Floyd called the militia to assemble at the central railroad hub of Wytheville and appointed West Point graduate Henry Heth to drill and organize the volunteers.

[3] On August 25, scouts reported the 7th Ohio Infantry in camp at Cross Lanes [4] and Floyd, after asking Heth's advice, ordered an attack.

On September 21, Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived at the orders of President Jefferson Davis to take command of forces in the Kanawha Valley region.

Several officers of the 45th Virginia resigned over harsh treatment of their men, and Floyd angrily replaced them, including Captains Joseph Harrison, Alexander Davis, and George Gose.

Floyd and most of his command was transferred to Tennessee to support the activities of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, and the 45th Virginia spent the next several months maneuvering.

On May 10, Heth led a small brigade, including the 45th Virginia, against the 23rd Ohio, now under the command of Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes at Giles Court House, driving them out of their position.

At 5 am on September 10, Loring deployed his forces on the approach to the Union camp at Fayetteville, with the 45th Virginia on the left reassigned to the brigade of Brig.

They advanced through heavy fire, Browne writing, “the enemy threw grape and minie-balls thick as hail around us,” until nightfall stopped the brigade.

Lee's defeat at the Battle of Antietam led him to order Loring to the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce him in case Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan pursued the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River.

For their stand at White Sulphur Springs, the men of the 45th Virginia won praise from Jones, who wrote in his report that they had "inscribed their names high on the roll of those who in this war have illustrated the valor of our troops.

But when Burnside fell back on Knoxville by mid-October, Jones decided to return the 45th Virginia to Saltville, while the rest of the command joined in the campaign of James Longstreet to lay siege to the Army of the Ohio.

December 16, the 45th Virginia set out for New River Bridge, then spent Christmas Day in the town of Salem, before the threat was ended and it returned to Saltville and winter quarters.

By early March, there was a debate as to whether the regiment belonged to Longstreet's command in East Tennessee with the rest of its brigade, or remained in the Department of Trans-Allegheny under its new head, Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge.

Col. Browne spread out his companies on the Confederate left and faced the brunt of Crook's infantry, a brigade of Ohioans under the regiment's old opponent Rutherford B. Hayes, including the 23rd Ohio.

Lt. Col. Harman, in command of that portion of the line, sent Major Davis for reinforcements from the 60th Virginia, who sent two companies, but while he was placing them he was struck by a musket ball and mortally wounded.

Jenkins himself was hit in the arm while at the head of the 45th Virginia and carried form the battle field, mortally wounded, and cavalry Col. John McCausland assumed command.

He ordered a full retreat that left much of the regiment's supply train on the field, along with 46 of its men that were captured, along with 96 wounded, and 26 killed, its worst casualties so far.

McCausland moved his army back into the territory, and a number of the men of the 45th Virginia became responsible for burying the dead on the Cloyd's Mountain battlefield on May 18.

Sigel was replaced by Maj. Gen. David Hunter, with instructions to destroy Confederate property in the Shenandoah Valley, in order to deprive Lee's Army of Northern Virginia of supplies, particularly food.

Henry A. du Pont visited him in the hospital and loaned him some money for his imprisonment, but three days later his wounds took a bad turn and he died suddenly.

The regiment also lost its colors, when they were seized by Pvt Thomas Evans, a Welsh immigrant in the 54th Pennsylvania, who would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

Four days later, on July 9, Early fought a battle against a hodge-podge force of Union defenders under Lew Wallace at Monocacy Junction, but Wharton's brigade was held in reserve and saw no action.

[31] By July 11, the men of the 45th Virginia could see the recently completed dome of the United States Capitol building from their position in Silver Spring.

It was not involved in the fighting near Fort Stevens, though, and on July 13, Wharton's brigade began clearing Union troops to the army's rear as it fell back to the Potomac, including at Heaton's Crossroads and Cool Spring.

But during the battle, Sheridan had been able to draw up the rest of his army, so Early ordered the Southerners to take up a position on Opequon Creek south of Winchester.

Anderson was ordered back to Petersburg with his men and Wharton's division was moved north of Winchester to defend the battery that would cover the movement on September 16.

[36] The division was withdrawn to about a mile north of Winchester, to link up with the rest of Early's line, with the 45th Virginia's brigade on the extreme left flank.

The 45th Virginia, their brigade now being led by Captain R.H. Logan, advanced on the extreme left with the division and swept the Union men in front of them from the field.

[41] The first two months of 1865 passed without incident and on March 2, Wharton's Division and some remaining troops in southwestern Virginia now under Early's command was ordered to move east to support Lee's army.

Those that got away regrouped at Charlottesville and were soon transferred back to Dublin by rail, and marched form there to Christiansburg, where, upon hearing the news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, they decided to disband.