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Promotions, rank disputes, and command changes make tracing the careers of individual soldiers, and even whole companies, difficult. This chart illustrates command changes over the 8th Virginia's existence and continues to the end of the war with the inclusion of various late-war units the regiment's veterans served in. This will be useful reference for anyone reading The Last Me Standing: The 8th Virginia Regiment in the American Revolution.
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When Virginia’s legislature voted to declare a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer to support Boston in 1774, the governor shut it down. This began when unofficial organizations began organizing to enforce boycotts and (later) prepare for war without being outwardly disloyal to the King. With the House of Burgesses dissolved, most members reconvened as (and were reelected to) the “Virginia Convention.” Peter Muhlenberg and Jonathan Clark represented Shenandoah County in the convention. Shenandoah County was then named “Dunmore County,” after John Murray, the Earl of Dunmore (the governor). Muhlenberg, the Pennsylvania- German Anglican priest, and Clark, the deputy county clerk, were elected to the second, third, and fourth Conventions.

At home, a County Committee was formed to enforce the Virginia Association, an agreement to boycott British goods. In addition to being parish rector and a delegate to the Convention, Muhlenberg was chairman of the committee. Other members of the Dunmore Committee included Francis Slaughter, Abraham Bird, Taverner Beale, John Tipton, and Abraham Bowman. Taverner Beale’s farm, “Mount Airy remains intact two miles south of Mount Jackson.

As things became more serious, more than 80 young men from Dunmore County formed The First Inde- pendent Company of Dunmore, a volunteer military organization separate from the county militia (technically still under the governor’s control). Taverner Beale was probably captain of the Dunmore Volunteers, with Jonathan Clark as his lieutenant. Abraham Bowman, Richard Campbell, John Steed, Matthias Hite, Leonard Cooper, Philip Huffman, Jacob Parrot, and Clark’s younger brother John also belonged. These men would later be officers in Colonel Muhlenberg’s 8th Virginia Regiment.

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After years of research, the complete history of the 8th Virginia Regiment will finally be published this spring. Gabriel Neville’s book The Last Men Standing: The 8th Virginia Regiment in the American Revolution is scheduled for release on May 31. The book will be the first of its kind, focusing on the actual Revolutionary soldiers from their childhoods to their last days on the frontier. Every identifiable man who served in the regiment is listed.
​​The 8th Virginia Regiment was unique in the Continental Army, and its story has never been fully told. This is a book that was once thought impossible to write.
​The regiment is famous for its first colonel, the “fighting parson,” Peter Muhlenberg. However, there is much more to the story than the well-known story of Muhlenberg’s final sermon. The 8th Virginia was multi-ethnic, and its very existence tied north with south and east with west in a way that contributed meaningfully to national unity. About 800 men signed up to fight early in 1776. By the end of the war, only a few of them remained.
Their story is different from the usual narrative. They were Western men who cared more about Kentucky and Ohio than the tax on tea. They were the original pioneers, setting cultural precedents that became fixtures in Western movies: fringed shirts, long rifles, migration trails, Conestoga wagons, Indian fighting, dueling, and buffalo hunting. To go west, though, they first had to fight in the east.
George Bancroft called them "one of the most perfect battalions of the American Army." Major General Charles Lee called them “a most excellent regiment” and chose them first for Continental service “in preference to any other.” Two of its men rose from private to general over the course of their full military careers.
"I fought in our Revolutionary War for liberty."
—Sgt. John Vance
The Virginia Convention initially intended the 8th Virginia to be a "German Regiment." It raised several companies in the Shenandoah Valley, where thousands of Germans had migrated along the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania. Thousands of Scotch-Irish immigrants had come the same way, and they enlisted in equal measure. One 8th Virginia man, Sergeant John Vance, declared, "I fought in our Revolutionary War for liberty."
​
​Frequently divided and detached, the regiment’s men served almost everywhere: Charleston, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Short Hills, Cooch's Bridge, Brandywine, Saratoga, Germantown, Valley Forge, and Monmouth.  They suffered, and many died from frostbite, malaria, smallpox, malnourishment, musket balls, bayonets, and cruel imprisonment. Their numbers dwindled until only a few remained to help corner Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown. Victorious, those who survived turned west to build the America we know.
 
