"[1] Nonetheless, Norborne, William and Charles Berkeley were all in Union prisoner of war camps and their brother Edmund still recovering from his Gettysburg wound on August 9.

Before the Battle of First Bull Run, the newly raised 8th Virginia was assigned to guard the numerous Potomac River crossings in Loudoun County, from which it had drawn four companies.

[5][6] In September 1862, the 8th briefly returned to Leesburg, following the Battle of Second Bull Run, in which they participated although initially in reserve status, on their way to the Maryland Campaign.

The following year, they took part in Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg—they sustained 90% casualties, and only one officer (Charles Berkeley) and eleven men remained uninjured.

It reported 53 casualties between June 1 and December 31, 1864, including the popular former chaplain turned adjutant, Charles Linthicum, a Methodist minister from Frederick County, Maryland who initially joined to substitute for a member of his congregation who had a large family.