West Virginia Confusion..

[Nounan]

Not sure if this is the right place for this question but one of my ancestors that was from WVA. ended his career after being captured and sent to Andersonville and then paroled out. His end regiment was the 6th West Virginia Volunteer cavalry . His original unit would be the 3rd WVA........ something. NPS.Gov has it as the 3rd WVA "Mounted Infantry" From what I can find there is either 3rd WVA Volunteer Infantry OR 3rd Volunteer Cavalry. And since the NPS seems to have mixed the two regiments into "Mounted Infantry"..... WTH??? So which one was he in? They differ in What battles they were in. Its fun having relatives on both sides, but this one has me puzzled. SO, come historians and educate me please! And if you care or just to get attention i added this picture of him! Thanks every body!

 

[tbuckley]

In 1863 West Virginia mounted some of the infantry regiments and changed the designation to mounted infantry and in 1864 they became cavalry regiments.
Your ancestor would have been in the 3rd West Virginia Infantry, which became the 3rd West Virginia Mounted Infantry, which became the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry, and late in the war was consolidated with parts of other regiments into the 6th West Virginia Cavalry.
One of the West Virginia regiments that had men from here in Belmont County Ohio was the 2nd West Virginia Infantry. The 2nd West Virginia Infantry became the 2nd West Virginia Mounted Infantry, then became the 5th West Virginia Cavalry, then was consolidated into the 6th West Virginia Cavalry.
The 6th West Virginia Cavalry was created late in the war by consolidating regiments.
Great picture. Your ancestor probably fought at Droop Mountain. I gave a presentation on the Battle of Droop Mountain last year at the Moundsville library.

 

[tbuckley]

Should have mentioned that the 6th West Virginia was formed in January 1864 by consolidating the 3rd and 5th West Virginia Cavalry regiments. I had thought that there was one other regiment but on checking, I see that is was the two regiments.

 

[CCMDCSA]

In 1863 West Virginia mounted some of the infantry regiments and changed the designation to mounted infantry and in 1864 they became cavalry regiments.
Your ancestor would have been in the 3rd West Virginia Infantry, which became the 3rd West Virginia Mounted Infantry, which became the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry, and late in the war was consolidated with parts of other regiments into the 6th West Virginia Cavalry.
One of the West Virginia regiments that had men from here in Belmont County Ohio was the 2nd West Virginia Infantry. The 2nd West Virginia Infantry became the 2nd West Virginia Mounted Infantry, then became the 5th West Virginia Cavalry, then was consolidated into the 6th West Virginia Cavalry.
The 6th West Virginia Cavalry was created late in the war by consolidating regiments.
Great picture. Your ancestor probably fought at Droop Mountain. I gave a presentation on the Battle of Droop Mountain last year at the Moundsville library.

That's good work

 

[tbuckley]

The first confusing West Virginia veteran I researched was an ancestor of an in-law who was in the 2nd West Virginia Infantry. The soldier had been discharged in late 1862 when the regiment was still the 2nd Infantry but I found him listed in the 5th Cavalry and 6th Cavalry. It was a bit confusing at first.
In 1863 apparently it was decided that mounted infantry and cavalry was more practical than infantry in the mountains.

 

[16thVA]

This is an interesting newspaper article on the 2nd WV Inf.