The Last Men Standing includes over a hundred color and black-and-white illustrations, twenty maps, and an appendix listing every identifiable man who served. It will be published by Helion & Company and is now available for pre-order. It is available at Amazon and other retailers, or from The Fort Plain Museum at a generous discount.
"...one of the most perfect battalions of the American Army."
—George Bancroft
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Meylin's gun shop in West Lampeter, Lancaster County, was built about 1718.

All or nearly all the 15 infantry regiments raised by the Old Dominion in 1775, 1776, and 1777 had two or more companies of riflemen. Their weapon is sometimes called the “Kentucky Rifle,” but because the long-barreled design originated in Pennsylvania, "Pennsylvania Rifle" is the better term. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York diplomatically calls it the "American Longrifle." It asserts in a display that the weapon was “the first distinctly American art form created by European settlers in North America.” Many of the guns are indeed works of art.
Tradition, supported but not proved by documentary evidence, holds that Martin Meylin of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, made the first longrifle. He was an immigrant from Switzerland and may have produced an early version of his design in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1705 before he built his gun shop or “boring mill” in West Lampeter Township in 1719. An 1844 history records matter-of-factly that Meylin was “the first gun-smith within the limits of Lancaster County; as early as 1719, he erected a boring-mill, on what is known as Meylin’s run.” The building still stands at the intersection of Eshelman Mill Road and Long Rifle Road. There is no archeological evidence to prove or disprove that rifles were made there, and skeptics suspect the site was merely a blacksmith shop. However, two early rifles with “MM” engraved by their maker seem to show, but again do not prove, that Meylin was the earliest creator of the familiar firearm. Even if entirely true, “inventor” might be too strong of a term for him. The longrifle evolved from German hunting guns, which made a separate leap over the Atlantic in 1776 in the hands of Hessian and Anspacher Jägers. The primary innovation was the long barrel, which made the weapons very accurate.
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An ornate Pennsylvania rifle probably made by George Schreyer Sr. (1739–1819) in York County, Pennsylvania ca. 1770. (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Though historians debate Meylin’s role, Lancaster County’s central place in the development of the longrifle is undisputed. It was the earliest and most prominent center of rifle production in colonial times. Adjacent York, Berks, and Lebanon counties also had many gunsmiths, and the craft followed settlement on the western and southern path on the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road. By the time of the Revolution, craftsmen made rifles in Shepherdstown, Winchester, Staunton, and other Shenandoah Valley towns. The unique styles of different counties and different artisans can still be discerned by knowledgeable observers. Rifles were essential on the frontier for self-defense, subsistence hunting, and for hunting expeditions supporting the robust transatlantic deerskin trade. By the 1770s, western men in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania had an established reputation for expert marksmanship.
Pennsylvania rifles were used infrequently in the French and Indian War. They demonstrated their military value in Lord Dunmore’s War, the last colonial Indian war, fought in 1774. Virginia’s western militia bested a large Indian army on the banks of the Ohio River in a battle that only barely resembled European tactics. When the Revolution broke out, Virginia’s first contribution to the Continental Army was two companies of riflemen from Berkeley and Frederick counties, led by Hugh Stephenson and Daniel Morgan. When the Old Dominion began to form its own full-time regiments, it incorporated rifle companies in a way that mimicked British use of grenadier and light infantry companies. The rifle companies were recruited in the western counties to “act as light infantry” alongside musket companies from the east side of the Blue Ridge. ​
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Like the nearby state historical marker, a plaque on the building is prickly about the "so-called Kentucky Rifle." The longrifle was developed in Pennsylvania two or three decades before the earliest white settlement of Kentucky.

