West Virginia in the Civil War

United States   U.S. Civil War    West Virginia    West Virginia Military    West Virginia in the Civil War



Introduction
West Virginia divided from Virginia and became a state June 20, 1863 because of the Civil War. For the Union, West Virginia mustered between 22,000 and 25,000 men in 20 infantry units, 7 cavalry units, 1 artillery unit and 3 other types of units. West Virginia did not organize any confederate regiments. Approximately 9,000 West Virginians chose to fight for the Confederate States of America and generally joined the confederate regiments of Virginia.

West Virginia Military Units
Most units were numbered, however, some were named. See the table below for lists of the regiments, battalions, batteries, and unassigned companies.

The information in the lists of West Virginia Military Units comes from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors web site. This web site can also be searched by the name of a soldier.

West Virginia Units by Number or by Name Union Units 1st-17th A to Z West Virginia Units by Type of Unit Union Units Infantry Cavalry Artillery Other

General

 * The West Virginia Archives and History has several sources and online databases


 * - West Virginia Adjutant Generals' Papers, 1861-1983 with Union Militia, Union regiments, National Guard, etc.


 * - A guide, Researching Your Civil War Ancestor, with a great bibliography


 * - Timelines, histories of battles, and reunion information


 * The George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War has the following in its West Virginia Civil War Soldiers Database with biographical information about the soldiers including regiments and enlistment, muster-in, and discharge data.


 * - West Virginia soldiers interred in Gettysburg National Cemetery
 * - West Virginia soldiers buried in the Antietam National Cemetery

Pension Index Cards
A free Internet index to pension applications of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch Record Search. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. Other wars, of that time period, may be included.

Service Records
Indexes to service and pension records of Union volunteers are available at the Family History Library and the National Archives. The library also has 261 microfilms of the


 * Index. United States. Adjutant General's Office. Index to compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers who Served in Organizations from the State of West Virginia. National Archives microfilm publications, M507. (Washington [District of Columbia]: The National Archives, 1963),


 * - The index will give the unit a soldier served in. The name of the unit is needed to find a soldier in the compiled service records described below.


 * Compiled Service Records. United States. War Department. Record and Pension Office. Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of West Virginia. National Archives microfilm publication, M508. (Washington [District of Columbia] : The National Archives, 1963).


 * - Within each unit, the records are arranged alphabetically by the soldiers' names.

Pension Records
The pension records are available only at the National Archives, however the Family History Library has the index on microfilms.

Service Records
The approximately 9,000 West Virginians who chose to fight for the Confederate States of America generally joined the confederate regiments of Virginia. Virginia's 22nd Infantry was composed almost entirely of soldiers from West Virginia. The 31st and 46th Infantry also had large numbers from West Virginia.

The Wikipedia article, List of West Virginia Civil War Confederate units, lists infantry, cavalry, artillery, guerrilla units, and other Virginia units with a heavy concentration of men from the West Virginia area.

See the Virginia in the Civil War article for more information about these Virginia units.

Pension Records
West Virginia did not grant pensions to confederate veterans. Some confederate veterans may have received pensions from Virginia.


 * Virginia. Office of the Comptroller, Virginia State Library and Archives (Richmond, Virginia). Confederate Pension Applications, Virginia, Acts of 1888, 1900, 1902 ; Index, 1888-1934 Records, with an Index, are on 220 Family History Library films beginning with . Microreproduction of original records at the Virginia State Library and Archives in Richmond, Virginia.


 * The Library of Virginia has many Civil War guides and records onlinefor both Virginia and West Virginia Confederate soldiers.

Southern Claims Commission
If a Union sympathizer in West Virginia claimed a loss during the Civil War due to Union military confiscation, he could apply to the Southern Claims Commission for reimbursement. Only a few applied per county, but their neighbors were called as witnesses and asked dozens of questions. Hundreds of the residents of all kinds in a county may be mentioned in answers to Commission questions, and their wartime activities described. To learn how to find records mentioning these neighbors in West Virginia counties during the Civil War see the Southern Claims Commission.

History

 * Boyd B. Stutler, West Virginia in the Civil War. Charleston, (West Virginia: Educational Foundation, 1963). This has an excellent discussion of West Virginia's part in the Civil War. Family History Library.