The 3rd Virginia Regiment was raised on December 28, 1775 at Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

 for service with the Continental Army

Continental Army

The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...

. The 3d Virginia's initial commander was Colonel Hugh Mercer

Hugh Mercer

Hugh Mercer was a soldier and physician. He initially served with British forces during the Seven Years War but later became a brigadier general in the Continental Army and a close friend to George Washington...

, who was quickly promoted to brigadier general. Its second commander, George Weedon

George Weedon

George Weedon was an American soldier during the Revolutionary War from Fredericksburg, Virginia.He served as a Brigadier General in the Continental Army and later in the Virginia militia....

, was also promoted to brigadier general within a few months. Weedon was succeeded in command by Colonel Thomas Marshall, the father of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall

John Marshall

John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...

. The regiment saw action in the New York Campaign the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston

Siege of Charleston

The Siege of Charleston was one of the major battles which took place towards the end of the American Revolutionary War, after the British began to shift their strategic focus towards the American Southern Colonies. After about six weeks of siege, Continental Army Major General Benjamin Lincoln...

. Most of the regiment was captured at Charlestown, South Carolina on May 12, 1780 by the British and the regiment was formally disbanded on November 15, 1783. James Monroe

James Monroe

James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...

, Thomas Helm and John Marshall

John Marshall

John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...

 served as lieutenants in this regiment.

Further reading

Cecere, Michael. They Behaved Like Soldiers: Captain John Chilton and the Third Virginia Regiment, 1775 - 1778. Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2004. ISBN 0-7884-2479-3.

External links

• Bibliography of the Continental Army in Virginia compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History