The 47th 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...

 raised in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 for service in the Confederate States Army

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...

 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...

. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia

Army of Northern Virginia

The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...

 and was a unit in A.P. Hill's Light Division.

The 47th Virginia was formed in June 1861, with men recruited in Caroline, Middlesex, Essex, and Stafford counties. One company, Company H, was recruited in Maryland and known as Zarvona's Zouaves. The unit served under the command of Generals Pettigrew, Field, Heth, H.H. Walker, and Barton.

It fought with the Army of Northern Virginia from Seven Pines to Cold Harbor, then was active in the trenches of Petersburg and around Appomattox. This regiment totalled 444 effectives in April, 1862, and sustained 34 casualties of the 156 engaged at Frayser's Farm. It reported 29 casualties at Second Manassas, 45 at Fredericksburg, and 45 at Chancellorsville. Twenty-three percent of the 209 in action at Gettysburg were disabled.

During February 1865, the 47th and 55th Regiments were consolidated, but only 2 sergeants of the 47th surrendered on April 9.

The field officers were Colonels Robert M. Mayo and George W. Richardson; Lieutenant Colonels James D. Bruce, William J. Greene, and John W. Lyell; and Majors Charles J. Green and Edward P. Taylor.