The 12th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 that served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. The regiment was particularly distinguished for its successful attack on Fort Gregg during the 1864 Siege of Petersburg

Siege of Petersburg

The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...

, receiving a golden eagle for its flagstaff as a token of appreciation from corps

Corps

A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...

 commander John Gibbon

John Gibbon

John Gibbon was a career United States Army officer who fought in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...

.

Service

The 12th West Virginia was organized at Wheeling

Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 in western Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 on August 30, 1862, and was assigned to duty in the Shenandoah Valley

Shenandoah Valley

The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...

 as part of the VIII Army Corps

VIII Corps (ACW)

The VIII Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War.- Creation and early service :The corps was initially created out of various Union commands as part of the Middle Department in the Shenandoah Valley on July 12, 1862, and was placed under the command of Major General John...

's Middle Department until January 1863.

For much of the first half of 1864, the regiment served at Winchester, Virginia

Winchester, Virginia

Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...

, under Maj. Gen.

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 Robert H. Milroy

Robert H. Milroy

Robert Huston Milroy was a lawyer, judge, and a Union Army general in the American Civil War, most noted for his defeat at the Second Battle of Winchester in 1863.-Early life:...

, and were defeated in their first significant combat action during the Second Battle of Winchester

Battle of Winchester II

The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War. As Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell moved down the Shenandoah Valley in the direction of...

, being pushed off a wooded ridgeline near Kernstown, Virginia

Kernstown, Virginia

Kernstown is an unincorporated community within the independent city of Winchester, Virginia. Parts of Kernstown also lie within Frederick County. It is centered along the Valley Pike U.S. Highway 11. During the American Civil War, the first and second Battles of Kernstown were fought here.- See...

, by elements of the Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 brigade

Brigade

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

 of John B. Gordon on June 13. Two days later, they were scattered by Robert E. Rodes

Robert E. Rodes

Robert Emmett Rodes was a railroad civil engineer and a promising young Confederate general in the American Civil War, killed in battle in the Shenandoah Valley.-Education, antebellum career:...

' attack and reassembled at Bloody Run, Pennsylvania

Everett, Pennsylvania

Everett is a borough in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,905 at the 2000 census.Everett's original name was Bloody Run, after a creek which was the site of a battle between settlers and Native Americans...

. The 12th then served in Col. Andrew T. McReynolds' command at Martinsburg, West Virginia

Martinsburg, West Virginia

Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...

, until December 1863.

The regiment was a part of the Department of West Virginia until December 1864, and it saw action in several fights during the Valley Campaigns of 1864

Valley Campaigns of 1864

The Valley Campaigns of 1864 were American Civil War operations and battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from May to October 1864. Military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns, but it is useful to consider the three together and how they...

, including the Battle of Opequon

Battle of Opequon

The Battle of Opequon, more commonly known as the Third Battle of Winchester, was fought in Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864, during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War....

 or Third Winchester, not far from the scene of its first combat.

At the end of the year, the 12th West Virginia joined the Army of the James

Army of the James

The Army of the James was a Union Army that was composed of units from the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and served along the James River during the final operations of the American Civil War in Virginia.-History:...

's 2nd Brigade, Independent Division, XXIV Army Corps

XXIV Corps (ACW)

XXIV Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War.In December 1864, the white and black units of the Army of the James were divided into two corps. The black troops were sent to the XXV Corps; the white troops became the XXIV Corps, under the command of Edward O. Ord...

. The regiment served in the Siege of Petersburg

Siege of Petersburg

The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...

, and on April 2, 1865, distinguished itself for gallantry in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict that resulted in the seizure of Confederate-held Fort Gregg. Maj. Gen. John Gibbon, commanding the XXIV Corps, presented the regiment an engraved golden eagle for their flagstaff, with the inscription "Presented by Maj.-Gen'l John Gibbon to the 12th W. Va. Volunteer Infantry, for Gallant Conduct in the Assault upon Fort Gregg, April 2, 1865."

The 12th West Virginia mustered out of military service on June 16, 1865.

Casualties

The 12th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment suffered 3 officers and 56 enlisted men killed in battle or died from wounds, and 131 enlisted men dead from disease, for a total of 190 fatalities.

Colonels

• John B. Klunk - August 1862 to September 1863
• William B. Curtis - January 1864 to June 1865