An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
Lewis "Lew" Wallace's 11th Indiana Infantry had been protecting the vital transportation hub of Cumberland, Maryland, along the Potomac River, since early June 1861. When Wallace’s regiment departed on July 7, Cumberland and key points along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad were left dangerously exposed. At the request of General Winfield Scott, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew…
Continue reading ➞ Thomas L. Kane and his Bucktailed Wildcats
In June 1861, Col. Angus W. McDonald successfully petitioned the Confederate War Department for permission to raise a cavalry regiment, which became the 7th Virginia Cavalry. The first company he recruited was Capt. Turner Ashby’s Mountain Rangers. Thirty-two-year-old Turner Ashby Jr. and his younger brother Richard, 29, were born at Rose Bank Plantation in Fauquier…
Angus W. McDonald, Sr. (1799–1864) Colonel Angus William McDonald, Sr. (1799–1864) was born in Winchester, Virginia, on February 14, 1799. He was taken in by his grandmother at the family home of Glengarry after the death of his parents at a young age. As a teenager, he attended the United States Military Academy at West…
Continue reading ➞ The Forgotten Colonel: Angus McDonald’s Role in the Civil War
Photographic Portrait of Orlando B. Willcox. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Orlando Bolivar Willcox (1823–1907) was born on April 16, 1823, in Detroit, Michigan Territory. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1847. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery, Willcox served at the end…
Continue reading ➞ Thank God for Michigan: Orlando B. Willcox (1823–1907)
Photographic Portrait of Daniel Ruggles. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Daniel Ruggles (1810–1897), born in Barre, Massachusetts, became one of the few New Englanders to achieve the rank of general officer in the Confederate Army. After graduating 34th in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1833, he embarked…
Continue reading ➞ Daniel Ruggles: A New England General in the Confederate Ranks
Spirit of '61 