The 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in the Commonwealth of Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly in the mountainous area that today encompasses the border regions of Virginia and West Virginia, and was part of Jubal Early's Army of the Valley during the Valley Campaigns of 1864.
Companies and formation Companies of militia in southwest Virginia began to form as soon as secession occurred on April 17, 1861. Ex-governor John B. Floyd was made a brigadier general and asked to organize these militia into a fighting force. Floyd called the militia to assemble at the central railroad hub of Wytheville and appointed West Point graduate Henry Heth to drill and organize the volunteers.
By May 29, Heth had formed ten companies of roughly 900 men into a fighting unit and it was mustered in as the 45th Virginia.
The original ten companies were:Scott, pp. 2–3
Company A – Floyd Guard (Tazewell Co.), under Captain Joseph Harrison Company B – Mount Airy Rough and Readys (Wythe Co.), under Captain John Buchanan Company C – Grayson Rifles (Grayson Co.), under Captain Alexander M. Davis Company D – Minute Men (Wythe Co.), under Captain Robert H. Gleaves Company E – Rough and Readys (Carroll Co.), under Captain William Lundy Company F – Sharpshooters (Bland Co.), under Captain Andrew J. Grayson Company G – West Augusta Rifles (Tazewell Co.), under Captain William H. Browne Company H – Tazewell Rangers (Tazewell Co.), under Captain Edwin H. Harman Company I – Reed Island Rifles (Carroll Co.), under Captain Thomas D. Bolt Company K – Tazewell Boys (Tazewell Co.), under Captain Titus V. Williams
On June 17, Heth was promoted to colonel and made commander of the regiment. Born in Tidewater Virginia, Heth was unpopular with the mountain farmers and was known as a strict disciplinarian. In turn, Heth was frustrated by the illiteracy and lack of discipline of his men, as well as General Floyd's actions as commanding officer. He wrote of Floyd, "I soon discovered that my chief was as incapacitated for the work he had undertaken as I would have been to lead an Italian opera."Heth, p. 152
The regiment also elected Gabriel Colvin Wharton, a Virginia Military Institute graduate from Culpeper as major, but within a month he was made a colonel, in command of the 51st Virginia Infantry.
Western Virginia Campaign of 1861
In August, Floyd decided to move his brigade (the 45th Virginia and the 50th Virginia) into the Kanawha Valley in present-day West Virginia, possibly because of the recent retreat of his political rival, former governor and Confederate brigadier general Henry A. Wise from the same territory. Throughout the month he moved his two regiments north slowly, until they were eventually joined by two more from Wise's brigade, the 22nd and 36th Virginia.Scott, pp. 6–7
On August 25, scouts reported the 7th Ohio Infantry in camp at Cross Lanes and Floyd, after asking Heth's advice, ordered an attack. The 45th Virginia lost its first man killed in battle, but the brigade easily routed the Ohio soldiers. Floyd made camp at Carnifex Ferry and remained there until September 10, when a Union brigade under Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans arrived and drove off Floyd's brigade in the Battle of Carnifex Ferry.Heth, p. xxxiv During the battle, Floyd was wounded in the arm and treated by a surgeon of the regiment. The 45th Virginia lost no men in the battle, but suffered three casualties while retreating towards Dogwood Gap.Scott, p. 8
Floyd and Wise met up at Dogwood Gap and together withdrew to Sewell Mountain in Fayette County, where the 45th Virginia received a new company out of Tazewell County, Company L. Floyd decided to fall back about 40 miles southeast to what he believed was a more defensible positionO.R. Volume V, Chapter XIV pp. 900–902 and ordered Wise to do so as well, but Wise refused and mocked Floyd as he had been mocked in August. On September 21, Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived at the orders of President Jefferson Davis to take command of forces in the Kanawha Valley region. Lee determined that Wise had been correct, and ordered Floyd's brigade back to Sewell Mountain, but also unified the command under Floyd and sent Wise to Richmond for assignment.Scott, p. 10
Throughout September and October, the brigade maneuvered around the area in several abortive attempts at an attack on Rosecrans' retreating men. Lee was recalled east October 30, leaving sole command to Floyd, who was becoming more unpopular. Several officers of the 45th Virginia resigned over harsh treatment of their men, and Floyd angrily replaced them, including Captains Joseph Harrison, Alexander Davis, and George Gose. In November, Floyd began shelling Rosecrans' position, but did not order an attack and, when Rosecrans began an offensive of his own on November 10 was forced to retreat on roads made miserable by bad weather. He retreated all the way to Dublin in by December 9 before halting and entering winter quarters.Scott, p. 12
In December, the 45th Virginia became part of a new brigade that was placed under Heth, who was based in Lewisburg and Lt. Col. William E. Peters took charge of the regiment. January was the end of the regiment's enlistment, and the men were promised $500 and a chance to elect new officers if they signed on for another three-year term. Despite only suffering 4 killed in battle and 70 killed by disease, there was much less enthusiasm than in the previous year.
Campaigns of 1862 In January, most of the regiment re-enlisted, and Company L was transferred to the 23rd Virginia Infantry. Floyd and most of his command was transferred to Tennessee to support the activities of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, and the 45th Virginia spent the next several months maneuvering. In April, Lee, now special military adviser to the President, ordered the regiment to Knoxville, but Brig. Gen. Heth convinced him that it was more vital to guard rail lines in southwest Virginia.
