Virginia 38th Infantry (Confederate)
6/14/61
Organized - Virginia 38th Infantry - Virginia
4/5/62
Battle - Siege of Yorktown (1862) - York County, Virginia; Newport News, Virginia
Most of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army was not on the peninsula on April 4th when Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan departed Fortress Monroe on his Peninsula Campaign. The only force opposing the Yankee advance up the peninsula toward the Confederate capital at Richmond was Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder's small force of two divisions at Yorktown behind the Warwick River. Magruder's deceptive theatrics, conspicuously parading his men back and forth behind his defenses, convinced the Federals that his works were s…READ MORE
5/5/62
Battle - Williamsburg - York County, Virginia; James City County, Virginia; Williamsburg, Virginia
Following the Confederate withdrawal from their Yorktown position, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was not prepared to mount an immediate pursuit with his entire force from the siege lines he had occupied for nearly a month. Initially, he was able to send forward only a portion of his army, led by the Third Corps of Samuel P. Heitzelman, to follow Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Confederates. Heitzelman's divisions, led by Brig. Gens. Joseph Hooker and Phil Kearny, made contact with Johnston's army four miles sout…READ MORE
5/31/62
Battle - Seven Pines - Henrico County, Virginia
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston withdrew his army from the Virginia Peninsula toward the Confederate capital of Richmond as Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's army pursued him. By the end of May, Johnston held a defensive position seven miles east of the city on the Richmond and York River Railroad. McClellan's army facing Johnston straddled the Chickahominy River and stretched south. Capturing the initiative from his Union foe, Johnston attempted to overwhelm two Federal corps isolated south of the river. The Confed…READ MORE
7/1/62
Battle - Malvern Hill - Henrico County, Virginia
On June 30th, the retreating Federal Army of the Potomac finally stopped at the James River at the end of seven days of fighting outside of Richmond.READ MORE
7/2/62
Battle - Malvern Hill, Virginia
8/28/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead
Brigadier GeneralLewis A. Armistead
8/28/62
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Richard H. Anderson
Major GeneralRichard H. Anderson
8/28/62
Battle - Second Bull Run - Prince William County, Virginia
After the early summer collapse of the Union Peninsula Campaign offensive to capture Richmond, Robert E. Lee sought to move his army north and threaten Washington DC before Union forces could regroup.READ MORE
9/17/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead, and Colonel James G. Hodges
Brigadier GeneralLewis A. Armistead
ColonelJames G. Hodges
9/17/62
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Roger A. Pryor, and Major General Richard H. Anderson
Brigadier GeneralRoger A. Pryor
Major GeneralRichard H. Anderson
9/17/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead
Brigadier GeneralLewis A. Armistead
9/17/62
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Richard H. Anderson
Major GeneralRichard H. Anderson
12/13/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead
Brigadier GeneralLewis A. Armistead
12/13/62
Leadership Change - Division - Major General George Pickett
Major GeneralGeorge Pickett
12/13/62
Battle - Fredericksburg - Fredericksburg, Virginia
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
4/11/63
Leadership Change - Division - Major General George E. Pickett
Major GeneralGeorge E. Pickett
4/11/63
Battle - Siege of Suffolk - Suffolk, Virginia
4/30/63
Battle - Chancellorsville - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
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
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Edward C. Edmonds, Lieutenant Colonel Powhatan B. Whittle, and Major Joseph R. Cabell
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead, Colonel William R. Aylett, Lieutenant Colonel William White, and Major Joseph R. Cabell
Brigadier GeneralLewis A. Armistead
ColonelWilliam R. Aylett
Lieutenant ColonelWilliam White
MajorJoseph R. Cabell
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Edward C. Edmonds
ColonelEdward C. Edmonds
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Powhatan B. Whittle
Lieutenant ColonelPowhatan B. Whittle
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead
Brigadier GeneralLewis A. Armistead
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Lieutenant Colonel William White
Lieutenant ColonelWilliam White
7/1/63
Battle - Gettysburg - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
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
7/3/63
Battle - Gettysburg: Pickett's Charge - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
5/31/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Seth M. Barton
Brigadier GeneralSeth M. Barton
5/31/64
Battle - Cold Harbor - Hanover County; near Mechanicsville, Virginia
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
6/9/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General George H. Steuart
Brigadier GeneralGeorge H. Steuart
8/17/64
Battle - Winchester, Virginia
4/1/65
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel George K. Griggs
ColonelGeorge K. Griggs
4/1/65
Battle - Five Forks - Five Forks, Virginia
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
4/2/65
Battle - Third Petersburg - Dinwiddie County, Virginia; Petersburg, Virginia
With the Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April 1st, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George Meade ordered a general assault against the Petersburg lines by the Second, Ninth, Sixth and Twenty-Fourth Corps to take place April 2nd. In the pre-dawn darkness, the Union infantry gained a successful breakthrough where Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright's advancing Sixth Corps met the Confederate lines held by Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill near the Boydton Plank Road. Hill was killed trying to reach his troops in t…READ MORE
4/6/65
Battle - High Bridge - Prince Edward County, Virginia; Cumberland County, Virginia
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
4/6/65
Battle - High Bridge, Virginia
4/9/65
Battle - Appomattox Court House - Appomattox Court House, Virginia
Between 26,000 and 28,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered and were paroled.READ MORE
4/9/65
Mustered Out - Virginia 38th Infantry - Virginia
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