North Carolina 20th Infantry (Confederate)
6/18/61
Organized - North Carolina 20th Infantry - North Carolina
5/27/62
Battle - Hanover Court House - Hanover County, Virginia
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
6/27/62
Battle - Gaines' Mill - Hanover County, Virginia
Despite his victory over the Confederates at Beaver Dam Creek on June 26th, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter's Fifth Corps abandoned its position early on June 27th and established a new defensive line along Boatswain's Creek, just north of the Chickahominy River.READ MORE
6/30/62
Battle - White Oak Swamp - Henrico County, Virginia
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
9/10/62
Battle - Frederick, Maryland
9/13/62
Battle - Middletown, Maryland
9/14/62
Battle - South Mountain - Frederick County, Maryland; Washington County, Maryland; Boonsboro, Maryland
After his success at Second Manassas, Gen. Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia north across the Potomac River on an invasion of Maryland in September of 1862. Lee divided his army, sending a portion of it into western Maryland while Lieut. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's wing attempted to capture the Federal garrison at Harper's Ferry. The bold plan was jeopardized on September 13th when a mislaid copy of Lee's orders revealing the Confederates' plans was given to Union commander Maj. Gen. George B. M…READ MORE
9/17/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Duncan K. McRae
ColonelDuncan K. McRae
12/13/62
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Frank Faison
Lieutenant ColonelFrank Faison
12/13/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Alfred Iverson Jr.
Brigadier GeneralAlfred Iverson Jr.
12/13/62
Leadership Change - Division - Major General D.H. Hill
Major GeneralD.H. Hill
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
3/17/63
Battle - Kelly's Ford - Culpeper County, Virginia; Fauquier County, Virginia
In 1863, the recently organized Union Cavalry Corps possessed superior equipment and the advantages of a plentiful supply of men and horses over their Confederate counterparts, but lacked the confidence, experience, and leadership to challenge Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's troopers. That March, Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee conducted raids against elements of the Union line along the Rappahannock River. In response, on March 16th, 2,100 Union cavalrymen under Brig. Gen. William Averell se…READ MORE
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Thomas F. Toon, and Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Slough
ColonelThomas F. Toon
Lieutenant ColonelNelson Slough
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Robert E. Rodes, and Brigadier General Stephen D. Ramseur
Brigadier GeneralRobert E. Rodes
Brigadier GeneralStephen D. Ramseur
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Thomas F. Toon
ColonelThomas F. Toon
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
6/13/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Slough
Lieutenant ColonelNelson Slough
6/13/63
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Robert E. Rodes
Major GeneralRobert E. Rodes
6/13/63
Battle - Second Winchester - Frederick County, Virginia; Winchester County, Virginia
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain Lewis T. Hicks, Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Slough, and Major John S. Brooks
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Slough
Lieutenant ColonelNelson Slough
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Major John S. Brooks
MajorJohn S. Brooks
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
7/6/63
Battle - Williamsport - Washington County, Maryland
During the night of July 4-5th, General Robert E. Lee's battered army began its retreat from Gettysburg, moving southwest toward Hagerstown and the Potomac River crossing at Williamsport, screened by Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry. Lee's infantry reached the rain-swollen Potomac but could not cross, the pontoon bridge having been destroyed by a cavalry raid. On July 11th, Lee entrenched a line protecting the river crossings at Williamsport and waited for Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's army to advance. On…READ MORE
7/6/63
Battle - Hagerstown, Maryland
10/10/63
Battle - Raccoon Ford, Virginia
11/27/63
Battle - Mine Run - Orange County, Virginia
After the inconclusive Bristoe Campaign in the fall of 1863, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade planned one more offensive against Gen. Robert E. Lee in northern Virginia before winter weather ended military operations. In late November, Meade attempted to steal a march southeast from Culpeper Courthouse, turn south through the Wilderness and strike the right flank of the Confederate army south of the Rapidan River. On November 27th, Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early, in command of Ewell's Corps, marched east on the Orange…READ MORE
4/7/64
Battle - Farmville - Farmville, Virginia
5/5/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Robert D. Johnston
Brigadier GeneralRobert D. Johnston
5/5/64
Battle - Wilderness - Spotsylvania County, Virginia; Orange County, Virginia
The first battle between Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee erupted late in the morning of May 5, 1864, as Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union V Corps attacked Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps on the Orange Turnpike southwest of the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Although Federal infantry managed to break through at several points, the Confederate line held. Fighting shifted to the south as Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps engaged Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps and ele…READ MORE
5/8/64
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Thomas F. Toon
ColonelThomas F. Toon
5/8/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Robert D. Johnston, Colonel Thomas F. Toon, and Colonel Thomas M. Garrett
5/8/64
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General John B. Gordon, and Major General Jubal A. Early
Brigadier GeneralJohn B. Gordon
Major GeneralJubal A. Early
5/8/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Robert D. Johnston
Brigadier GeneralRobert D. Johnston
5/8/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Thomas M. Garrett
ColonelThomas M. Garrett
5/8/64
Battle - Spotsylvania Court House - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant marched the Union army south with the hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House and preventing Robert E. Lee's army from retreating further. Lee's Confederates, however, managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. Fighting began on May 8th, when the Union Fifth Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and the Sixth Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick engaged Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson's First Corps at Laurel Hi…READ MORE
5/23/64
Battle - North Anna - Caroline County, Virginia; Hanover County, Virginia
