Organized in the Kanawha Valley in May 1861 by Brigadier General Henry A. Wise (former Virginia Governor 1855-1860, U.S. Congressmen 1832-1844), the Wise Legion (a.k.a. Wise's Brigade or Army of the Kanawha) comprised of 5 regiments, which later was commissioned into Confederate service as the 22nd Virginia Infantry, 36th Virginia Infantry, 46th Virginia Infantry, 50th Virginia Infantry, 59th Virginia Infantry, 60th Virginia Infantry, 8th Virginia Cavalry, 10th Virginia Cavalry, Hale's Battery, & the Kanawha Artillery. Throughout the war numerous companies were combined and reorganized in Wise's Legion. Here are the July 1861 Wise Legion units:
- 1st Kanawha Regiment (22nd Virginia Infantry)
- 2nd Kanawha Regiment (36th Virginia Infantry)
- 3rd Kanawha Regiment (60th Virginia Infantry)
- Capt. Corns' Cavalry Company
- Capt. Beckett's Cavalry Company
- Capt. Jenkins' Cavalry Company
- Kanawha Artillery
- Hale's Battery
From 1862-1864 Wise's Legion served in South Carolina with the 6th Military District of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Also included are the:
- Confederate Light Artillery
- Stark's Battalion
- 4th Virginia Heavy Artillery
- 15th Virginia Cavalry
- 32nd Battalion Virginia Cavalry
- 2nd Virginia Infantry
- 5th Virginia Infantry
- 20th Virginia Infantry
- 26th Virginia Infantry
- 2nd South Carolina Infantry
- 3rd South Carolina Infantry
- Marion's South Carolina Artillery
- 5th South Carolina Cavalry
- 6th South Carolina Cavalry
- "Stono Scouts" South Carolina Cavalry
- Holcombe's South Carolina Legion
Major General Henry Alexander Wise
Henry Alexander Wise was born 3 December 1806 in Accomack County, Virginia, to Major John Wise (d. 1812) and Sallie Cropper Wise (d. 1813). Wise attended Washington College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1825. He then studied law under Henry St. George Tucker in Winchester, Virginia. Admitted to the Virginia bar in 1828, Wise followed his future wife and family to Nashville, Tennessee. He practiced law in Nashville for two years before returning to Accomack in 1830. Elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1833, Wise served until 1844. Wise was appointed Minister to Brazil in 1844, and served in that position until 1847. He represented the Eastern Shore counties of Accomack and Northampton in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851, and represented Princess Anne County in the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861. Wise was elected governor of Virginia in 1855 and served from 1856 to 1860, during which time he met with John Brown (1800-1859) after the latter's failed raid in Harper's Ferry, (West) Virginia. During the Civil War, Wise raised troops and was appointed a brigadier general. After the war, he practiced law in Richmond, Virginia. Wise married three times: first, to Ann Elizabeth Jennings (1808-1837) of Nashville, Tennessee, 8 October 1828; second, to Sarah Sergeant (d. 1850) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 1840; and third, to Mary Elizabeth Lyons (1817-1901) of Richmond, Virginia, 1 November 1853. He fathered fourteen children, only seven of whom reached maturity. Wise died 12 September 1876, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Gen. Henry A. Wise was the brother-in-law of Union Maj. Gen. George G. Meade.
