35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion
Our History
Mustered June 1861, Virginia
Total mustered: Approximately 300–350 men (at initial organization, 1862)
Casualties: Exact figures are not fully documented in surviving returns. The battalion sustained losses throughout the Valley Campaigns and in actions in western Virginia. A significant portion of losses were from combat; disease and hardship also reduced numbers during winter operations and prolonged field service.
Command Surrendered: After Lee’s surrender at Appomattox (April 9, 1865), the Laurel Brigade was disbanded, and men who avoided capture went individually to Federal officers to be paroled; by about May 1 most had been paroled.​
Officers: Lt. Col. Elijah V. White; Maj. George M. Ferneyhough; Maj. Franklin M. Myers.
Major Engagements:
Brandy Station, VA (“Fleetwood”) — June 1863
Gettysburg Campaign, PA (operations in Pennsylvania) — June–July 1863
The Wilderness, VA — May 1864
Trevilian Station, VA — June 1864 (listed in battalion killed/wounded rolls)
Tom’s Brook, VA — October 1864 (listed in battalion killed/wounded rolls)
Cedar Creek, VA — October 1864
High Bridge, VA — April 1865 (listed in battalion killed/wounded rolls)
Organized in late 1861 and early 1862, the 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion was better known as White’s Battalion or the “Comanches,” after its original commander, Lt. Col. Elijah V. White. Raised primarily in Loudoun County and surrounding northern Virginia communities, the battalion was formed as partisan cavalry under the authority of the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act. Early in the war, White’s men operated along the Potomac River and in the lower Shenandoah Valley, conducting reconnaissance, raids, and screening operations against Federal forces. Their familiarity with the local terrain made them particularly effective in irregular operations, and they quickly gained a reputation for boldness and mobility.
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By mid-1863 the battalion had been incorporated into regular Confederate cavalry service and attached to the Laurel Brigade, operating within the Army of Northern Virginia. The 35th Virginia participated in many of the major cavalry actions of the Eastern Theater, including the great cavalry battle at Brandy Station in June 1863 and operations during the Gettysburg Campaign. Through 1864 the battalion rode in the Overland Campaign and the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns, fighting at places such as Trevilian Station, Tom’s Brook, and Cedar Creek. Like much of the Confederate cavalry, it endured heavy attrition from combat, captures, and the cumulative strain of campaigning.
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In the final months of the war, the 35th Virginia Cavalry continued to serve with the Laurel Brigade as Confederate forces retreated toward Appomattox. Rather than surrendering as a formally consolidated unit on April 9, 1865, elements of the brigade dispersed, with many troopers eventually receiving individual paroles in the weeks that followed. The battalion’s wartime history reflects the broader experience of Virginia cavalry units: beginning in irregular border warfare, transitioning into conventional service within the Army of Northern Virginia, and ending the war reduced in numbers but seasoned by four years of nearly continuous mounted operations across the Eastern Theater.
Reenacting the 35th Virginia Cavarly
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A Faithful Portrayal of the Soldiers & Families of Virginia during the War Between the States
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Today
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-Thomas Wallace Knox, Correspondent for the New York Herald. Acquitted on spy charges for publishing important information pertaining to the Vicksburg Campaign