Virginia’s regiments of “regulars” (full-time troops) began as provincial (or “state” after July 4, 1776) before joining the Continental Army. The 1st and 2nd regiments were created with two rifle companies each. The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th each had three. The 9th, originally formed for service on Virginia’s eastern shore, had two. Virginia does not seem to have specifically ordered rifle companies for the six newest regiments, but the 11th, 12th, and 13th certainly included riflemen, and the 10th, 14th, and 15th may have as well. Uniquely, the 8th Virginia was raised entirely in the west and carried only rifles.
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It took some time for American commanders to learn how to effectively incorporate rifles into their tactical playbooks. Slow-loading and unable to hold bayonets, they were suited only for skirmishing and harassing from a distance. In close combat they became little more than unwieldy clubs after firing one round. This was tragically illustrated in the opening minutes of the Battle of Princeton. In addition to the 1775 independent companies, Moses Rawlings, Abraham Kirkpatrick, and William Darke, led effective early rifle units in different capacities. Peter Muhlenberg, Colonel of the 8th Virginia, grew frustrated with the high-maintenance weapons and asked that his men be issued muskets. Daniel Morgan, on the other hand, paired himself with Henry Dearborn’s musket-carrying light infantry to form a very effective combined-arms force during the Saratoga campaign.
Rifles played an important role in the Revolution and the conflicts that followed. They were centrally important in Andrew Jackson’s lopsided 1815 victory at the Battle of New Orleans. Many rifles for military use were churned out by gun shops with little ornamentation, but the best ones were custom-made personal possessions that were often highly ornate.
Today, 18th century long rifles are high-prized collectors’ items. Notable collections can be viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Landis Valley Museum in Pennsylvania, and the Museum of Southern Decorative Arts in North Carolina. Like much that is important in early American history, the longrifle’s story began in Lancaster County, perhaps in Martin Meylin’s gun shop.
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Daniel Morgan commanded men detached from the 8th Virginia during the 1777 Saratoga campaign. He was from Frederick County, which also produced Capt. Thomas Berry's Company. Though in bad physical condition, he came out of retirement to respond to the British invasion of Virginia in 1781.

When General Cornwallis invaded Virginia in 1781, many of the Old Dominion's best men had already done their part. Daniel Morgan, the Continental Army's best tactician, had a damaged spine and what were then called "piles," both of which made it painful to ride a horse. Eighth Virginia veteran Lt. Col. William Darke had just been exchanged after three years as a prisoner of war. Drafting soldiers had grown difficult and getting men to volunteer nearly impossible.

​But when Richmond was burned and Banastre Tarlton's British Legion followed the legislature and Governor Jefferson all the way to Charlottesville, it was clearly time for extraordinary measures. The House of Delegates asked Jefferson to "call for the immediate assistance of Brigadier General Morgan to take command of such Volunteers, Militia, and others as he may be able to speedily embody." Jefferson wrote to the general on June 2nd: "I sincerely wish your health may be so far reestablished as to permit you to take the field." He sent along enough blank commissions for three battalions.
Morgan accepted to assignment and set about trying to raise three troops of light cavalry. He appointed a trio of men to lead and recruit, and sent letters himself urging local leaders to help. He wrote to Taverner Beale, a former 8th Virginia officer and now a local official in Shenandoah County. "Colo. Triplett I have appointed to raise a Brigade below the Ridge in Fauquier and Loudon," he wrote, " Colo. Darke in Berkeley and Hampshire, Colo Smith in Frederick and Shendooe, will you undertake to raise what men you can in your County and join Colo. Smith[?] The matter is just this, if we do not make head and oppose the enemy they will destroy us."
As hard as the officers tried, they had to compete with the wheat harvest, which was just gearing up. Wheat was the primary crop of the Shenandoah Valley, and neglecting the harvest might cost a man most of a year's income. Morgan decided to "call on the best aid I could possibly get," and convened a meeting of the lower Valley's "Gentlemen who I esteem of most influence" to figure out what to do. William Darke, Charles Myn Thruston, Horatio Gates, the county lieutenants (militia commanders), and others met on June 15. They wrote to the General Assembly recommending a "decisive measure" for beefing up enlistment. The legislature acted quickly to create a militia law with teeth. Going forward, anyone who failed to appear for a two-month militia tour would be put into the Continental Army for six months. Penalties were set for local officials who failed to try and punish deserters. The death penalty was applied to deserters who left with public property. 