Brig. Gen. John "Tiger John" McClausland
Brig. Gen. John "Tiger John" McClausland was born in St. Louis, September 13, 1836. His grandparents, Alexander and Elizabeth Kyle McCausland, had lived at Six Mile Cross, Tyrone County, Ireland. Alexander was the direct descendant of Colonel Robert McCausland of Fruithill, near Newton Limavidy, County Londonderry, who died in 1734. The name McCausland or McAuslane, as it was called in an early day, is not unknown in ancient Scotch and Irish history. In the days of Wallace and Bruce the McAuslanes lived on the shores of beautiful Loch Lomond in the highlands of Scotland, where they flourished and acted well their part in the bloody local wars of the times. They fought for Malcolm II, who gave them lands and a coat of arms as well. Most of the McCauslands of Tyrone and Londonderry are descended from Baron McAuslane, who with his two sons, migrated to Ireland from the parish of Luss in the latter part of the reign of King James I. The elder son of Baron McAuslane was the father of Colonel Robert McCausland who had estates in the parish of Cappagh in Tyrone County. Because of threats of Catholic enemies, Alexander, a Protestant, sold his lands about 1800 for $1,400. He then embarked with his family for America. With his wife and eleven children he landed at Baltimore; then proceeding by wagon to Staunton, Virginia, he joined his relatives, the Kyles. One of Alexander's sons, John, married a cousin, Harriet Kyle Price, a widow who was the daughter of William Kyle and Sarah Stevens Kyle. John McCausland became associated with the Kyles in the mercantile business. The firm had stores in Nashville, Lynchburg, and St. Louis. John moved to St. Louis where he enjoyed phenomenal success, for he gained control of the heart of the city, a section which was one day to give his son a sizable fortune. Because of his business acumen, McCausland was asked by city counselor, Truston Polk, later governor of Missouri, to devise the taxation system for St. Louis, which as commissioner of taxation he proceeded to do. To this day this system stands as a monument to his rare ability. John and Harriet McCausland had three children: John, Robert, and Laura. The latter died in infancy after being dropped by her nurse; John was a high-spirited and impulsive boy with a temper that sometimes caused unfortunate incidents; Robert, who later became a doctor, was exactly the opposite. In 1843, within a month of each other, their parents died. The boys lived with their grandmother, Mrs. Alexander McCausland, until her death. Then, in 1849, their guardian uncle, Alexander McCausland, brought them on a steamboat to Henderson, (West) Virginia. Here, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha River, they lived with their widowed aunt, Mrs. Jane Smith, and her three children -- Elizabeth, Mary Jane, and James. John McCausland was educated in the best elementary schools of his day in Mason County and at Buffalo Academy in Putnam County. On August 2, 1853, at the age of sixteen, he enrolled in the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia. In 1857 he graduated first in his class in Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Geography, Geology, and Artillery, and finished second in his class in Engineering. For a year he studied at the University of Virginia and then in 1859 he became an assistant professor of mathematics and assistant instructor in artillery tactics at Virginia Military Institute. At the same time he studied law in Judge John W. Brockenbrough's office. For two years he taught at Virginia Military Institute. One of his colleagues on the faculty was Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson of whom he became a devoted admirer. As an indication of this devotion he gave in 1892 twenty shares of stock of a southern publishing company for a Jackson Memorial Hall to be erected on the Virginia Military Institute campus. It was while McCausland was a professor at Virginia Military Institute that John Brown made his daring raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry. After he had been captured by Colonel Robert E. Lee and a body of marines, Brown was tried for treason and found guilty. Fearing from published threats that an attempt might be made by Northern sympathizers to recruit him, Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise ordered Virginia troops to Charles Town to guard the prisoner until after the execution. Among them were cadets from Virginia Military Institute commanded by Colonel Francis H. Smith, the superintendent. The officers were Thomas J. Jackson and John McCausland. When the call to arms was sounded in 1861, McCausland immediately offered his services to Virginia but not to the Confederacy. His first assignment was the organization of a battery of artillery composed of volunteers of Rockbridge County which was to gain fame as the Rockbridge Artillery. He drilled this unit until it was ready for service, when Governor John Letcher appointed him to its command with the rank of captain. This he declined but he persuaded a young Episcopal minister, the Reverend Doctor William N. Pendleton, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, to accept. Pendleton was a good fighter and became General Lee's well known chief of artillery. Of Pendleton and his command McCausland later said:
