20th Virginia Cavalry Regiment

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20th Virginia Cavalry Regiment
Flag of Virginia, 1861
ActiveAugust 1863 – April 1865
DisbandedApril 1865
CountryConfederacy
AllegianceConfederate States of America Confederate States of America
Branch Confederate States Army
TypeCavalry
EngagementsAmerican Civil War

The 20th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly in western Virginia.[1]

Virginia's 20th Cavalry Regiment was organized in August, 1863, and was composed of "North Western Virginians." The unit served in W.L. Jackson's Brigade and confronted the Federals in western Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley. It disbanded in mid-April, 1865. The field officers were Colonel W.W. Arnett, Lieutenant Colonels Dudley Evans and John B. Lady, and Major Elihu Hutton.

Elihu Hutton, 1860s tintype
Col. Elihu Hutton

Companies and officers[edit]

Sortable table
Company Nickname Recruited at First (then later) Commanding Officer

[2]

A Company A Marion County
Monongalia County
Dudley Evans
B Company B Marion County
Monongalia County
William W. Arnett
many formerly from Company D of 19th Virginia Cavalry
C Company C Randolph County Elihu Hutton
D Company D Barbour County Edward M. Corder
E Company E Harrison County John W. Young
F Company F Harrison County Asbury Lewis
many formerly from Companies A and C of 19th Virginia Cavalry
G Wood County Grays Wood County
Pleasants County
Paul Neal
John D. Neal[3]
H Company H Wirt County Joseph Hayhurst
many formerly from Company A and C of 19th Virginia Cavalry
I Company I Rockbridge County Henry L. Heiskell
K Company K Rockbridge County Ortho Alexander

In popular culture[edit]

In the science fiction short story, Field Test by Keith Laumer, a newly designed and built artificially intelligent superheavy tank called a Bolo Mark XX Model B is assigned to "the 20th Virginia, a regiment ancient and honorable, with a history dating back to Terra Insula".[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Richard L. Armstrong, 19th and 20th Virginia Cavalry (H.E. Howard, Inc.1994)
  2. ^ derived from Armstrong, pp. 21-22
  3. ^ They were brothers, Paul (1832-1919) graduating from VMI, and becoming an instructor and later a merchant and recruiter. He contracted typhoid fever in 1861 and so did not initially lead the unit and was arrested at Ravenswood on his way south, then sent to Camp Chase. His brother had been in Co. I, 31st Virginia Infantry including about a year in the Stonewall brigade, before transferring to this unit. Per H. E. Matheny's Wood County, West Virginia in Civil War Times (republished 1987 by Trans-Allegheny Books of Parkersburg), pp. 535-537.
  4. ^ Keith Laumer. "Field Test". Baen eBooks. Retrieved 25 March 2015.