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Company “I” “New Garden Fearnots” 37th Regiment Of Virginia Volunteer Infantry Army of Northern Virginia CSA 1861-1865 The 37th Virginia Infantry came into being
in the Spring of 1861. Although the people of the mountainous region of southwest Virginia opposed secession, when Virginia
finally seceded in April young men rushed to the colors. The would be soldiers, who made up the rank and file of the 37th,
were mainly farmers, with the addition of a few craftsmen, teachers, and professional men, from the counties of Southwest
Virginia. In a village named Honakersville in Russell County a
company of men who called themselves the “New Garden Fearnots” was formed and began to drill. This company was
under the command of sixty year old Simeon Hunt. The company had formed in response to the growing crisis of secession and
in early May, 1861 made the thirty mile trip to Abingdon where it joined six other companies for transport to Richmond. The regiment began its organization in May with recruits
coming from the following counties. Co. A….Goodson Rifles…from Goodson( now Bristol) in Washington County, Virginia and Sullivan County, Tennessee Co. B….Virginia Mountain Boys…Washington County Co. C….McElhenny’s Company ……Russell County Co. D…Davis Rifle Guards…..Scott County Co. E…Walnut Hill Company….Lee County Co. F….Glade Spring Rifles….Washington County Co. G….Kendrick’s Co…….Russell County Co. H….King’s Mountain Rifles….Washington County Co. I…..New Garden Fearnots……Russell County Co. K….Washington Independents…Washington
County Ordered to Richmond these companies were organized
as the 37th Regiment of Virginia Volunteer Infantry
under the command of Colonel Samuel Vance Fulkerson. (Col.
Fulkerson’s brother, Abraham, became commander of the 63rd Tennessee Infantry.) The New Garden Fearnots were designated Company I. The
officers of Co. “I” were: Captain Simeon Hunt, resigned on August 4, 1861. Robert
E. Cowan was elected Captain. Cowan was killed at the Battle of Kernstown, Virginia on March 23, 1862. Upon its organization the regiment was assigned to General
William Wing Loring’s Army of the Northwest. In September, 1861 the regiment was brigaded for the first time in a brigade
by Brig. Gen William B. Taliaferro( pronounced “Toliver“ ). In this capacity the regiment participated in operations
in the Allegheny Mountains from June until December, 1861. Taliaferro‘s( Rust’s) Brigade 23rd Virginia Infantry 37th Virginia Infantry 1st Georgia Infantry 3rd Arkansas Infantry In January, 1862 Taliaferro’s Brigade came under
the direction of Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, taking part in Jackson’s Bath-Romney Campaign. At about the same time differences between Jackson and
Loring caused much dissention. To alleviate tension Loring’s command was broken up and the Virginia units transferred
to Jackson’s Valley Army. Loring was transferred west along with a few of his units. On March 14, 1862, the Army of the Northwest was merged
into the Army of Northern Virginia. In the early Spring of 1862 the Confederate Army
was reorganized. A Conscript Law, the first, was enacted and new regiments were formed. Existing regiments, which had heretofore
been only units of twelve-months service, were re-enlisted for the war. The men of the 37th Virginia, who were so inclined, re-enlisted and many of them left for home on a furlough which had
been granted as an incentive for re-enlistment. Thomas J. Smith was elected as Captain of Company “I“. Throughout 1862 the 37TH took part
in many engagements. As part of Stonewall Jackson’s now legendary “Foot Cavalry”, Co. I, and the 37TH marched
and fought its way up and down the Shenandoah Valley and establishing itself as fighting unit,and becoming part of the storied 2ND Corps of the Army of Northern
Virginia. At the 1st Battle of Kernstown,
Virginia the regiment suffered 134 casualties. Local newspapers, at home in Abingdon, Virginia, proudly declared that the
“ 37TH Virginia was the first regiment on the field and the last off at Kernstown”. During the year of 1862 the 37th took part
in some of the most trying of campaigns. At Gaines’ Mill, Virginia during the Seven Days Battles, on June 27th,
1862, the 37th lost its commander. Colonel Fulkerson, who was now in command of the brigade, was mortally wounded
while performing a reconnaissance on the front line. Temporary command of the brigade fell first to Gen. Wade Hampton, and
then to Col. E.T.H. Warren of the 10th Virginia. After the Seven Days Battles many regiments in
the army were reassigned. Up until this time Taliaferro’s Brigade had consisted of the 37th Virginia Infantry along with the
10th and 23rd Virginia Regiments. During the summer of 1862 two new Alabama regiments arrived in Virginia
and were assigned to Taliaferro’s Brigade. The brigade would continue in this form until early 1863. Taliaferro’s( Warren’s) Brigade 10th Virginia Infantry 23rd Virginia Infantry 37th Virginia Infantry 47th Alabama Infantry 48th Alabama Infantry By late summer of 1862 The 37TH Virginia
had suffered heavy attrition of its troops. Company I had been affected more than the other companies in the Regiment. So
few men were left that the company was disbanded and the survivors transferred to Company G. The “New Garden Fearnots”
were no more. From the plains of 2nd Manassas they marched
to Harper’s Ferry. After defeating the Federals there, they marched to Sharpsburg, Maryland and went straight into one
of the bloodiest battles in American history. The 37th left many of their number on the bloody fields of Antietam.
