in the original contingent expired. Eight of Virginia's first nine regiments were consolidated into 4, with the 9th regiment joining the 1st, the 6th joining the 2nd, the 5th joining the 3rd, the 8th joining the 4th. The surviving regiments were then renumbered to the 1st through 11th. This is the part that most sources get right. It is from this point where things are confused.

In early 1779 General Scott was sent to Virginia to recruit. The original plan was that the troops were to be brought north to fill out the Virginia line serving with Washington. Events in the south made it desirable that reinforcements be sent there instead. Washington had a number of surplus officers from the Virginia reorganization go south to join Scott with the goal of converting the newly recruited troops into new regiments that would be sent to join Lincoln. (He did the same with North Carolina troops as well.) These new Virginia regiments were the First Virginia detachment under Parker, the Second Virginia detachment under Heth and the Third under Buford. Parker's First Virginia Detachment jointed Lincoln in time to participate in the Siege of Savannah. The Second Virginia Detachment joined Lincoln after the Siege. Both of these regiments were present during the entire Siege of Charleston where they were captured.

The original Virginia Continental line remained with Washington for the 1779 campaign season except for a regiment at Fort Pitt. At the end of 1779 Washington decided to reinforce Lincoln with the North Carolina and Virginia Continental lines (again except for the regiment at Fort Pitt which we can now forget about). A large number of Virginia enlistments were expiring at the end of 1779, mostly from the regiments raised in 1777. These troops were to be discharged on the march south. In December 1779 Washington approved a proposal by Virginia General Woodford to consolidate the Virginia Continentals marching south into three battalions. These three battalions were also referred to as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Virginia under Russell, Neville and Gist, and were also referred to as "divisions" and "detachments", both at the time and by historians. Woodford lead most of these troops into the American lines at Charleston in April of 1780 where they were captured the following month. Stupidly Woodford allowed a number of surplus Virginia Continental officers to accompany him, which resulted in fighting over commands during the siege and a number of unnecessary POWs.

So five Virginia continental infantry regiments were captured at Charleston, the First and Second Virginia Detachments raised in 1779 and the three battalions of the original Virginia Continental line that marched south with Woodford.

Buford's Third Virginia Detachment marched south after Woodford, and took elements of Woodford's command with him. Much of this command was savaged at Waxhaws. The survivors returned to Virginia where they were reinforced and returned to join Gates after Camden. A number of these troops had their enlistments expire during the winter of 1780/81. I suspect the company of Virginia Continentals serving with Morgan at Cowpens came from this command.

Virginia continued to raise Continentals. Around December of 1780 Steuben dispatched one regiment of Continentals under Col. Green to join Greene. This regiment served briefly as a separate entity along side Buford's. In January 1781 Greene wrote "Not a man of Colonel Buford is fit for duty; and if clothing does not come to our relief, I must disband them as they are naked." In February Steuben forwarded another regiment under Richard Campbell who turned over command to Hawes. The Three Virginia units were consolidated into two, the First Virginia Regiment and the Second Virginia Regiment. These units were sometimes referred to as the 4th and 5th Virginia by some sources. It is possible that Wallace's company that served with Lee and William Campbell's Rifles at Guilford Courthouse may have been the last independent relic of Buford's command. The First and Second Virginia served with Greene at GCH and through 1781.

With the departure of Richard Campbell's regiment there remained a small body of continentals in Virginia. This force which was reinforced during 1781 is frequently referred to as Gaskin's battalion. I have never seen this unit referred to by number. It served in the Virginia campaign including the Siege of Yorktown.

In early 1782 Posey's Virginia Continental regiment joined Wayne in Georgia. There is some dispute whether this was a newly raised regiment or whether it was the consolidated remnants of the regiments that Virginia raised in late 1780/early 1781. I have never seen this unit referred to by a number.

Hope some here may find this helpful.

Fascinating post, Bill. Cheers!

What is the source that you are using for the information? It is always helpful to list sourcing for further research.

