The 3rd West Virginia Cavalry Regiment was organized in western Virginia in December, 1861, with the first company of the regiment organized and recruited in Morgantown. It was the first cavalry regiment raised by West Virginia under the Union government in Wheeling. David H. Strother was the regiment's original commander. He began as lieutenant colonel and later was promoted to colonel. However, he never commanded the regiment in the field. Instead, he spent time on the staffs of generals Nathaniel Banks, John Pope, George McClellan, Benjamin F. Kelley, David Hunter, and Franz Sigel. He resigned from the army after Hunter was replaced by Philip Sheridan.[1] Field commanders were often Major Seymour B. Conger and Colonel John L. McGee.
Early action
Under Captain J.L. McGee, the regiment first reported to General B.F. Kelley at Grafton, where it was ordered to New Creek (Keyser), then on to take part in General Kelley's advance on Romney, where it charged Confederate breastworks. This charge was delivered with fine spirit and most satisfactory results, with the whole of the enemy's artillery, stores and flags being taken without casualties.
This advance was soon followed by the surprise of the Rebels at Blues Gap; resulting in the capture of a number of rebel prisoners, three pieces of artillery and the entire camp's supplies and munitions, driving them to the eastern slope of the Alleghenies and transferring the field of active operations to the Valley of Virginia. Captain McGee was promoted to Major of the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry on October 2, 1861.
In 1862, Company C, under Captain Conger, frequently engaged Confederate troops while in pursuit of “Stonewall” Jackson during his retreat up the Shenandoah Valley.
On April 2, 1864 at Ford's Station, under Lieutenant-Colonel John S. Witcher, the 3rd Cavalry charged and drove back a brigade of rebel cavalry, killing Confederate General Pegram. The regiment continued its duty, participating in the engagements at Appomattox Station and Court House, consequently present during Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9.
The 3rd West Virginia Cavalry suffered 6 officers and 40 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded in battle and 136 enlisted men dead from disease for a total of 182 fatalities.[3]
Lang, Theodore F. (1895). Loyal West Virginia from 1861 to 1865: With an Introductory Chapter on the Status of Virginia for Thirty Years Prior to the War. Deutsch publishing Company. pp. 197–. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Strother, David Hunter; Elby, Cecil D. (1998). A Virginia Yankee in the Civil War: the Diaries of David Hunter Strother. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN978-0-80786-666-5. OCLC45843936.
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