​​There was no way Morgan was going to raise the corps of 2,000 volunteers Jefferson and the legislature had hoped for. But the draft law worked, and Darke (despite his Continental commission) commanded militia through the surrender at Yorktown in October.
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William Darke was a lot like Morgan in temperament and character. Long before the war, they were both part of a group of young men that engaged in fist fights or wrestling matches at the "Battle Town Tavern," where Berryville is now. Both men rose from rough beginnings to a status they were never fully comfortable with.

Below is a letter written by General Morgan on June 26th to Virginia's new governor, Thomas Nelson. Nelson had just written him urging him to hurry up. The original is in the collection of Haverford College. It is transcribed without alteration but annotated at the end of each paragraph in italic text.

Daniel Morgan to Thomas Nelson, June 26, 1781

Sir,

​I recd the letter you did me the honor to write me by Colo Rootes and in compliance therewith shall March with what Volunteers I have in a day or two. I flatter my self you, Sir, will not think my time has been mispent, when I asure You I have been exerting every nerve to get Men into the field who would be of service when there. ◊ "Colo Rootes" may be George Rootes, who represented Frederick County in the First Virginia Convention in 1776. Nelson succeeded Jefferson as governor on June 12th. He wrote to Morgan from Staunton (where the state government had retreated).
 
You, Sir, are well acquainted with the Enemy’s superiority in Cavalry and the absolute necesity there is for as many horse as We can mount; this has induced me to endeavour to raise three troops mounted on the best horses these Counties can produce; such a reasonable supply will be of the utmost consequence, and their remaining three months will give time for a more permanent establishing of Dragoons, the part of an army not to be dispensed with; to attain this desirable purpose, my self with a number of other Gentlemen, have engaged our selves to some people in Frederick Town in Maryland, for such accoutrements as could be hastily furnished, for payment whereof, we make no doubt, provision will be made, when the accounts are rendered; such necessaries are allways greatly wanted, and when the volunteers times have expired, they will remain to equip future Dragoons; The horses will be an acquisition, the Country will find very beneficial. ◊ This appears to be the point of contention between Morgan and the governor. Morgan had invested time and effort into raising cavalry, but Nelson wanted men of any sort to come as soon as possible.
 
You can’t conceive how reluctantly the people leave their homes at this season of the year, and it was the general opinion if I left the Country before they were imbodied, they would not be prevailed upon to March; small parties have been pushed on and a few days, will produce the wished for march of the whole. ◊ Wheat, grown as what is now sometimes called "winter wheat," was planted in the fall and harvested in June and July. After Saratoga and especially Cowpens, Morgan was a hero. The legislature was counting on his reputation and charisma to inspire men to enlist.
 
Give me leave to press the forming magazines at the places mentioned in my last, from whence the army may be supplyd without delay: and I am of opinion too many workmen can not be imployd in making and repairing warlike instruments—many hands may be set at work in this part of the Country. For want of storehouses we are obliged to pick up provisions in such quantities as it can be found, this frequently subjects us to scantiness and is very disgusting to the people, both which, I humbly apprehend, may be obviated by the recommended magazines. I shall immediately march my voluntiers and what Militia are ready, the remainder will follow with the greatest dispatch. ◊ Morgan is being argumentative here. In the close of Nelson's June 20 letter to Morgan, he explicitly said they had no time for devising complex supply schemes, but indicated they might turn to Morgan's ideas later.
 
