1st Virginia State Regiment

1st Virginia Regiment 1st Virginia Infantry Regiment 1st Virginia State Regiment December 17761779 Virginia 1788 Commonwealth of Virginia Infantry Regular state troops Line infantry 10 companies Philadelphia campaign Valley Forge (encampment) Battle of Monmouth George Gibson The 1st Virginia State Regiment was a regiment of regular state troops raised by the Commonwealth of Virginia during the American Revolutionary War. Formation The regiment was authorized by the Virginia General Assembly in December 1776 as part of the Commonwealth's regular military establishment. It was organized as a ten-company infantry regiment for the defense of Virginia and for service in support of the Continental Army when required.Hening 1821 267–269Wright 1983 147 Continental Army service In 1777, due to Virginia's difficulty meeting its Continental Army quota, the regiment was ordered north and placed in Continental service under Colonel George Gibson.Flagg Waters 1913 337–346Wright 1983 147 The regiment participated in the Philadelphia campaign and encamped with the Continental Army at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777–1778. It later fought in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 and wintered at the Middlebrook encampment during 1778–1779.Flagg Waters 1913 337–346Shelby 1988 135 Organization and command The regiment was organized as a ten-company infantry formation, including a light infantry company, unlike most Virginia Continental Line regiments, which generally consisted of eight companies.Flagg Waters 1913 337–346 Field officers Colonel George Gibson Lieutenant Colonel William Brent Lieutenant Colonel John Allison (promoted from major in 1778) Major Thomas Meriwether (formerly a company commander) Company officers Surviving records list the following company commanders during Continental Army service (incomplete): Captain Thomas Pollard Captain William Hoffler Captain Thomas Ewell Captain Windsor Brown Captain John Nicholas Captain William Payne Captain John Lee Captain John Camp Captain Abner Crump Captain Thomas Hamilton Captain Robert Daniel Brown Captain Thomas Smith The full sequence of company-level command over time is incompletely documented in surviving records. Post-Continental service and later history The regiment returned to Virginia service in 1779.Revolutionary War Rolls n.d. After this point, surviving Virginia military and payroll records no longer consistently identify the unit as a single cohesive formation. Officers associated with the regiment continued to appear in Virginia service records, typically in company- or district-level assignments following the broader reorganization of Virginia's forces.Flagg Waters 1913 337–346 The subsequent administrative status of the regiment is unclear. No surviving primary source documents either a formal disbandment or continued service as a unified formation after 1779.Flagg Waters 1913 337–346Revolutionary War Rolls n.d. References Bibliography Flagg C. A. Waters W. O. 1913 Virginia Soldiers in the Revolution The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 21 4 337–346 Hening William Waller The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia 9 Richmond J. & G. Cochran 1821 Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775–1783 National Archives Microfilm Publication M246 Rolls 93–94 National Archives Revolutionary War Rolls n.d. Shelby John E. 1988 The Revolution in Virginia, 1775–1783 Charlottesville University Press of Virginia Wright Robert K. Jr. 1983 The Continental Army Army Lineage Series Washington, D.C. Center of Military History, United States Army External links http://valleyforgemusterroll.org/regiments/vast1.asp https://web.archive.org/web/20200813151656/http://valleyforgemusterroll.org/regiments/vast1.asp 2020-08-13 The Muster Roll Project – Friends of Valley Forge Park Category:Military units of Virginia in the American Revolution Category:Military units and formations established in 1776 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in the 18th century