The 54th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 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 56th Virginia completed its organization in September 1861, with men from Louisa, Mecklenburg, Buckingham, Nelson, and Charlotte counties. It moved to Tennessee and attached to Floyd's Brigade was captured in the fight at Fort Donelson. After being exchanged, the unit returned to Virginia and was assigned to Pickett's, Garnett's, and Hunton's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia.

It fought with the army from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor except when it served under Longstreet at Suffolk. The 56th then endured the hardships of the Petersburg trenches north and south of the James River and saw action around Appomattox.

In June 1862, it contained 466 effectives and reported 100 casualties during the Seven Days' Battles. This regiment carried only 40 men into action at Sharpsburg and 8 were wounded. Of the 289 engaged at Gettysburg, more than sixty-five percent were disabled. Many were captured at Sayler's Creek, and only 3 officers and 26 men surrendered on April 9, 1865.

The field officers were Colonels William E. Green, Philip P. Slaughter, and William D. Stuart; Lieutenant Colonel Timoleon Smith; and Major John B. McPhail.