Had I known my presence in the Army was so immediately expected, I would have joined it on the earliest notice, but I had gone too far in the Voluntier s[c]heme to recede; it was and still is my opinion they will be extremly usefull—many of the officers I have appointed, have seen service, and the rest, Gentlemen who may be depended on.
 
However sanguine some Gentlemen may be in a hasty gathering of the Militia, You, Sir, who have seen service know, so well an appointed Army as the Brittish, Commanded by so experienced an officer as Lord Cornwallis, is not to be beaten but by well furnished troops, especialy with proper arms and well equipped horse. Could I have properly completed my Volunteer corps of two thousand, I flatter my self we should have done honor to our selves, and distinguished services to our Country. ◊ Morgan is apparently inoculating himself from blame, implying that if his recruits did not perform well, insufficient time to recruit, equip, and train them would be the cause. Morgan joined General Lafayette with the men he was able to raise on July 7th, the day after the Battle of Green Spring. He was unable to continue more than a few days and returned home.
 
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your most obedt hum Servt
 
26th June 1781
 
Danl Morgan
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Gen. Daniel Morgan’s sword, made about 1776, has Spanish inscriptions that translate to “Draw me not without reason” on one side and “Sheath me not without honor” on the other. (VMHC)

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​Jacob Parrett got some help. A year ago, I wrote a post titled “A Little Help for Lt. Jacob Parrot” lamenting the state of his grave site near Harrisonburg, Virginia. The 8th Virginia officer, whose name was spelled various ways, was one of several Swiss-descended soldiers from the Shenandoah Valley. He and his wife are buried next to each other in a rural Lutheran cemetery with matching hand-etched fieldstone markers. Hers is intact, but Jacob’s was broken at the base and seemingly lost for some time. The marker is not lost, but it did need to be repaired or replaced. Indirect descendant Pat Kelly took the initiative. A new Department of Veterans Affairs stone now marks the grave, standing upright where the old stone was positioned for two centuries. Thanks, Pat! Thanks also to Hartman Memorials.

To learn more about Lieutenant Parrett, make sure to read the post from last year.

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The Continental Dollar
​Farley Grubb (University of Chicago, 2023)
Economists and historians have been telling us the wrong story about Continental currency for two centuries. Continental money did not lose its value because Congress printed too much of it. In fact, there was less of it in circulation when its value plummeted than there had been before. Most surprising of all, Continental dollars weren’t technically “money” at all. They were bonds, and they worked just fine until Congress blew it in 1779.
Farley Grubb, an economics professor at the University of Delaware, used the pandemic to complete his quest to set the record straight on Continental currency. “For 230 years,” he writes, “traditional historiography has told us that the Continental dollar was a fiat currency — an unbacked paper money.” We have been told, “Congress printed and spent an excessive number of these paper dollars from 1775 through 1780,” driving their value almost to nothing and producing the phrase, “Not worth a Continental.” The old story is appealing in its simplicity, he concedes, but also requires us to believe the Founding Fathers were “either crazy, deceptive, ignorant, evil, or stupid.” Moreover, the old story falls apart under close examination (page 6-7).

Grubb’s book, The Continental Dollar: How the American Revolution Was Financed with Paper Money, is an interesting and valuable contribution to our understanding the Revolutionary War. It is an academic work that includes mathematical formulas that will make many readers’ eyes glaze over, but the vast majority of it is easily understood. It should be required reading for any author tempted to repeat the timeworn accusation that the states and Congress refused to give the Continental Army the support it needed. At least when it came to financing, Congress bled itself dry and pushed the states beyond the limit of what they could possibly do.

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The designation “8th Virginia Regiment” was used three times in two wars for non-militia units: twice in the Revolution and once in the Civil War. The existence of three regiments of the same name sometimes causes confusion for researchers and genealogists. This confusion is exacerbated by the fact that two of them were recruited in overlapping territory and the third was recruited nearby. This post is intended to make it easy to distinguish among them, and to provide a little bit of service history.

