A brief History Behind the 24th
In June of 1861 at Lynchburg, Virginia, ten companies of soldiers from the counties of Carroll, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Mercer (now WV), Henry, Montgomery, Patrick, and Pulaski gathered to form the 24thVirginia Infantry.

Their first commander, Col. Jubal A. Early ,would later become a corp Commander in the Army of Northern Virginia. The 24th would begin the war at Manassas, but very few would surrender at Appomattox 4 years later. They gained their illustrious reputation at the Battle of Williamsburg in May, 1862. The 24th would go on to participate in notable battles such as Seven Pines, Frayser’s Farm, Seven Days, 2nd Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and in late June, 1863, would follow Gen. Robert E. Lee to invade the North once more, ending up in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

At that time, the 24th Virginia was part of Kemper’s Brigade of Pickett’s Division of Longstreet’s Corp, Army of Northern Virginia. On July 3, 1863, the 24th participated in the final battle of Gettysburg that would go down in history as Pickett’s Charge. As the extreme right flank of the advancing Confederate lines, the 24th came under devastating artillery fire and musketry from Federal Infantry.

Following Gettysburg, the 24th Virginia Infantry would go on to fight many more battles with the Army of Northern Virginia. The 24th was with the Army at Petersburg and made the great retreat out of Petersburg and Richmond. Only 23 soldiers of the 24th would surrender at Appomattox.