"I only saw this battery once after it left the Academy. It was at the battle of Monocacy Bridge. My command was attacking General Lew Wallace's flank and was in the midst of a furious fight when all of a sudden I heard a swish behind us. Turning, I saw the Rockbridge battery charging pell-mell into the line. They swept past us with a roar, Captain Pendleton in the lead. As he went by he shouted, "Mack, we are here." That was the only time I saw them."Governor Letcher next suggested that McCausland be made a Lieutenant Colonel, and General Lee, on April 29, 1861, sent him to the Kanawha Valley to recruit and organize troops. McCausland was to muster into the service not more than ten companies; these he was to use only in defense. Lee told him to use his best judgment in the placement of these men so as to provide the most safety for them and protection for the residents of the Valley. As soon as possible arms and field pieces would be sent to make the Confederate position secure. He organized the Thirty-sixth Regiment of Virginia Infantry, and later was commissioned it's Colonel. Some of the best blood of western Virginia counties was in this regiment. To his men he was best known as "Tiger John." On May 3, 1861, Colonel Christopher Q. Tompkins took command of McCausland's forces, but to McCausland fell the task of whipping the men into shape for active duty. Of the suggestion of an Ohio paper that his troops should be captured as Missouri troops were, McCausland declared, "They can't take us alive." McCausland was promoted to brigadier general on May 18, 1864, and served as a cavalry brigade commander in the Shenandoah Valley Campaignsof 1864, under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, raiding into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Under Early's orders, on July 30, 1864, McCausland burned the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in retaliation for the destruction of private property by Union Army Maj. Gen. David Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley, including the burning of the Virginia Military Institute. During the 1864 Valley Campaign, McClausland was known as the "Savior of Lynchburg" for saving the city from Hunter's torch, while US forces under Gen. Crook and Gen. Averill pressed into the outskirts of the city. The citizens of Lynchburg lionized McCausland for the conspicuous part he played in the defense of their city. At the time they expressed thanks by an address from the city council. They also gave him a golden sword with the inscription, "The City of Lynchburg to General John McCausland, July 18, 1864," and a fine saddle horse with equipment, which included a pair of solid silver spurs. These were presented to him with many expressions of gratitude. For several years, on his birthday, the city council of Lynchburg sent McCausland telegrams of appreciation. On the sixty-first anniversary of the defense of Lynchburg, June 18, 1925, Mayor Walker Pettyjohn sent McCausland this telegram:
"On this sixty-first anniversary of the attack on Lynchburg, which you so ably repelled with troops under your command, permit me to remind you of the grateful remembrance of our people and express the wish that you are this day enjoying the satisfaction that must be yours through having served God and your fellowmen."
After the failure of Early's campaign, McCausland rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia in the Siege of Petersburg, the Battle of Five Forks, and the Appomattox Campaign. At Appomattox, McCausland for a second time refused to surrender. With his command next to Gen. Mulford on a hill above the town, McCausland heard from Gen. Fitzhugh Lee the word "Uncle Bobby has surrendered." McClausland replied, "Let's get out of here," and making their way to Lynchburg they disbanded their forces there. While returning to Mason County, WV, Gen. McCausland was warned that officers were awaiting him here with a warrant because of the Chambersburg affair, and leaving the boat on which they expected to meet him he made his way to Canada, thence to England France and to Mexico. After an exile of two years, Gen. McCausland returned here and a few years latter acquired the farm property where he resided until his death on January 22, 1927.
Brig. Gen. Albert Gallatin Jenkins
8th Virginia Cavalry
Brig. Gen. Albert Gallatin Jenkins (November 10, 1830 – May 21, 1864) was an attorney , planter, representative to the United States Congress and First Confederate Congress. Shortly after the seccession of Virginia, Jenkins raised a company of partisan cavalry in Guyandotte, near his home in Cabell County, WV known as the "Border Rangers", which later was mustered into Confederate service as Company E of the 8th Virginia Cavalry, and Jenkins was elected Captain. Jenkins was commissioned the first Colonel of the 8th Virginia Cavalry. Jenkins' Brigade was the first Confederates to cross into Ohio carrying the Confederate Flag. During the Gettysburg Campaign Jenkins' Cavalry Brigade was assigned to the 2nd Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of Maj. Gen. Richard Ewell, and as the vanguard for Lee's army was the first Confederates to cross the Potomac during the campaign. Jenkins' Cavalry Brigade was also the only Cavalry present at the Battle of Gettysburg for all three days. On May 9, 1864, he was severely wounded and captured during the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain. A Union surgeon amputated Jenkins' arm, but he never recovered, dying twelve days later. He was initially buried in New Dublin Presbyterian Cemetery. After the war, his remains were reinterred at his home in Greenbottom, north of Huntington, West Virginia along the Ohio River. He was later reinterred in the Confederate plot in Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington.
