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The 41st Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in the Commonwealth of Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia in Longstreet's corps and, later, that army's Third Corps. The regiment was formed from independent militia companies operating in the Norfolk area, with men from the surrounding counties, as far west as Petersburg. Throughout the war it operated in brigades under William Mahone and David A. Weisiger, and the divisions of Benjamin Huger, Richard H. Anderson, and William Mahone. The regiment participated in the capture and later abandonment of Norfolk Naval Yard, and every major campaign of the Army of Northern Virginia. Several dozen men and officers of the regiment also served on the CSS ''Virginia'' in the Battle of Hampton Roads. The 41st Virginia was also involved in the friendly fire incident that severely wounded James Longstreet during the Battle of the Wilderness. ==The Virginia Militia== In late 1860, Thomas Kevill, the Irish-born proprietor of a clothing store and captain of the Norfolk United Volunteer Fire Company, organized the United Artillery Company, composed mainly from firemen from Norfolk, Virginia. By the time Virginia's secession convention met on April 17, he had procured a few light artillery pieces. William H. Etheridge had also formed a company of infantry, the Norfolk County Rifle Patriots, raised among men from Great Bridge, Virginia.〔Henderson, pp. 1–2〕 Immediately after the secession convention announced their vote, Norfolk's mayor ordered the local militia, including Kevill and Etheridge, to seize strategic points. Kevill took Fort Norfolk on the Elizabeth River below the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and moved heavy artillery pieces from the War of 1812 found in the basement of city hall there to defend the harbor. Etheridge's company occupied Washington Point across the Elizabeth River from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.〔Henderson, pp. 2〕 Private Isaac Walling of Kevill's United Artillery Company was a professional diver and helped raise the hull of the scuttled screw-frigate ''Merrimac'', destroyed by Federal forces while abandoning the Navy Yard. Confederate engineers planned to use the iron hull to build an ironclad ram. Virginia Governor John Letcher appointed Robert E. Lee a major general in charge of the Commonwealth's military force on April 23. Lee distributed arms from the state's arsenals and issued a call for volunteer troops. Thomas Junius Eppes, a 33-year-old wealthy planter, formed the Sussex Sharpshooters from men in Sussex with the help of his lieutenant, William Allen "Gus" Parham. State Senator Benjamin Hatcher Nash formed the Confederate Grays with men from Chesterfield, Henrico, and Hanover Counties, as well as Richmond, where they were sworn in at Capitol Square wearing elaborate uniforms paid for by the wealthy Clay Drewry. James Skelton Gilliam recruited for his McRae Rifles from Petersburg, but heavy recruiting in the area forced him to also bring in men from surrounding counties. Asa Reynolds Smith formed the Rough and Ready Volunteers from among the coal miners and workers around his Clover Hill farm, many foreign born, and including his brother and the son of the mine owner. Portsmouth businessman Charles R. McAlpine recruited for his Bilisoly Blues among the dock workers and laborers in Portsmouth and Suffolk, though he was only able to recruit 68 men thanks to heavy recruiting in the area already and suspicion about the loyalties of the many foreigners in his company.〔Henderson, pp. 2–5〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「41st Virginia Infantry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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