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Note: Also known as Archer’s Battalion.
Muster In: Organized as Archer’s Battalion Virginia Reserves early in 1864 and eventually had six companies. Officially organized as the 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves at Petersburg on June 15, 1864.1,2
Muster Out: (presumably) April 9, 18653
Commander(s):
Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher H. Archer
Commander Image
Captain William H. Jarvis
Commander Image
Commander 3
Commander Image
First Offensive Order of Battle: Petersburg, Va. | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army4
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Second Offensive Order of Battle: Petersburg, Va. | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army8
- Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher H. Archer (?)9
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Third Offensive Order of Battle: Petersburg, Va. | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army10
- Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher H. Archer (?)11
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Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Petersburg, Va. | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army12
- Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher H. Archer (?)13
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Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Post of Petersburg | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army14,15
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Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Post of Petersburg | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army19
- Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher H. Archer (?)20
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Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Post of Petersburg | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army21,22
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Eighth Offensive Order of Battle:
Barton’s Command | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (January 1-9, 1865)
Barton’s Command | Lee’s Division | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (January 9-?, 1865)26
Post of Petersburg | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army (late January (?) & February 1865)26,28
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Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Post of Petersburg | First Military District | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army32,33
- Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher H. Archer (?)34
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Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles35:
- Petersburg (June 9, 1864)
Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
Sayler’s Creek (presumably) (April 6, 1865)
Appomattox Court House (presumably) (April 9, 1865)
Bibliography:
Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:
- NP: June 17, 1864 Petersburg Daily Express: Casualties of the Petersburg Militia, June 9, 1864
- NP: June 20, 1864 Philadelphia Inquirer: The June 9, 1864 First Battle of Petersburg From the Petersburg Express
- NP: June 21, 1864 Petersburg Daily Express: Local Matters, June 20-21, 1864
- NP: June 23, 1864 Petersburg Daily Express: Local Matters, June 16 and 23, 1864
Sources:
- Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 162 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 221: Two of the six companies were 2nd Class Militia which were temporarily attached. Most companies enlisted in April and May 1864. ↩
- Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 162 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 116 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- “Local Matters.” The Daily Express (Petersburg, VA). June 23, 1864, p. 2 col. 4 ↩
- “Local Matters.” The Daily Express (Petersburg, VA). June 23, 1864, p. 2 col. 4: “When the commanding officer was wounded and taken from the field, the command devolved upon Capt W H Jarvis, who commanded during the remainder of the day, and is now in command.” ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 116 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 125 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 135 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 142 ↩
- Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship. The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1313. ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 142 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 142 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 151 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 160 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 169 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 160 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 169 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 189 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 189 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 198 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 208 ↩
- Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1986), p. 225: Archer is listed as the unit’s only commander, from “1864-65”. I am unsure if he was consistently present from the beginning to the end of the unit’s existence, or if he was away at times. Wallace mentions that this unit was temporarily consolidated into one company, Company E, of a temporary field organization called the 3rd (Chrisman’s) Battalion Virginia Reserves in September 1864. This temporary battalion was different than the permanent 3rd Battalion Virginia Reserves. More research is needed. ↩
- Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, p. 162 ↩
1913 obitaury of Veteran of Company E Archer battalion reportably at FT Mahone 2 April 1865
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038615/1913-05-28/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1865&index=1&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=Fort+Mahone&proxdistance=5&sort=relevance&date2=1922&ortext=&proxtext=Fort+Mahone&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=3
We have some letters from Fletcher H Archer to his wife during this time frame. Unfortunately we are having a hard time translating some of it. Would there be in interest in these?