Some Civil War fighting units, like the famous Confederate Stonewall Brigade or the Union’s Irish Brigade, made a name for themselves from the very beginning of their service. Other regimental groupings hit their stride only after they had acquired some combat experience. Such was the case with the Virginians of the Old Dominion Brigade. Its story begins on April 17, 1861, when Virginia seceded from the Union. By July thousands of Virginian volunteers had been organized into infantry, cavalry and artillery units accepted for service by the new Confederate States of America government.

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In October of that year, the Department of Norfolk was created under the command of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger. Among the units stationed in the Norfolk region were the 6th, 12th, 16th and 41st Virginia Volunteer Infantry regiments. Many from the Norfolk area had joined the 6th, which was led by Colonel William Mahone. The 12th Virginia’s soldiery primarily came from the cities of Richmond, Petersburg and Norfolk, and the regiment’s commander was 42-year-old Colonel David A. Weisiger.

Colonel Raleigh E. Colston helped to organize and initially led the 16th, which was composed of 11 companies instead of the usual 10. Seven were heavily recruited from Nansemond, Norfolk, Isle of Wight, Sussex and Chesterfield counties. The members of the 41st for the most part hailed from those same areas, along with two companies raised from Petersburg. John R. Chambliss was the 16th’s first colonel.

General Huger organized his infantry regiments into an army division of several brigades on October 15, 1861, and in doing so brigaded the 6th, 12th, 16th and 41st together under the command of Mahone, who was commissioned a brigadier general in November. The grouping, which came to be called the Old Dominion Brigade as the war progressed, was fortunate in that three of its first regimental colonels had military educations. Mahone and Colston graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, while Chambliss was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. Additionally, Weisiger was a veteran of the Mexican War. The regimental leaders did much to instill needed discipline and training while the brigade was at Norfolk for the first seven months of the Civil War.

In May 1862, Norfolk was evacuated and Mahone’s Virginians were transferred to the Virginia Peninsula to help defend Richmond. The 12th and 41st participated in and did well at the Battle of Seven Pines, but during the Seven Days’ fighting the brigade’s actions were lackluster at best. Throughout the Second Manassas campaign in August, the Old Dominion regiments performed adequately as part of Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson’s Division of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s wing of the Army of Northern Virginia.

During the battle at Manassas, Mahone was seriously wounded in the chest. The slight general, who weighed less than 100 pounds, had been nicknamed ‘Little Billy’ by his men. As Mahone’s health was delicate, it seemed likely that any wound might be serious. When his wife was told of his injury, an attempt was made to soften the blow by describing it as a ‘flesh wound.’ His wife knew better — ‘The General hasn’t any flesh,’ she exclaimed. Mahone proved tougher than anticipated, however, and was back with his men by December.

In November 1862, just before the Battle of Fredericksburg, the 61st Virginia joined the brigade. The regiment was raised mostly from Norfolk and Greenville counties. Virginius D. Groner, its colonel for most of the war, graduated from the Norfolk Military Academy.

Mahone’s men were only lightly engaged at Fredericksburg, but Anderson and army commander General Robert E. Lee commented favorably on the brigade’s conduct at Chancellorsville.

The brigade’s reputation was badly tarnished, however, after it failed to properly support other units in Anderson’s Division, by then part of Maj. Gen. A.P Hill’s Third Corps, in a July 2 charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. But the Virginians’ reputation as fighters would take a dramatic turn for the better in the bloody battles fought in the spring of 1864.

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