History

The 24th VA Infantry Regiment was mustered into service at Lynchburg, VA in May and June of 1861. Companies from the Southwest Virginia counties of Floyd, Franklin, Carroll, Pulaski, Giles, Mercer, Henry, Patrick, and Montgomery traveled to Lynchburg to become part of the 24th.

Jubal Early took command of the regiment on June 19, 1861. Within a short time, Early was promoted to a Brigade command, with the 24th VA as part of the brigade. The 24th was engaged in battle for the first time at the Battle of First Manassas in July 1861.

Col. William R. Terry took command of the Regiment in September of 1861. After spending winter quarters at Union Mills Camp, the 24th VA was sent to the Peninsula to join the Confederate forces opposing General McClellan's union army.

In May 1862, the 24th VA fought with distinction at the Battle of Williamsburg. For their actions, General Longstreet ordered the word "Williamsburg" inscribed on the regimental flag. Later in the month, the 24th fought well at the Battle of Seven Pines, despite having all of the regimental staff wounded and out of action. The words "Seven Pines" were also ordered to be placed on the colors.

On June 19, 1862 the 24th was placed in Kemper's Brigade along with the other VA regiments the 1st, 7th, 11th, and 17th. The remainder of 1862 saw the 24th in action at Frayser's Farm, Malvern Hill, the "Seven Days", Second Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg. By the end of 1862, the 24th had been reduced by battle casualties and sickness to about 100 men.

The 24th VA spent the first part of 1863 on picket duty in Southeast VA and Eastern NC. In May the regiment headed north and reached Berryville on June 20 where the regiment received new clothes. On June 24th the regiment headed north with the Army of Northern Virginia for immortality at the Battle of Gettysburg.

On July 3rd, Kemper's brigade formed line of battle in the blazing sun. While waiting to advance, the 24th suffered 15% casualties from Federal artillery and heat stroke. When they advanced across the open field, the 24th was on the extreme right of Pickett's Charge and took a devastating fire from Union artillery on Little Round Top. General Kemper was wounded in the charge and Col. Terry was given command of the brigade and Capt. Bentley took over command on the 24th. Despite terrible casualties, Capt. Bentley and some of the members of the 24th stormed over the stone wall into the Federal position. A Federal counterattack forced the Virginians to fall back to the Confederate lines. The 24th VA reached the "high water mark" of the Confederacy, but paid a high price to get there. 202 members of the regiment were killed, wounded, or captured in the assault, the most of any of Kemper's regiments. The 24th VA's flag was one of only two regimental colors that were not captured in Pickett's failed assault. The remainder of 1863 was spent performing guard duty at various locations and recovering from the pounding at Gettysburg.

In January 1864, the 24th was sent to the coast of NC for picket duty. The health of the regiment improved with the diet of fish and oysters rather than the usual beans and fat back. While in North Carolina the 24th participated in battles at Goldsboro and Plymouth. In May the 24th returned to VA. The 24th's next action came at Drewry's Bluff, where in heavy fighting the regiment lost over half of its remaining members (136) in administering a severe beating on the Federal force. Major Bentley took command of the regiment in June 1864. The rest of 1864 saw the 24th engaged in heavy skirmishing several times while on duty in Eastern VA.

1865 saw the 24th VA as well as the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia on the move trying to prevent Grant and the Army of the Potomac from capturing Richmond. While in the lines near Five Forks, the 24th fought off several federal assaults. However, the majority of the 24th was finally captured on April 1 by the swarms of bluecoats.