According to Wright's The Continental Army, there were originally fifteen Continental regiments raised by Virginia, numbered 1-15. After consolidations in May 1779 there were eleven remaining. Of those 10 were captured at Charleston.

-The 1st Virginia was consolidated with the 9th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779 and the unit was designated the 1st Virginia Regiment. It was captured at Charleston.

-The 2d Virginia Regiment was consolidated with the 6th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779 and was designated the 2d Virginia Regiment. It was captured at Charleston.

-The 3d Virginia Regiment was consolidated with the 5th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779 and was designated the 3d Virginia Regiment. It was captured at Charleston.

-The 4th Virginia Regiment was consolidated with the 8th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779 and was designated the 4th Virginia Regiment. It was captured at Charleston.

-The 7th Virginia Regiment was redesignated the 5th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779 and was captured at Charleston.

-The 10th Virginia Regiment was redesignated as the 6th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779 and was captured at Charleston.

-The 11th Virginia Regiment was redesignated on 12 May 1779 as the 7th Virginia Regiment and was captured at Charleston.

-The 12th Virginia Regiment was redesignated on 12 May 1779 as the 8th Virginia Regiment and was captured at Charleston.

-The 13th Virginia was reorganized and redesignated at the 9th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779. It was assigned to the Western Department on 24 May 1778 and was redesignated as the 7th Virginia Regiment on 1 January 1781.

-The 14th Virginia Regiment was reorganized and redesignated as the 10th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779 and was captured at Charleston.

-The 15th Virginia Regiment was reorganized as the 11th Virginia Regiment on 12 May 1779 and was captured at Charleston.

Beck's volume (Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units) lists nine regiments captured at Charleston: the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th. He also states that the 9th Virginia alone escaped being surrendered.

What might be somewhat confusing is the reorganizations/consolidations/renumbering of regimenets in 1779 and what happened during the siege itself. The bottom line is that nearly the entire Virginia Continental line was lost and was not reconstituted. The 1st and 2d Virginia Continental Regiments that served with Greene in 1781 were new units. The sources that refer to them as the 4th and 5th Virginia are wrong. (see Babits and Howard-Long, Obstinate, and Bloody.)

Further, 'Apparently early in the year 11780, if not sooner, the enlisted men of the depleted 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th Virginia Regiments were gathered together and formed into two temporary detachments of battalion size. The officers of the 4th through 8th and the 10th and 11th Virginia Virginia Regiments took turns commanding them. The two detachments and all the officers were subsequently captured at Charleston on May 12, 1780. The 1st and 2d Virginia Detachments seem to have considerable precedent in Virginia. Virginia had an elaborate recruiting system that utilized militia officers to gather recruits to send to the Continental Army and in times of emergency it appears that temporary, but numbered, units were formed from the available companies of Continental recruits for the Continental regiments and from companies of militia.'-131.

Further, in A Gallant Defense: The Siege of Charleston by Carl Borick the order of battle on page lists the 1st, 2d, and 3d Virginia Continental Regiments as well as Heth's Virginia Detachment and Parker's Virginia Detachment which were made up of elements of the reorganized regiments from 1779 and 1780.

That isn't five Virginia Regiments, but three regiments and the consolidation of at least five other regiments of the Virginia Line. So, the listing in Wright is correct that the ten Virginia Continental regiments were lost at Charleston, three of which fought as complete units and the others were consolidated into two detachments. Berg shows this in his volume quite well.

Kevin, I believe in my post on the other thread I made it clear that I did not agree with the conclusions of your sources. If nothing else the fact that Richard Parker with the First Virginia Detachment was fighting at Savannah at a time when the 10 regiments of the Virginia line were still with Washington, and before they were reduced to three, should give cause to question the conclusions of your sources.

Actually I do believe Wright is somewhat close. In his chapter Perseverance to Victory he states the Virginia continental forces at Charleston consisted of the first, second and third Virginia regiments at full strength, two provisional regiments raised in 1779 and cadres of others. If you understand that the three Virginia detachments or as Wright calls them provisional regiments were formed pursuant to Washington's orders to Scott of May 5, 1779, and the troops Woodford lead south were reduced from 10 regiments to three on Woodford's recommendation at the end of 1779, this fits my analysis.

