Virginia 53rd Infantry (Confederate)
12/1/61
Organized - Virginia 53rd Infantry - 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
6/18/62
Battle - Fair Oaks, Virginia
6/25/62
Battle - Oak Grove - 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
8/26/62
Battle - Warrenton Springs, Virginia
8/28/62
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel John Grammar
Lieutenant ColonelJohn Grammar
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 - Regiment - Captain William G. Pollard
CaptainWilliam G. Pollard
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 - Regiment - Captain William G. Pollard
CaptainWilliam G. Pollard
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 - Regiment - Colonel William R. Aylett
ColonelWilliam R. Aylett
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
4/19/63
Battle - 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
6/21/63
Battle - Upperville - Loudoun County, Virginia
On June 21st, Union cavalry made a another determined effort to pierce Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry screen of Robert E. Lee's invading army as it moved north. Two days after skirmishing with the Union cavalry brigade of Col. J. Irvin Gregg in and around Middleburg, Brig. Gens. Wade Hampton and Beverly Robertson's brigades made a stand and beat back Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's division near a stone bridge over Goose Creek, four miles east of Upperville. Gregg called for infantry support, and received…READ MORE
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel William R. Aylett, Captain Henry Edmunds, Lieutenant Colonel Rawley W. Martin, and Major John C. Timberlake
ColonelWilliam R. Aylett
CaptainHenry Edmunds
Lieutenant ColonelRawley W. Martin
MajorJohn C. Timberlake
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 William R. Aylett
ColonelWilliam R. Aylett
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Rawley W. Martin
Lieutenant ColonelRawley W. Martin
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Major John C. Timberlake
MajorJohn C. Timberlake
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
6/15/64
Battle - Second Petersburg - Petersburg, Virginia
As the Overland Campaign concluded, the strategic goals of Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant shifted from the defeat of Robert E. Lee's army in the field to eliminating the supply and communication routes to the Confederate capital at Richmond. The city of Petersburg, 24 miles south of Richmond, was the junction point of five railroads that supplied the entire upper James River region. Grant knew Petersburg was the key to the capture of Richmond and that Lee would be forced to defend it. Marching south from Co…READ MORE
6/16/64
Battle - Bermuda Hundred, Virginia
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
4/1/65
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel William R. Aylett
ColonelWilliam R. Aylett
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
4/6/65
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 - 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
4/6/65
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 53rd Infantry - Virginia
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