In the French and Indian War, Virginia had one "Virginia Regiment," notably commanded for part of the war by George Washington. The was (briefly) a 2nd Virginia Regiment, as well. In the Revolution, the Old Dominion had 15 numbered regiments. In the Civil War it had 64.

The Original 8th Virginia, 1776-1778

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A recreated "grand division banner" of the 8th Virginia. The original survives in a private collection. This was not the regimental banner, but rather one of a pair of flags used for tactical direction.

This website is dedicated to the history of the original 8th Virginia Regiment. It was authorized in the Virginia Convention’s second authorization of troops in December of 1775, recruited over the winter, and took the field in March and April of 1776.  The 8th Virginia was commanded initially by Col. Peter Muhlenberg, Lt. Col. Abraham Bowman, and Maj. Peter Helphenstine. These field officers were from Woodstock, Strasburg, and Winchester, respectively. Bowman succeeded Muhlenberg as colonel when the latter became a general early in 1777.  The regiment originally had ten companies. For more, see the the "Soldiers" page on this website.
Most of the men in the original regiment signed up for two-year enlistments that ended in the spring of 1778 at Valley Forge. That, combined with casualties and weak recruiting, left the regiment significantly understrength when it marched out of Valley Forge. At the Battle of Monmouth, it was provisionally combined with the 4th and 12th regiments, which were also understrength, as the “4th-8th-12th Virginia Regiment.” The 4th, the 8th, and the 12th had all served together in Charles Scott’s brigade since the spring of 1777.

The “New” 8th Virginia of 1778-1779

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Members of the James Wood II Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, hold a modern flag honoring Col. Wood's leadership of the "new" 8th Virginia Regiment, originally the 12th Virginia Regiment. This photo was taken at the grave of Maj. Gen. Adam Stephen, who commanded both regiments in 1777.

On September 14, 1778, the Virginia line was consolidated from 15 regiments down to 11. As part of this consolidation, Bowman’s 8th Virginia was folded into the 4th Virginia under Col. John Neville and Bowman was released as a supernumerary officer. The original 8th Virginia ceased to exist and the 12th Virginia was renumbered to be the “new” 8th Virginia.

​The 12th Virginia had been authorized by the three-month old Virginia General Assembly in October of 1776 and recruited over the coming months, in part by regimenting formerly independent frontier companies. The original field officers were Col. James Wood of Winchester, Lt. Col. John Neville of Frederick County and West Augusta, and Maj. Charles Simms of Prince William County and later Fairfax County. Its captains were Andrew Waggoner (Augusta County), Benjamin Casey (Hampshire County), Stephen Ashby (Hampshire County), Michael Bowyer (West Augusta District), Matthew Arbuckle (western Botetourt County), William McKee (Rockbridge County), Jonathan Langdon (Dunmore, later known as Shenandoah County), Joseph Mitchell, Rowland Madison, and Thomas Bowyer (Botetourt County). All of these counties except Botetourt had raised companies for the original 8th Virginia.
In October of 1777, after Germantown but before the Valley Forge encampment, George Slaughter was promoted to become the new major of the 12th Virginia. He had, up until that time, been a captain in the original 8th Virginia. He resigned in November to deal with a family emergency. In January, he was succeeded by Jonathan Clark, who likewise had until that time been a captain in the original 8th Virginia.
 
When the 12th was redesignated in September of 1778, it’s field officers were Col. John Neville, Lt. Col. Charles Fleming, and Maj. Jonathan Clark.  It continued in service until 1779 when the line was reorganized again.

