The First Virginia Infantry Regiment (U.S.) featured prominently in Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s advance into northwestern Virginia in late May 1861. Its presence helped reassure nervous civilians that this was a limited operation designed to protect the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and expel secessionist militias, not a heavy-handed federal invasion. The regiment’s colonel, Benjamin F. Kelley, was wounded in one of the first skirmishes of the war, but he would later rise through the ranks to become a brevet major general.
A border compromise in the 1780s had left Virginia with a narrow, 63-mile ribbon of land thrust between Ohio and Pennsylvania, the Ohio River forming its western boundary. Along this Northern Panhandle, Wheeling emerged as Virginia’s fourth-largest city. Geographically and culturally, it was closer to Pittsburgh than to Richmond, with expanding industry, a large German immigrant population, and steady investment flowing in from its northern neighbors.
Following the April 17 secession vote at the convention in Richmond, two infantry companies loyal to the United States were formed in Wheeling: the Rough and Ready Guards and Iron Guards. Workers from the La Belle Iron Works featured prominently in the Iron Guards. As more volunteers gathered, they went into camp on the fairgrounds of the Western Virginia Agricultural Society on Wheeling Island to be organized into a regiment. This camp became known as Camp Carlile, after Congressman John S. Carlile, who was an advocate for West Virginia statehood.
The regiment would be designated the First Virginia Infantry, as its organizers, who rejected the legitimacy of secession, sought to claim the mantle of “loyal” Virginia for themselves. They chose 54-year-old Benjamin F. Kelley, a former resident of Wheeling and freight agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, as their colonel. Kelley was working for the B&O in Philadelphia when he was notified of his election.
During the initial phase of his advance into northwestern Virginia, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan placed the First Virginia Infantry (U.S.) in the vanguard. This was a deliberate effort to show the civilian population that Ohio and Indiana troops were merely supporting loyal state forces in their effort to expel secessionist insurgents. McClellan knew that supporting and protecting unionists in northwestern Virginia, so that they could set up an alternative and loyal state government, would be critical to success in the region.
The chart below breaks down the composition of the First Virginia Infantry (U.S.) by company, showing its captains, where each company was recruited, its date of organization (which is not the same as the muster date), and its strength. Volunteers from Ohio and Pennsylvania helped fill the ranks, as men from these states were eager to enlist but their home states had already met their quotas for 3-month regiments.
As reported by Jon-Erik Gilot, a small number of enlistees were killed or injured in accidents prior to the Action at Philippi on June 3, 1861. On May 22, for example, Thomas J. Baker of Company I, Hancock Union Guards, fell off the steamboat S.C. Baker into the Ohio River and drowned. His name does not appear on the unit’s muster roll because he died one day before they were mustered into service.
First Virginia Infantry Regiment (U.S.)
Col. Benjamin F. Kelley, Commanding
Maj. Isaac H. Duval
| Company | Local Designation | Commander | Locality | Date of Organization | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F&S | — | Col. Benjamin F. Kelley | — | — | 5 |
| A | Rough and Ready Rifles /Guards | Capt. Andrew H. Britt | Wheeling, VA | 5/10/1861 | 76 |
| B | Iron Guards | Capt. Edward W. Stephens, Jr. | Wheeling, VA | 5/11/1861 | 77 |
| C | Henry Clay Guards | Capt. Isaac N. Fordyce | Wheeling, VA | 5/15/1861 | 78 |
| D | Madison Guards | Capt. Mountford S. Stokeley | Steubenville, OH | 5/13/1861 | 77 |
| E | Washington Guards | Capt. George C. Trimble | Wheeling and Ohio County, VA | 5/17/1861 | 77 |
| F | Cameron Volunteers | Capt. James F. Donnelly | Wellsburg, VA | 5/13/1861 | 76 |
| G | Oakes Guard | Capt. James I. Kuhn | Wellsburg, VA | 5/16/1861 | 77 |
| H | Enterprise Fire Company | Capt. Thomas C. Parke | Marshall County, VA | 5/16/1861 | 76 |
| I | Hancock Union Guards | Capt. Bazil W. Chapman | Hancock County, VA | 5/17/1861 | 77 |
| K | Logan Guards | Capt. George W. Robinson | Marshall and Ohio County, VA | 5/17/1861 | 77 |
| 773 |
There is some controversy over the exact alphabetical designations of these companies, particularly F, H, and E. The records preserved in the West Virginia Adjutant General’s files at the West Virginia State Archives do not match the company lists printed in C. J. Rawling’s The History of the First Regiment Virginia Infantry or Theodore F. Lang’s Loyal West Virginia from 1861 to 1865.
The list above follows the order found in the West Virginia Adjutant General’s files and corresponds with a roster of officers and men of the First Virginia Infantry printed in the Wheeling Intelligencer on August 24, 1861. It is possible, perhaps even likely, that some companies received one letter designation at first and were later reassigned, or that captains exchanged companies as the regiment settled into its organization.
After Colonel Kelley was seriously wounded at Philippi, the regiment was broken up and its companies were sent to guard various locations, including Rowlesburg, Grafton, and Philippi. At the end of August, it returned to Wheeling, where it was reorganized as a three-year regiment. It was eventually redesignated as the First West Virginia Infantry.
Sources
Bell, Mark E. “A Day at the Races: The First Virginia (U.S.) Infantry at the Battle of Philippi.” Civil War Regiments 5, no. 4 (1997): 1-19.
Caldwell, Nancy Lee. A History of Brooke County. Wellsburg: Brooke County Historical Society, 1975.
Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, VA) 4 May 1861.
Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, VA) 16 May 1861.
Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, VA) 17 May 1861.
Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, VA) 22 May 1861.
Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, VA) 25 May 1861.
Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, VA) 6 June 1861.
Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, VA) 24 August 1861.
Haselberger, Fritz. Yanks from the South! The First Land Campaign of the Civil War. Baltimore: Past Glories, 1987.
Kelly, T. F. Civil War General B.F. Kelley: Union Major General by Brevet. Spring Valley: Tango Kilo Publishing, 2022.
Newton, J. H., G. G. Nichols, and A. G. Sprinkle. History of the Pan-Handle: Being Historical Collections of the Counties of Ohio, Brooke, Marshall, and Hancock, West Virginia. Wheeling: J. A. Caldwell, 1879.
Rawling, C. J. History of the First Regiment Virginia Infantry. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1887.
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