The 9th Virginia Infantry Regiment, C.S.A.

Abstract

The history of the 9th Virginia reveals a personal struggle within a much larger conflict. The regiment's performance at the June, 1862, battle of Seven Pines was disappointing. After the encounter, the unit not only marched against the Federals but looked for the opportunity to redeem itself. However, the occasion to regain its good standing was slow in coming.

General Lewis A. Armistead, the regiment's brigade commander, initially posted the 9th Virginia to guard roadways during subsequent engagements at Malvern Hill. Armistead also held the regiment in reserve while most of the brigade counterattacked along the York River Railroad. The entire brigade remained as a support unit during the clash at Second Manassas. Following the battle, Armistead declined to set in motion a night attack, as suggested by a fellow general, because Armistead felt his command would have trouble executing such a complicated assault. At Fredericksburg the brigade defended the Confederate middle-- the safest position on the Southern line. The second rate assignments the regiments received spawns the obvious question concerning the unit. Did Armistead lack faith in the 9th Virginia?

The summer after Seven Pines, the regiment participated in Pickett's charge at Gettysburg and the flow of events changed. The Confederacy began its painful decline. Armistead was killed and the 9th Virginia suffered tremendous casualties. Yet the unit established a positive place for itself in military history.