The 24th Virginia Cavalry was formed in the late spring of 1864, while James was in prison as a POW. It that not fully assemble as a unit until after Juen 1, 1864, although elements of the unit under (then) LCOL William T. Robins were engaged at Old Church/Mattedequin Creek on May 30. The 24th was assinged to a three regiment sized cavalry brigade commanded by Brigadier Gene4ral Martin W. Gary, the brigade being formed for the specific purppsoe of defending Richmond, and spending its entire existence north of the James, until the evacuation of Richmond on April 3, 1865.

The 24th VA CAV was engaged at Riddell's Shop on June 13 (often mistermed Riddle's Shop); at Samaria Church on June 24 (some accoutns call this battle Nance's Shop, while the Federals misapprehended the pronunciation of the name of the church and called it St. Mary's Church); at Tilghman's Gate on July 27, and on the Darbytown Road on July 28-30 (the Federals called this series of battles First Deep Bottom); at Fussell's Mill and Ladd's Store August 14-18 (the Federals called these engagements Second Deep Bottom); at New Market Heights and Laurel Hill on September 29 and in skirmishing east of Fort Gilmer over the next several days; at First Darbytown Road on October 7; at the battle of Second Darbytown on the Charles City and Williamsburg Roads on October 13; and on the Charles City, Williamsburg, and Nine Mile Roads on October 27. This engagement goes by a number of names, in Confederate accounts based on where a particular unit saw its heaviest fighting. The Federals called it Second Seven Pines.

It was engaged in a virtually bloodless reconnaissance in force along the Darbytown Road on December 11. It spent the winter of 1864-65 in winter quarters just inside the Intermediate Line on the Nine Mile Road, which is where Stone would have rejoined the unit. Picketing and scouting continued through the winter, and for much of the time the 24th maintained patrols and pickets in King and Queen County, across the Pamunkey, as well as in Henrico County.

Gary's brigade was assigned to Fitz Lee's Cavalry Division in March 1865, but remained on the lines east of Richmond until the evacuation. It formed the rear guard of the Confederate retreat, and was the last organized Confederate unit to leave the city on the morning of April 3.

On the retreat to Appomattox, it was engaged at Painesville and Amelia Springs on April 5; in skirmishing near Rice's Station on April 6; at Farmville and at Cumberland Church on April 7; at Appomattox Station on the evening of April 8; and in fighting on the Confederate left at Appomattox Court House on April 9. This fighting took place to the southeast of the Court House.

In the fighting on the evening of April 8, Gary's men fought, as they ususlly did, dismoutned, but after the engagement with two Federal cavalry divisons -- Custer's and Merritt's -- the men of the 24th were cut off form their held horses, and on the mornign of the 9th COL Robins recalled that only one man in the regiment still had his mount, a courier, which Robins used in the fighting that morning. The men of the 24th fought dismounted along with other idsmounted troopers of the brigade.

Many people claimed postwar that their unit fired the last shot, but it does appear that Gary's brigade was the last unit to stop firing as an organized unit.