The 2nd Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 raised in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 for service in the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia

Army of Northern Virginia

The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...

.

The Virginia 2nd Cavalry completed its organization at Lynchburg, Virginia, in May, 1861. Its companies were recruited in the counties of Bedford, Campbell, Botetourt, Amherst, Franklin, Appomattox, and Albemarle. Until the end of October the unit was called the 30th Regiment Virginia Volunteers.

During the war it was brigaded under Generals B.H. Robertson, F. Lee, Wickham, and Munford. The 2nd Cavalry saw action at First Bull Run, in Jackson's Valley Campaign, and at Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Kelly's Ford, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Aldie, Upperville, Gettysburg, and Shepherdstown. After the Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns, it was involved at The Wilderness, Todd's Tavern, Spotsylvania, Haw's Shop, and Cold Harbor. It fought in the Shenandoah Valley with Early and later in numerous conflicts around Petersburg and Appomattox.

The regiment contained 676 men in July, 1861, lost twenty-eight percent of the 163 engaged at Groveton Heights, and of the 385 at Gettysburg about four percent were disabled. At Appomattox it cut through the Federal lines and disbanded at Lynchburg on April 10, 1865. However, 19 men were included in the surrender.

The field officers were Colonels Thomas T. Munford

Thomas T. Munford

Thomas Taylor Munford was an American farmer and Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

 and Richard C.W. Radford, Lieutenant Colonels Cary Breckinridge and James W. Watts, and Major William F. Graves.

Future Commonwealth's Attorney and Virginia Bar Association President Micajah Woods

Micajah Woods

Micajah Woods Micajah Woods Micajah Woods (May 17, 1844 - March 14, 1911] was a Virginia lawyer, who served as the Commonwealth's Attorney in Charlottesville, Virginia for 41 years, and was a president of The Virginia Bar Association....

 enlisted in the 2nd Virginia Cavalry. Woods was the prosecuting attorney in the trial of Charlottesville mayor J. Samuel McCue, the last man to be hanged in Virginia.

Thomas Whitehead

Thomas Whitehead

Thomas Whitehead was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer, editor and merchant from Virginia.-Biography:...

, the future one-term Representative of Virginia's 6th Congressional District to the House of Representatives, was the captain of Company E.