54th Virginia Infantry


The 54th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Tennessee.
54th Infantry Regiment was organized in October 1861. It was soon ordered to Kentucky and took an active part in the engagement at Middle Creek. Later the unit was assigned to Trigg's, Reynolds', Brown's and Reynolds' Consolidated, and Palmer's Brigade, Army of Tennessee.
It participated in many battles of the army from Chickamauga to Atlanta, endured Hood's winter operations, and fought in North Carolina. On April 9, 1865, it merged into the 54th Virginia Infantry Battalion.
This regiment sustained 47 casualties at Chickamauga, totalled 390 men and 329 arms in December, 1863, and had 128 present in December 1864 and 212 in January 1865.
The field officers were Colonel Robert C. Trigg; Lieutenant Colonels Henry A. Edmundson, William B. Shelor, and John J. Wade; and Majors John S. Deyerle, Austin Harman, and James C. Taylor.
By 1864, the influence of peace party and pro-Union organizations, particularly the Red Strings, into the 22nd Virginia Infantry and the 54th Virginia Infantry was unknown. Secretary of War James Seddon investigated the allegations.