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61st Virginia Infantry

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Muster In: Organized at Petersburg by the increase of the 7th Infantry Battalion to a regiment on May 22, 1862.  Organization not finalized until October 1, 1862.  Was originally intended to be a regiment of heavy artillery for the defense of Portsmouth and Norfolk.  After their fall, the War Department determined to turn the regiment into an infantry unit.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Colonel Virginius D. Groner
Commander Image

Lieutenant Colonel William H. Stewart
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Mahone’s Brigade | Anderson’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army3

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Mahone’s Brigade | Anderson’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army4

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Virginius D. Groner (?)(at least June 22, 1864)5
    • Lieutenant Colonel William H. Stewart6
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Mahone’s Brigade | Anderson’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army7

  • Commander: Lieutenant Colonel William H. Stewart (at least July 30, 1864)8
  • Unit Strength: <200 officers and men taken into battle (July 30, 1864)9
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Weisiger’s Brigade | Mahone’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army10

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Virginius D. Groner  (at least August 15, 1864)11
    • Lieutenant Colonel William H. Stewart12
  • Unit Strength:
    • 243 officers and men PFD (August 15, 1864)13
  • Weapons: Enfield Rifles14

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Weisiger’s Brigade | Mahone’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army15,16

  • Commander: Lieutenant Colonel William H. Stewart17,18
  • Unit Strength: 196 officers and men PFD (September 28, 1864)19
  • Weapons: Enfield Rifles20

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Weisiger’s Brigade | Mahone’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army21

  • Commander: Lieutenant Colonel William H. Stewart22
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Weisiger’s Brigade | Mahone’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army23,24

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant Colonel William H. Stewart (November 1864)25
    • Colonel Virginius D. Groner (returned from a leave of absence on December 14, 1864)(December 1864)26
    • ? (while Colonel Groner was gone in early December)27
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Weisiger’s Brigade | Mahone’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army28,29,30,31

  • Commander: Colonel Virginius D. Groner (January & February 1865)32,33
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Weisiger’s Brigade | Mahone’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army34,35

  • Commander: Colonel Virginius D. Groner (March & April 1-2, 1865)36,37
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles38:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Wilcox’s Farm (June 22, 1864)
  • Gurley House (June 23, 1864)
  • The Crater (July 30, 1864)
  • Johnson’s Farm (August 19, 1864)
  • Reams’ Station (August 25, 1864)
  • Burgess’ Mill (October 27, 1864)
  • Hatcher’s Run (February 5-7, 1865)
  • Cumberland Church (April 7, 1865)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 256-257 ↩
    2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 256-257 ↩
    3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
    4. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
    5. “The Fighting Around Petersburg.” Richmond Examiner. June 25, 1864, p. 2 col. 4-5: The article lists the regiment and then Colonel Groner’s name.  It is doubtful he was actually present.  More research is needed. ↩
    6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
    7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121 ↩
    8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121 ↩
    9. Stewart, W. H. “Carnage at “the Crater,” Near Petersburg.” Confederate Veteran, Volume 1, Number 2, pp. 41-42: “Wright’s Georgia Brigade and our Virginia Brigade, the latter numbering scarcely eight hundred muskets, constituted the force detailed to dislodge the enemy, who held the broken lines with more than fifteen thousand men, and these were closely supported by as many more. I remember that our regiment, the Sixty-first, did not exceed two hundred men, including officers and privates, which I am quite sure was the strongest in the two brigades.” ↩
    10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 130 ↩
    11. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-17: Mahone’s Brigade, August 15, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 130 ↩
    13. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-17: Mahone’s Brigade, August 15, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    14. Confederate Inspection Report 4-P-17: Mahone’s Brigade, August 15, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138 ↩
    16. 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. 1312. ↩
    17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138 ↩
    18. Confederate Inspection Report 12-P-24: Mahone’s Brigade, September 28, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    19. Confederate Inspection Report 12-P-24: Mahone’s Brigade, September 28, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    20. Confederate Inspection Report 12-P-24: Mahone’s Brigade, September 28, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 149 ↩
    22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 149 ↩
    23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 157 ↩
    24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 165 ↩
    25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 157 ↩
    26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 165 ↩
    27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 165 ↩
    28. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 175 ↩
    29. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1174: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General R. E. Lee, January 31, 1865”; This list contains many commanders who were not there.  They were the “official” commanders but may have been gone on leave.  I have used none of the leaders from this list as a result. ↩
    30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 184 ↩
    31. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1272: “Organization of the Infantry and Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, February 28, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from February 28, 1865.  However, leaders listed are from January.  I’ve chosen to ignore the leaders and just use this source for the organization of the order of battle. ↩
    32. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 175 ↩
    33. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 184 ↩
    34. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 193 ↩
    35. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 203 ↩
    36. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 193 ↩
    37. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 203 ↩
    38. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 256-257 ↩

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