On April 30, the 45th Virginia was asked to quickly counter Union movements by Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox in Giles County. On May 10, Heth led a small brigade, including the 45th Virginia, against the 23rd Ohio, now under the command of Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes at Giles Court House, driving them out of their position. Heth praised the leadership of Peters, but when the regiment was finally reorganized four days later, Peters was not elected and left the regiment.Scott, pp. 15–19
Tazewell native William Browne, a West Point graduate and commander of Company G, was elected colonel, and another Tazewell native, Edwin Houston Harman, was elected lieutenant colonel. Alexander Davis became the new major, and the men also took the opportunity to replace five of the ten company commanders, plus the two who had been promoted, as well as many of the lieutenants.Scott, pp. 19–20
Heth received word that Col. George Crook had occupied Lewisburg and took the 45th and 22nd Virginia and Finney's Battalion to drive them off. Heth mismanaged his affair, and Crook easily defeated the attack, with only the 45th Virginia maintaining some order. He spent the rest of the summer withdrawing, much to the anger of local residents, until he was transferred to Tennessee and replaced by Brig. Gen. John Echols, a Virginia Military Institute graduate.
Maj. Gen. William W. Loring, who had command of the Department of Southwestern Virginia that the 45th Virginia was operating within, decided to unite his forces in order to drive the Union troops from the Kanawha Valley. At 5 am on September 10, Loring deployed his forces on the approach to the Union camp at Fayetteville, with the 45th Virginia on the left reassigned to the brigade of Brig. Gen. John S. Williams. They advanced through heavy fire, Browne writing, “the enemy threw grape and minie-balls thick as hail around us,” until nightfall stopped the brigade. The Union withdrew during the night and began a nearly week-long pursuit to Charleston. The Confederates reached the city in the midst of a Union retreat.O.R. Volume XIX, Chapter XXXI, Part I, pp. 1085–1086 Lt. James Hackler and three other men from Company C crossed the river while the town was still half-occupied and hauled down the garrison’s colors, returning with them over the river safely.O.R. Volume XIX, Chapter XXXI, Part I, p. 1084
With the conclusion of the Battle of Charleston, Loring had effectively cleared all Union troops from the Kanawha Valley and issued a proclamation saying, "The army of the Confederate states has come upon you to expel the enemy, to rescue the people from despotism of the counterfeit State government imposed on you by Northern bayonets, and to restore the country once more to its natural allegiance to the State." Loring also called on the western counties to cease all cooperation with the Northern armies and to send men for new regiments for his own.O.R. Volume XIX, Chapter XXXI, Part I, p. 1072
The occupation of Charleston was short-lived, though. Lee's defeat at the Battle of Antietam led him to order Loring to the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce him in case Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan pursued the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River. Loring chose to remain in Charleston instead and was summoned to Richmond, where he began marching with his entire army. On October 16, he was summoned again, but this time was also relieved of command, with Echols replacing him temporarily. Echols tried to move the army back to Charleston, but Union forces had already made the position untenable, so he placed the army into winter quarters on a line from Lewisburg to Princeton.Scott, p. 25
In November, the 45th Virginia's brigade commander, John S. Williams, was made the new head of the Department of Southwestern Virginia to replace Loring, and it was subordinated to the new Trans-Allegheny Department covering all of western Virginia to the Kentucky border, which Williams also commanded temporarily, until Davis settled on Maj. Gen. Samuel Jones.Eicher, pp. 882–884.
1863: Defending the Railroad and the Salt Mines By the winter of 1863, the salt mines of Saltville, Virginia, had become of vital importance to Confederate forces in Virginia. Most of the salt used in preserving meat for the armies came from southwestern Virginia and the Department of the Trans-Allegheny generally, and the 45th Virginia specifically, were charged with protecting the supply. Throughout the winter, the regiment engaged in a series of periodic maneuvers designed to support an offensive that never occurred. Mostly, the regiment moved from town to town, even taking the time to rebuild the home of a local man whose house was destroyed by a windstorm.Scott, p. 26.
Summer brought the admission of the state of West Virginia into the Union, as well as Brig. Gen. William W. Averell to southwestern Virginia and a renewed Union offensive. Averell launched another offensive towards Lewisburg and the Confederate government became concerned about the law library containing the deeds to all the land in western counties of Virginia, recently declared as a new state of West Virginia. Troops from the Trans-Allegheny Department, now under Maj. Gen. Samuel Jones, were asked to protect Lewisburg.
A brigade under Col. William L. Jackson attempted to slow Averell and the 45th Virginia, camped in Lewisburg, attempted to come up on his rear. When Jackson was forced to fall back, Jones sent the 22nd Virginia under Col. George S. Patton and the 26th Virginia Battalion and together, with a handful of other troops, they confronted Averell at White Sulphur Springs on August 26. Two companies detached from the 45th Virginia under Lt. Col. Harman entered the fight on the left "fighting like demons," in his words. As Averell added troops against them Col. Browne sent companies to reinforce and, finally, Maj. Davis brought the rest of the regiment.Scott, p. 30