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Re: 50th VA Infantry
In Response To: Re: 50th VA Infantry ()

Kevin

Good to hear from you and thank you for your service. The 10th Mountain Division is certainly one of the most deployed units in the Army -- and in that it shared simiar service with the 50th Va. Be as safe as you can and take care. I wrote the history of the 50th Va. and will provide what I have with regard to both A/50Va and your ancestors.

50th Virginia Infantry

"The Bloody Half Hundred" was organized in July 1861 from units recruited in Lee, Wise, Washington, Tazewell, Smyth, Grayson, Carroll, Pulaski, Patrick, Amherst and Nelson counties. The regiment's initial ten infantry and three cavalry companies assembled at Wytheville, part of Gen. John B. Floyd's Brigade. Ravaged by disease, the 50th battled at Cross Lanes, Carnifex Ferry and Gauley Bridge in Floyd's unsuccessful fall-1861 effort to control the Kanawha Valley. In that mountain campaign, marked more by constant marching over terrible roads in horrendous weather than by fierce combat, disease exacted huge losses that forced the regiment to temporarily consolidate with the 51st Virginia. In early 1862 the 50th fought bravely with heavy casualties at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. Escaping the surrender there, the regiment trekked 260 miles to Chattanooga where most of the men, after re-enlisting, were furloughed in March. Reassembled in early May, parts of the 50th fought at Princeton and Lewisburg before the regiment reorganized in late May. The unit joined Gen. William Loring's fall-1862 campaign that captured Charleston, W.Va., but ended in retreat to the Narrows of the New River. With little respite, the 50th moved to reinforce Confederate forces on the Blackwater River in southeastern Virginia. There, 1863 began with a small, bloody affair at Kelly's Store near Suffolk. Returning briefly to southwestern Virginia in March, the 50th soon transferred east to Jones' Brigade in Stonewall Jackson's Second Corps. Fierce battles at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg hurt the 50th badly and a less-than-optimal performance at Payne's Farm closed the year's fighting. Bloodied heavily again at the Wilderness in early May 1864, the regiment fought briefly but well before being overwhelmed while defending the salient near Spotsylvania Court House. Reduced to a company-sized fragment, the 50th battled as part of the Second Corps with Gen. Jubal Early in the Shenandoah Valley and at Washington, D.C. In October 1864, after transfer to Gen. Gabriel Wharton's division, the 50th stood fast during the rout at Cedar Creek and remained in the Valley when the Second Corps returned to Petersburg in December. In March 1865, the debacle at Waynesborough ended the war for most of the 50th. Survivors continued serving with Gen. John Echols until his army disbanded near Christiansburg in April 1865. During nearly four years of war, more than 24 percent of "The Bloody Half-Hundred" died in battle, from disease or from Union prison conditions.

Company A: "Lee Rifles"
Original Officers:
Jonathan Richmond, Jr. Capt.
John C. Olinger 1st Lt.
John C. Johnston 2nd Lt.
Martin Van Buren Olinger 3rd Lt.

Comprised principally of men from Lee County, with a few from Scott County, this unit began organizing as early as May 1861 in Jonesville. It enlisted for 12 months at Wytheville on June 27. The company numbered at least four officers and 68 enlisted men prior to its departure from there on July 25. The company reorganized May 12, 1862. Except for a brief period when it was detached and fought near Princeton, W.Va., on May 17, 1862, the company served with the regiment throughout the war. Only one unit muster roll, covering the period June 27 to November 1, 1861, is known to exist.

Davault, Jacob Witt B/50Va Lt
837/11/24 B. Grainger Co or Hancock Co, Tenn [20]. Source [73b] says b. Hawkins Co, Tenn.
860/00/00 860Cen. Prewar farm laborer, age 20, Lee Co [73b]
861/06/29 Enl Sgt Wytheville, Wythe Co [1]
861/11/01 Pres in unit [1]
862/05/08 Elec 2Lt [1]
864/03/31 Named on unit clothing receipt roll for qtr [1]
864/05/12 Captured Spotsylvania C.H. [1] [25, 864/ 06/04]
864/05/18=864/07/23 POW Pt Lookout; sent to Elmira [1]
864/07/26=864/08/31 POW Elmira; states desire to take oath saying, "Conscripted in May1863...Now wishes to...go to Cincinnati, Ohio" [1]
865/05/19 POW Elmira, released on oath. Gave Catholicsburg, Ky as residence [1]
904/02/15 Living, age 65, Lee Co. files pension app [33b]
905/08/10 Dd Lee Co [20]. Source [33c, Lee] says dd 1906, tuberculosis.
999/99/93 69", dark complexion, dark hair, dark eyes in 1865 [1]

Zion, William Parsons A/50Va Pvt
841/02/06 B. Lee Co, "where the present town of Pennington Gap stands" [20] [33c,Lee]
860/00/00 860Cen. Prewar farm laborer, age 19, Lee Co [73b]
861/06/27 Enl Pvt Wytheville, Wythe Co [1]. Source [33c, Lee] says enl 861/06, Pattonsville, Scott Co.
861/11/01 Pres in unit, Pvt [1]
863/07/02 Wd, left arm, Gettysburg, Pa., Cpl [1]
863/07/03 BTD prom cpl. Captured Gettysburg, Pa [1]
863/07/06 POW Ft McHenry; sent to Ft Delaware [1]
863/07/07=863/10/26 POW Ft Delaware; sent to Pt Lookout [1]
863/10/27=864/05/03 POW Pt Lookout; paroled for exchange [1]
864/05/08 Rcvd for exchange, Aiken's Landing [1]
864/05/17=864/07/01 Hosp Richmond; released to duty [1]
864/05/19 Paroled POW, pd in Richmond at start of furlough [1]
864/09/00 Named on unit clothing receipt roll. Also named 5 Oct, 5 Nov, 9 Nov, 11Dec 64 [1]
865/03/02 Captured Waynesboro [1]
865/03/09 BTD POW Harper's Ferry, sent to Ft Delaware [1]
865/03/12 POW Ft Delaware; subs released on oath. Gave Lee Co as residence [1]
910/04/03 Living

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50th VA Infantry
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