Army of the Potomac

Private W W Wilburn, Campbell Rangers, 30th Virginia Cavalry

Thirtieth Virginia Cavalry
Redesignated the Second Virginia Cavalry

COLONEL R C W RADFORD
LIEUTENANT COLONEL T T MUNFORD
MAJOR J S LANGHORNE
Captain J S Langhorne acting major on 21 July, 1861.

Company A Clay Dragoons: CAPT. W R TERRY
Assignment: Alexander's Squadron Cavalry, Seventh (Demi) Brigade, Army of the Potomac, Captain J D Alexander commanding.
Company B Wise Troop: CAPT. J S LANGHORNE
Assignment: Hale's Squadron Cavalry, Fifth Brigade, Army of the Potomac, Captain G W Hale commanding.
Company C Botetourt Dragoons: CAPT. A L PITZER
Assignment: Radford's Squadron Cavalry, First Brigade, Army of the Potomac, Colonel R C W Radford commanding.
Company D Franklin Rangers: CAPT. G W H HALE
Assignment: Hale's Squadron Cavalry, Fifth Brigade, Army of the Potomac, Capatin G W Hale commanding.
Company E Amherst Mounted Rangers: CAPT. E WHITEHEAD
Assignment: Fourth Brigade, Army of the Potomac.
Company F Bedford Southside Dragoons: CAPT. J WILSON
Assignment: Second Brigade, Army of the Potomac, Lieutenant Colonel W H Jenifer commanding.
Company G Radford Rangers: CAPT. W RADFORD
Assignment: Radford's Squadron Cavalry, First Brigade, Army of the Potomac, Colonel R C W Radford commanding.
Company H Appomattox Rangers: CAPT. J W FLOOD
Assignment: Third Brigade, Army of the Potomac.
Company I Campbell Rangers: CAPT. J D ALEXANDER
Assignment: Alexander's Squadron Cavalry, Seventh (Demi) Brigade, Army of the Potomac, Captain J D Alexander commanding.
Company K Albemarle Light Horse: CAPT. E DAVIS
Assignment: Scott's Squadron Cavalry, Sixth Brigade, Army of the Potomac, Major J Scott commanding.

Sources

"Before that the separate companies had been parcelled out to different infantry brigades for orderly and escort duty and on the eve of the fight the two regiments were so depleted by detachments for similar purposes that neither one had more than 150 men left for action."

Bull Run Remembers, by Joseph M Hanson

"A later report stated that only about 500 men of the regiment were engaged in the battle. There were 34 officers and 642 men present in the ten companies."

The Virginia Regimental Histories Series, Second Virginia Cavalry, First Edition, No.990 of 1000, by R J Driver, Jr. & H E Howard

"In support of the 5th Brigade were five companies of cavalry, the battery of Capt. H Gray Latham, and Capt. A L Rogers' Loudoun Artillery, in positions selected by David B. Harris, now assigned to Beauregard's staff, while retaining his commission in the Virginia Corps of Engineers."

"Hunton's regiment was quickly ordered back to Leesburg, however, along with the three companies of cavalry that had accompanied it to Manassas. Departing on July 24, they took two full days to reach Camp Berkeley at Ball's Mill in southern Loudoun County."

Confederate engineer: training and campaigning with John Morris Wampler, by George G Kundahl

"While there, I organised and armed three regiments to-wit: The 28th Virginia Regiment (Colonel R T Preston) and the 30th Virgnia Regiment (Colonel R C W Radford), as cavalry. This latter regiment was subsequently designated the 2nd Virginia Cavalry."

"The cavalry, consisting of Colonel R C W Radford's regiment of nine companies and several unattached companies, was employed mainly on scouting and picketing with Evans, Bonham, and Ewell, one company being right to watch the lower fords of the Occoquon, and the landings on the Potomac below the mouth of the Occoquon, where it subsequently joined by another."

"It was my duty to watch the right of our line, and the two companies of cavalry on that flank, Eugene Davis' and W W Thornton's companies of Virginia cavalry, were placed under my command, and Captain John Scott was assigned to the immediate command of them."

"Our cavalry consisted of one organised regiment of nine companies, and a number of unattached companies."

Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early C.S.A., Autobiographical Sketch and Narratve of the War Between the States, with notes by Jubal Anderson Early

Reminiscences of a Confederate soldier of Co. C, 2nd Va. Cavalry, by R H Peck

A Guide to Virginia Military Organisations 1861–1865, Revised Second Edition by I A Wallace, Jr.

Notes

The 30th Virginia Cavalry was mustered into Confederate States service on 1 July, 1861. Company K, the Albermarle Light Horse, was ordered to Manassas without going to Lynchburg to be sworn into state service and served as an independent company on 21 July, 1861. The regiment was originally organised as an infantry regiment but was assigned to Colonel R C W Radford as a cavalry regiment.

Between 17 and 19 July, 1861, Colonel E Hunton arrived at Lewis' farm (Portici), with orders to report for duty with Colonel P St G Cocke's command, bringing with him the 8th Virginia Infantry (8 companies), the Loudoun Artillery, the Loudoun Cavalry, the Madison Invincibles and the Franklin Rangers.

In August 1861, six companies under Colonel R C W Radford were assigned to the First Brigade, First Corps, Army of the Potomac and four companies under Lieutenant Colonel T T Munford were assigned to the Fourth Brigade, First Corps, Army of the Potomac. After 31 October, 1861, the regiment became known as the 2nd Virginia Cavalry.

Reports

OFFICIAL REPORT NO.124: Series I, Volume 2 (S# 2), Chapter IX, p. 573
Captain E Whitehead, Radford's Rangers, of Pursuit 22 July, 1861

Orders of Battle

The above painting, 'The Fourth Alabama', is by Don Troiani, modern America's finest historial artist.