Many of the men were from Richmond, Albemarle, Rockingham, Kanawha, Jackson and Henrico counties of Virginia.

[2] After fighting in the Seven Days Battles, it saw action at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Brandy Station, Upperville, Gettysburg, Bristoe, and Mine Run.

It was involved in the Wilderness Campaign, the defense of Richmond and Petersburg, and the Appomattox Courthouse operations.

Captain William Hartman Kable of the 10th Virginia was also the founder of the Kable School, later Staunton Military Academy, many of the facilities of which are now in use by Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.

The 10th Virginia Cavalry surrendered at Appomattox with 3 officers and 19 men; all others escaped hiding the regimental colors with the help of a local woman.