I agree that the Virginia continental field regiments at Guilford Courthouse were called the 1st and 2nd Virginia regiments at the time. This does not change that some sources refer to them as the 4th and 5th regiments. Not everyone will have read Babits and Howard's book, so I thought it would be helpful for them to understand what units I was referring to.

The above was intended to be a summary. If I ever choose to flesh it out into a full dissertation then I would include my sources. They include original sources such as period correspondence and pension applications, a couple of older books that may not have made it into military libraries as well as a number of secondary sources. I don't intend to engage in a battle of the sources here.

Did I not state that fact in the posting I made above read correctly? And Wright was not wrong in his regimental listing. Those regiments with a higher number than three all contributed troops to the two 'detachments.' And with their surrender along with the first three regiments of the Line, all of the regiments virtually cease to exist.

If anyone is actually interested in Guilford Courthouse, Babits and Howard is required reading.

The listing of sources is to my mind very important and it helps spread the knowledge around. By not doing it you're not helping others on the forum as far as I'm concerned.

And the older books that you hint at might be available for download on Google Books.

Finally, I would use pension applications with a large salt pill as they were usually written years after the events and might have been 'remembered with advantages.' In other words, they could be suspect.

Those regiments with a higher number than three all contributed troops to the two 'detachments.'

The problem with that analysis is that it ignores the previous references Wright made to the three regiments of Virginia detachments. Wright's references combined indicate the units he refers to as provisional Virginia regiments were new units raised in Virginia in 1779.

So why do some historians get this wrong? Why do some treat the three regiments of Virginia detachments as the same units as the three Virginia consolidated battalions that Woodford formed in the reorganization at the end of 1779? Here's some explanations:

Three. It is a coincidence that the number of Virginia detachments formed in Virginia in 1779 just happened to be the same as the number of Virginia consolidated battalions that Woodford formed from the Virginia line at the end of 1779. It does not help that the units in the two different groups, when referred to by number, both use one through three.

Inconsistent contemporary designations. Washington and Lincoln both refer to the three regiments of Virginia detachments as the levies. Buford claimed to be uncertain of his unit's designation. Some references are to the units by commander rather than numerical designation. Brig. Gen. Scott, the man charged with raising the units in May of 1779 and who commanded two of them at the surrender in 1780, refers to them specifically as the "Virginia Detachments".

Commander history. Before they were sent to Virginia to help organize and command the three regiments of Virginia Detachments in May of 1779, Parker, Heth and Buford were all colonels of regiments of the Virginia line serving with Washington. If not aware these officers had been reassigned it would be easy to assume these officers were leading their former regiments instead of new ones that were raised in early 1779.

Service history. None of the regiments of Virginia detachments served with Washington's army in the battles up north. Their life span was brief, from early 1779 until the end of 1780/beginning of 1781. With the exception of Buford at Waxhaws they were not involved in anything which brings them particular notice as units. Some of what they were involved in just hasn't made it into most history books.

Nature of Woodford's consolidation. When Woodford reorganized the Virginia Continental Line that had been serving with Washington at the end of 1779 the troops were consolidated into three battalions. The remaining regiments didn't go away. They remained as officer cadres. As I said Woodford stupidly allowed them to accompany him into Charleston. There they surrendered as ghost units, collections of officers without men.

Building on prior mistakes. The previous guy said it. It isn't really important to your history to determine if that point was correct. So you adopt his determination. So does the next historian…and do on.

In other words, if a historian wasn't aware of the existence of the first, second and third regiments of Virginia detachments, it would be easy to miss their existence.

The bottom line is with respect to the Virginia Continental Line infantry regiments, with one or two exceptions depending on the reference being used, is that it was captured at Charleston and had to be reconstituted as much as possible for the remainder of the war.