The 50th 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 in Tennessee.

The 50th Virginia was organized in July 1861, with ten companies and three companies of cavalry temporarily attached. During September one of the cavalry companies was disabled and the other two transferred to the 8th Regiment Virginia Cavalry.

The unit was reorganized in May 1862, with nine companies. It moved to Tennessee and in February 1862, was captured at Fort Donelson. After being exchanged, it was assigned to the Department of Western Virginia and fought at Carnifex Ferry. Later the 50th served in J.M. Jones', G.C. Wharton's, and Forsberg's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. It participated in numerous conflicts from Chancellorsville to Cold Harbor, moved with Early to the Shenandoah Valley, and fought its last battle at Waynesboro.

The regiment reported 10 killed and 40 wounded at Fort Donelson, and there were 8 killed and 110 wounded at Chancellorsville. More than forty percent of the 240 engaged at Gettysburg were disabled, and it sustained heavy casualties in the fight at The Wilderness. During April 1865, it disbanded.

The field officers were Colonels Thomas Poage, Alexander W. Reynolds

Alexander W. Reynolds

Alexander Welch Reynolds was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate Army general during the American Civil War, primarily fighting in the Western Theater. After the conflict he served as a staff officer in the Egyptian Army.-Early life and career:Alexander W...

, and A.S. Vandeventer; Lieutenant Colonels William W. Finney and Logan H. N. Salyer; and Majors Lynville J. Perkins and C.E. Thorburn.