        
|
|
HISTORY
 |
|
Flag of the 4th Virginia
|
The original "Wythe Grays" had its origin as a prewar Virginia militia company raised in response to radical John Brown's raid on the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry. Organized in 1859, from the southwest Virginia county of Wythe, the men of the company marched off to Charles Town arriving in time to witness Brown's hanging. In the years following, the company met numerous times to drill and prepare for the impending crisis looming on the nation's horizon. With Virginia's withdrawal from the Union in 1861, following South Carolina's firing on Fort Sumter, the men of the "Wythe Grays" were mustered into state service and set off for Richmond, arriving on April 20 with 72 men under the command of Captain John Kent and 1st Lieutenant William Terry. The company's stay in the capitol was short, and it quickly headed off for Harper's Ferry to join other Virginia companies gathering there under the command of former Virginia Military Institute professor Colonel Thomas J. Jackson. In early July, the company was reorganized and given the new designation of Company A of the 4th Regiment of Virginia Infantry. Brigaded with other companies and regiments from the state's Shenandoah Valley, the men from Wythe County embarked on a military career that would earn them the respect of their peers and an honorable place in history.
Throughout the war, the "Wythe Grays" fought in almost every major engagement in Virginia. As members of the First Virginia Brigade, they were introduced to combat for the first time on the plains of Manassas in late July 1861 where they, along with their sister regiments and now Brigadier General Jackson, stood "like a stone wall" in the face of the enemy. Going on to participate in Jacksons's legendary 1862 Valley Campaign, the company finished the year as a veteran of such famed and bloody battles as Cedar Mountain, 2nd Manassas (where the regiment suffered an astounding 54% casualties), Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg. At the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, the same engagement that claimed the life of the now legendary "Stonewall" Jackson, the regiment once again suffered high casualties with 48% of the men engaged being put out of action. On through Gettysburg, Payne's Farm and the Wilderness the men from Wythe County fought bravely until May12, 1864, when in a predawn engagement near Spotsylvania Court House, the regiment's position (known thereafter as the "Bloody Angle") was overrun and most of the men became prisoners of war. Shortly afterward, the remnants of this proud regiment, along with their sister regiments and two other brigades of Virginia troops, were consolidated and fought the rest of the war under the command of Brigadier General William Terry, the former 1st Lieutenant of the "Wythe Grays". When the end finally came on April 7, 1865, only four men were present in the ranks of Company A as it marched into Appomattox Court House and laid down its weapons. Thus a long and bloody struggle had come to conclusion, but one in which the men could be proud, for the men had fought and earned the right to claim, that they were members of the "Stonewall Brigade".
 In 1973 the memory of the "Wythe Grays" was resurrected when a group of Civil War enthusiasts joined together to create a living history organization and chose Company A, 4th Virginia Infantry as their identity. As one of the oldest reenactment organizations in the East, the men and women of the "Wythe Grays" have again earned the respect of their peers and been veterans of many a "campaign". The organization's members are scattered from New Jersey to Tennessee, with the bulk of its membership residing in Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 1980, the company joined with other like-minded enthusiasts to recreate the "Stonewall Brigade", the oldest reenacting "umbrella" organization along the eastern seaboard. The members of the modern-day "Wythe Grays" have participated in all of the larger events to commemorate the 125th Anniversary of the American Civil War. We have been the guests of the National Park Service, for whom we have done living history demonstrations at Manassas National Battlefield, Gettysburg National Military Park, Appomattox Court House National Historic Site, and Antietam National Battlefield. In 1992, the National Park Service at Antietam awarded the 4th Virginia its "Superior Performance Award" for living history. Our reputation and expertise has also taken us to the Virginia Military Institute where we helped remember and honor the memory of "Stonewall Jackson'. Our "campaign season" usually begins in March with a trip to Capon Bridge, West Virginia where the company and its sister companies have constructed their winter camp, and usually ends in November when the members and their families gather for an awards banquet. In between, we normally participate in an average of one battle reenactment or living history program a month.
|
