Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Virginia Adjutant General, First Regiment Virginia Volunteers Records, 1851-1860. Accession 36762, State Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

No acquisition information available.

Biographical/Historical Information

The First Regiment of Virginia Volunteers was created on May 1, 1851, by Adjutant General, William H. Richardson. The regiment was formed from the volunteer militia companies of Richmond, Henrico County, and Chesterfield County. Walter Gwynn was elected colonel of the regiment and was later replaced by Major Thomas P. August in 1853. In 1856, the regiment consisted of these companies: the Richmond Grays (Company A), the Young Guard (Company B), the Montgomery Guard (Company C), the Eagle Infantry (Company D), the Richmond Light Infantry Blues (Company E), the Richmond Fayette Artillery (Company F), the Continental Guard (Company G), the Mechanics Guard (Company H), the National Guard (Company I), and the Virginia Rifles, formerly the German Rifles (Company K). Two companies, the Richmond Light Dragoons, and the Caledonian Guards disbanded in 1853.

Scope and Content Information

Includes military returns, returns of delinquents, muster rolls, correspondence, vouchers, orders, resolutions, certificates of qualification, and surgeon's returns. The military returns enumerate the soldiers by rank, provide the number of arms and accoutrements, and list absentees by name. There is only a small amount of correspondence and it primarily relates to commissions. The surgeon's returns list the amount of medicine and surgical instruments received and used since the last return. Note that there are very few muster rolls listing all the soldiers' names in the regiment. There are rolls for the Richmond Grays, the Young Guard, and the Virginia Rifles, otherwise only officers, absentees, and delinquents are listed by name.