Following the stalemate at Spotsylvania Court House, Grant was determined to continue his offensive against Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. After a failed attempt to bait Lee out of his earthworks, he found the Confederates entrenched on the south side of the North Anna River, where Lee's "inverted V" defenses forced Grant to divide his army into three parts in order to attack. On May 23rd, one of Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's divisions assaulted the isolated Fifth Corps on the Union right which had crossed the r…READ MORE
5/31/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Thomas F. Toon
ColonelThomas F. Toon
5/31/64
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Stephan D. Ramseur
Brigadier GeneralStephan D. Ramseur
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
6/19/64
Battle - Liberty, Virginia
7/9/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Robert D. Johnston
Brigadier GeneralRobert D. Johnston
7/9/64
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Stephen D. Ramseur
Major GeneralStephen D. Ramseur
7/9/64
Battle - Monocacy - Frederick County, Maryland
After marching north down the Shenandoah Valley from Lynchburg, the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early side-stepped the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry and crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown into Maryland on July 5-6th, 1864. On July 9th, a makeshift Union force under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace attempted to stop Early's invading Confederate divisions along the Monocacy River, just east of Frederick. The strategic area was near the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Georgetown…READ MORE
7/10/64
Battle - Monocacy, Maryland
7/11/64
Battle - Fort Stevens - District of Columbia, DC
After his victory over Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace at the Battle of Monocacy in central Maryland on July 9th, Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early pressed his advantage and moved south toward the Union capital in Washington, DC. On July 11th, Early's exhausted Confederates reached the outskirts of Washington near Silver Spring. Skirmishers advanced to feel the fortifications that encircled the city, which at the time were manned only by Home Guards, clerks, and convalescent troops. During the night, Union reinfo…READ MORE
7/24/64
Battle - Second Kernstown - Frederick County, Virginia
As the forces under Maj. Gen. Jubal Early withdrew south after the battle at Cool Spring, and believing that Early's army was no longer a threat in the Shenandoah Valley, Maj. Gen. Horatio Wright abandoned his pursuit and ordered the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps to return to Washington, where they were to be sent back to the Union army before Petersburg. Wright left Brig. Gen. George Crook with three divisions and some cavalry to hold Winchester. Under Lee's orders to prevent reinforcements from being sent t…READ MORE
9/19/64
Battle - Third Winchester - Frederick County, Virginia; Winchester, Virginia
To clear the Shenandoah River valley of Confederates, Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan moved on Winchester in mid-September 1864. Sheridan's force of over 39,000 men was more than twice the size of Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Confederate army defending the valley. After Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw's division left Winchester to rejoin Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg, Early renewed his raids on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Martinsburg in the lower valley, dispersing his four remaining infantry divisions. On Septem…READ MORE
9/21/64
Battle - Fisher's Hill - Shenandoah County, Virginia
Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Army of the Valley, bloodied by its defeat at the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19th, retreated 20 miles up the valley and took a defensive position in an east-west line across Fisher's Hill, southwest of Strasburg. Maj. Gen. Phillip Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah, in accordance with Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's orders, aggressively pursued Early. Sheridan, outnumbering Early about three to one, noted that the right of the Confederate line was anchored o…READ MORE
9/24/64
Battle - New Market, Virginia
9/26/64
Battle - Port Republic, Virginia
10/19/64
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General John Pegram
Brigadier GeneralJohn Pegram
10/19/64
Battle - Cedar Creek - Frederick County, Virginia; Shenandoah County, Virginia; Warren County, Virginia
Also known as: Cedar Creek, Belle GroveREAD MORE
2/5/65
Battle - Hatcher's Run - Dinwiddie County, Virginia
By February 1865, the stalemate around Petersburg had entered its eighth month. Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant began to stretch the Union battle lines to the west in an attempt to get Gen. Robert E. Lee's under strength army to do the same. On February 5th, Union Brig. Gen. David Gregg's cavalry division rode out to the Boydton Plank Road via Reams Station and Dinwiddie Court House in an attempt to intercept Confederate supply trains. Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren with the Fifth Corps crossed Hatcher's Run…READ MORE
3/25/65
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Thomas F. Toon, and Major Duncan Devane
ColonelThomas F. Toon
MajorDuncan Devane
3/25/65
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Robert D. Johnston, and Colonel John W. Lea
Brigadier GeneralRobert D. Johnston
ColonelJohn W. Lea
3/25/65
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General James A. Walker
Brigadier GeneralJames A. Walker
3/25/65
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Thomas F. Toon
ColonelThomas F. Toon
3/25/65
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Robert D. Johnston
Brigadier GeneralRobert D. Johnston
3/25/65
Battle - Fort Stedman - Petersburg, Virginia
By March of 1865, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's grip on the Confederate lines around Petersburg was having its desired effect. Outnumbered and weakened by disease, desertion and shortage of food and supplies, Gen. Robert E. Lee had few options. After careful study of the Union troops in his sector of the line, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon suggested to Lee the possibility of a successful offensive strike against Grant. In front of Gordon's men, Union-held Fort Stedman seemed the best target for a Confederate a…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 - Sailor's Creek - Amelia County, Virginia; Prince Edward County, Virginia; Nottoway County, Virginia
Five days after Robert E. Lee's men retreated from the trenches of Petersburg, cavalry under Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan effectively cut off three separate corps of Lee's army near Sailor's Creek, a tributary of the Appomattox River, while the Union Second and Sixth Corps approached from the east. On April 6th, two brigades of Andrew H. Humphrey's Second Corps overwhelmed two brigades of Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's division as the Confederates struggled to move their supply and artillery trains across the creek…READ MORE
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 - North Carolina 20th Infantry - North Carolina
4/12/65
Battle - Raleigh, North Carolina
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