The Confederate 8th Virginia 

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Another 8th Virginia Regiment was authorized by the Governor of Virginia in May of 1861 for service in the Confederate Army. It was led by Col. Eppa Hunton, Lt. Col. Charles Tebbs, and Maj. Norborne Berkeley. Major Berkeley was named in honor of Gov. Norborne Berkeley (1718-1770), a popular late-colonial governor. Berkeley, the regiment's best-remembered commander, was a graduate of VMI from Aldie, Loudoun County. Three of his brothers also served as officers in the regiment, leading it to sometimes be called the “Berkeley Regiment.” (It did not recruit in Berkeley County (named for the governor), as is sometimes assumed.) It was also called the “Bloody Eighth” because of its hard service.
The Civil War 8th Virginia’s original companies and captains were Company A, the “Hillsboro Border Guards,” raised in Loudoun County and led by N.R. Heaton; Company B, the “Piedmont Rifles,” raised at Rectortown in Fauquier County and led by Richard Carter; Company C, the “Evergreen Guards,” raised in Prince William County and led by Edmund Berkeley; Company D, “Champe’s Rifles,” raised at Haymarket in Prince William County and led by William Berkeley; Company E, “Hampton’s Company,” raised at Philomont in Loudoun County and led by Mandley Hampton; Company F, the “Blue Mountain Boys,” raised at Bloomfield in Loudoun County and led by Alexander Grayson; G Company, “Thrift’s Company,” recruited at Dranesville in Fairfax County and led by James Thrift; H Company, the “Potomac Grays,” raised at Leesburg in Loudoun County and led by Capt. Morris Wampler; Company I, “Simpson’s Company,” raised at Mount Gilead and North Fork in Loudoun County and led by James Simpson, and Company K, “Scott’s Company,” raised in Fauquier County and led by Robert Scott.
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The origin of this 8th Virginia flag has not be ascertained. It is visibly old, but may be a recreation. It is owned by a collector.

The regiment fought at First Manassas, Ball’s Bluff, the Peninsula Campaign, Gaines’ Mill, and Second Manassas. It suffered a 70 or 80 percent casualties at Gettysburg. Hunton was promoted to general in August of 1863, after which the regiment was led by Col. Norborne Berkeley, Lt. Col. William Berkeley, and Maj. Charles Berkeley, leading to the “Berkeley Regiment” nickname. After Gettysburg it participated in the Overland Campaign, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, and the Appomattox Campaign. Most of the surviving men were either killed or surrendered at the Battle of Sailor's Creek, shortly before the surrender at Appomattox. A full service record can be found here.
In 1905, Edmund Berkeley wrote a poem to welcome Union veterans to a reunion at the Manassas Battlefield that is notable for the grace shown to men who had fired at him on that very field. It was published by the Society of the Army of the Potomac in the report on its fortieth reunion.

O Lord of love, bless thou to-day
This meeting of the Blue and Gray.
Look down, from Heaven, upon these ones,
Their country's tried and faithful sons.
As brothers, side by side, they stand,
Owning one country and one land.
Here, half a century ago,
Our brothers' blood with ours did flow;
No scanty stream, no stinted tide,
These fields it stained from side to side,
And now to us is proved most plain,
No single drop was shed in vain;
But did its destined purpose fill
Of carrying out our Master's will,
Who did decree, troubles should cease
And his chosen land have peace;
And to achieve this glorious end
We should four years in conflict spend;
Which done the world would plainly see
Both sides had won a victory.
And then this reunited land
In the first place would ever stand
Of all the nations, far and near,
Or East or Western hemisphere.
Brothers, to-day in love we've met,
Let us all bitterness forget,
And with true love and friendship clasp
Each worthy hand in fervent grasp
And in remembrance of this day
Let one and all devoutly pray:
That when our earthly course is run
And we, our final victory won,
Together we'll pass to that blessed shore
That ne'er has heard the cannon's roar;
And where our angel comrades stand
To welcome us to Heaven's bright strand.
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Here are links to other great websites relating to Virginia and the Revolutionary War, organized by topic. Readers will also be interested in separate lists of recommended books, specific online content, and "essential" posts from this website.
Battlefields and Historic Sites
History
Living History Units​
Museums and Historical Societies
Patriotic Societies