Col. George Smith Patton, Sr.
22nd Virginia Infantry
Col. George Smith Patton, Sr., was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, graduated from Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Class of 1852, second in a class of 24. After graduation, George Smith Patton studied law and practiced in Charleston, Virginia (now West Virginia). When the Civil War broke out, he raised an infantry company in Charleston known as the "Kanawha Riflemen", which served in the 22nd Virginia Infantry. Patton was wounded at the Battle of Scary Creek in July 1861. He was killed at the Battle of Opequon, also known as the Third Battle of Winchester. The Confederate Congress had promoted Colonel Patton to brigadier general; however, at the time, he had already died of battle wounds, so that promotion was never official. Col. Patton was the Grandfather of famous WWII hero Gen. George Patton.
Brig. Gen. William H. Starke
60th Virginia Infantry
Col. William H. Starke was born in Brunswick County, Virginia. His younger brother Peter Burwell Starke also became a General in the Confederate army, as well as a Mississippi politician. Prior to the Civil War, the brothers worked in the family's stagecoach business that operated between Lawrenceville and Petersburg, Virginia. In 1840, William Starke moved to the South, becoming a successful cotton broker in Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1858, he purchased the SS Texas Ranger, a former supply ship, from the Federal government and used it to haul cotton to his customers. At the outbreak of the Civil War early in 1861, despite his lack of formal military education, Starke was named as the Lieutenant Colonel of the 53rd Virginia Infantry until June. He subsequently was an Aide-de-Camp to Gen. Robert S. Garnett in western Virginia, but was without a position following Garnett's death in the Battle of Corrick's Ford. His coolness and judgment in the midst of the confusion that followed the death of General Garnett were highly commended by Colonel William B. Taliaferro, who succeeded to command. He temporarily served on the staff of Robert E. Lee in August 1861. Later in the year, he received a commission as the Colonel of the 60th Virginia Infantry. He led the regiment during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. He was wounded in the hand during the Seven Days Battles on June 26, 1862, but resumed his duties after a three-day recovery period before finally relinquishing command after the battle. For his gallant efforts during the fighting, he was commended twice and then promoted to Brigadier General on August 6, 1862. He was assigned command of the Second Louisiana Brigade. He led the Stonewall Division during the Second Battle of Manassas following the wounding of General Taliaferro. For unknown reasons, Jackson decided not to leave him in permanent command, appointing a staff officer (John R. Jones) instead. In mid-September, Starke's Brigade was part of the force under Stonewall Jackson that captured the large Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, after which they marched into Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 16. A strong Union attack on the morning of September 17 drove back the Confederate lines. Starke was shot three times and died within an hour. He was one of six generals killed or mortally wounded at Antietam. His body was buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, next to his son who had been killed two months earlier at the Battle of Seven Pines.
It was from Maj. Thomas Broun of the 60th Virginia Infantry that Gen. Robert E. Lee bought his famous horse Traveller.
The Wise Legion today
Today the Wise's Legion is an authentic Civil War Living History reenacting organization that strives to portray the Confederate soldier and civilians from western Virginia and West Virginia from 1861-1865, consisting of 120+ members from western Virginia, West Virginia, southeast Ohio, and eastern Kentucky. Wise's Legion is the only CS functioning regiment that is based in West Virginia in Civil War Living History Reenacting. With passion for the hobby, devotion to the memory of our ancestors, and in the aspect of keeping the memory of the Civil War Soldier alive, today the soldiers of Wise's Legion love every aspect of reenacting, and strive to have fun doing it.