​Society of the Cincinatti​​
​Daughters of the American Revolution ​
Sons of the Revolution
​Sons of the American Revolution
​Reference
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Here are links to recommended articles, videos, and digitized expired-copyright content about Virginia in the Revolution, listed in rough historical order. All content should be free to access, but some  sites such as JSTOR may require you to create an account. Posts from this site are not included, but a list of "essential posts" can be accessed here. There are also lists of recommend books and menu of links to recommended websites. 
—Gabe Neville

Reference and General

Colonial Pennsylvania and Virginia

The Shenandoah Valley and backcountry Virginia had close ties to Pennsylvania. The two colonies even overlapped in the territory around Pittsburgh—a dispute that was not settled until 1780. The vast majority of Virginia's western settlers were Protestant Irish and German immigrants who came via Philadelphia on the Great Wagon Road, either immediately or over the course of one or two generations.
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Pre-War Political and Indian Conflict

New England and Canada (1775-1776)

The first truly Continental soldier were Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania frontier riflemen who were recruited to support the 1775 siege of Boston. Some, including Daniel Morgan, participated in the invasion of Canada.
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The Ouster of Lord Dunmore (1775-1776)

The 8th Virginia Regiment

Virginia Continentals

The First Southern Campaign (1776)

  • Roger Smith, "The Southern Expedition of 1776: The Best Kept Secret of the American Revolution," Journal of the American Revolution. Good context for the 8th Virginia's first year of service.
  • Edwin C. Bearss, The Battle of Sullivan's Island (National Park Service). A dated but very detailed account of south's most important early battle, written by a legendary Park Service historian.
  • Doug MacIntyre, "Danger at the Breach," Journal of the American Revolution. The 8th Virginia's first serious action was in Charleston in 1776 at the Battle of Sullivan's Island. Though this excellent essay does not deal with the specifics of the 8th Virginia's participation, it is the first fully-researched account of the combat on the north end of the island and an important corrective to two centuries of incomplete and sometimes incorrect history.

The Mid-Atlantic Campaign (1776-1777)

  • Charles Dewey, "Forts Washington and Lee," Emerging Revolutionary War Era (video). The twin forts that welcomed Captain Croghan's large detachment of 8th Virginia men into Washington's northern army.
  • Rob Orrison, Dan Welch, and Mark Maloy, "The New York Campaign," Emerging Revolutionary War Era (video). Captain Croghan's men joined the northern army half way through the New York campaign.
  • John Diaconis, Libby del Greco, and Lynn Briggs, "With Washington at White Plains" Emerging Revolutionary War Era (video). The first battle for Captain Croghan's detachment.
  • Mark Maloy, Larry Kidder, Roger Williams, and David Price, "The Ten Crucial Days," Emerging Revolutionary War Era (video). The grueling campaign that whittled Croghan's Detachment down to just six men.
  • Robert A. Selig, Matthew Harris, and Wade P. Catts, "Battle of Princeton Mapping Project: Report of Military Terrain Analysis and Battle Narrative," John Milner Associates. The report of an important project that changed our understanding of what happened in this battle that saved the Revolution.
  • Mark Maloy and Will Krakow, "The Battle of Princeton," Emerging Revolutionary War Era (video). An overview and discussion of the battle.

The Philadelphia Campaign (1777)

The Saratoga Campaign (1777)

About 400 Virginia and Pennsylvania marksmen reinforced the northern army late in the summer of 1777 and participated in the battles at Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights leading to the surrender of British Gen. John Burgoyne.
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The Western War

The Second Southern Campaign (1780-1781)

The Yorktown Campaign (1781)

The Late War (1782-1783)

The Constitution and Western Settlement

Picture

Gabriel Neville

is researching the history of the Revolutionary War's 8th Virginia Regiment. Its ten companies formed near the frontier, from the Cumberland Gap to Pittsburgh.

© 2015-2025 Gabriel Neville