Among them Lt. James H. Barrett. After Sharpsburg, General Lee formalized the organization
of the Army into two corps. General James Longstreet’s command was designated the 1st Corps. Jackson’s
command, of which the 37th was a part, was designated the 2nd Corps. The 37th saw little action at Fredericksburg
in December of 1862, but in May, 1863 the regiment took part in Jackson’s flank march at Chancellorsville and was instrumental
in crushing the Army of the Potomac’s 11th Corps. This battle took the life of the great “Stonewall”. With the death of Jackson General Lee reorganized
the army . A new 3rd Corps was formed under the command of Lt. Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill. With this reorganization
many units were shifted around. The 37TH Virginia
remained in the 2nd Corps, now under the leadership
of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, who had just returned to duty after losing a leg at 2nd Manassas. The 37th had a new brigade commander , Brig.
Gen. George Hume “Maryland” Steuart. The brigade was now made up of: 10th Virginia Infantry 23rd Virginia Infantry 37th Virginia Infantry 1st North Carolina Infantry 3rd North Carolina Infantry 1st Maryland Infantry Battalion The brigade was part of Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson’s
Division. In July, 1863 the 37TH suffered heavy losses at Gettysburg,
losing more than 30 % of the 264 troops engaged, and lost heavily again during the Mine Run Campaign in November, 1863. 1864 would be a devastating year for the regiment. At
Spotsylvania Court House on May 12th Johnson’s Division was decimated by an overwhelming Federal attack.
The individual regiments of the division ceased to exist as viable units. All the Virginia regiments were placed in a consolidated
brigade. The North Carolina regiments in Steuart’s Brigade were placed in another consolidated brigade. The Louisiana
regiments of the division were treated the same. The 2nd (Johnson’s) Division of the 2nd Corps
ceased to exist. The 37th Virginia went into the fight with 270 men. Only 70 remained after the bloody fight in
what the soldiers called the “Mule Shoe”. Brig. Gen. Steuart was captured at Spotsylvania, as
was Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson. The Virginia units were brigaded together under the
command of Gen. William R. Terry and assigned to the division of Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon. Gen. Terry had begun his service
to the Confederacy in the 24th Virginia Infantry . After the death of Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead at Gettysburg,
Terry, among others, had been commander of Armistead’s Brigade for a short time. After his exchange, Brig. Gen. Steuart
assumed command of Armistead’s former brigade. When General Johnson was exchanged he was sent West and served the rest
of the war with the Army of Tennessee, taking part in the bloodbath at Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864. Terry’s Consolidated Brigade 2nd Virginia Infantry 4th Virginia Infantry 5th Virginia Infantry 10th Virginia Infantry 21st Virginia Infantry 23rd Virginia Infantry 25th Virginia Infantry 27th Virginia Infantry 31st Virginia Infantry 33rd Virginia Infantry 37th Virginia Infantry 42nd Virginia Infantry 44th Virginia Infantry 48th Virginia Infantry 50th Virginia Infantry After bloody fighting at Cold Harbor, the 2nd
Corps, ANV, now under the command of Lt. Gen. Jubal Early was detached from the Army of Northern Virginia and campaigned
from June until December, 1864 in the Shenandoah Valley once again. This was a grueling and costly campaign. Jedediah Hotchkiss,
topographical engineer of the Second Corps, assessed the actions of the corps from the time it left Richmond on June 13, 1864
until the conclusion of the Valley Campaign in November, 1864. Hotchkiss concluded on November 16 that, from June 13
through November, Early's men had marched 1670 miles and was engaged in 75 battles and skirmishes! Of the 70 men left in the
37th, 14 were wounded and 15 became POW's, of which 9 of those captured were wounded. During the Valley Campaign, due to attrition,
the remaining men of the regiment were reassigned to companies H an K. The other 7 companies were disbanded. Company
I, the Fearnots, had long ago been merged into Company G, and now Company G no longer existed. The few remaining men of the 37th
soldiered on. In December, 1864 the regiment moved into the trenches at Petersburg, spending a miserable winter in the cold
and mud. During this time the 37th was part of a field consolidation with the 10th and 23rd
Virginia Regiments. Less than 275 men made up these three units. During their time in the trenches the 37th
continued to lose men at Hatcher’s Run and Fort Stedman. On April 2, 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia
abandoned the defenses of Petersburg and began its last march. The 37th’s Col. Titus V. Williams assumed
command of the brigade. Brig. Gen. Clement A. Evans assumed command of Gordon’s old division. On April 6th
the 37th Virginia engaged the enemy in its last major fight at Sayler’s Creek, Virginia. The regiment
lost 34 men from March 25th until April 6th. On Sunday morning, April 9th, the 37th
Virginia was in the line of battle with Gordon’s 2nd Corps for one last go at the enemy. This futile action
was the last for the Army of Northern Virginia. General Robert E. Lee surrendered the remnants
of his once mighty army to General Ulysses S. Grant’s forces in the afternoon, on Sunday, April 9, 1865. At that time
only 2 officers, Capt. John A. Preston and Assistant Surgeon Matthew Butler along with 37 enlisted men remained on the rolls
of the once mighty regiment. Co. I, the “New Garden Fearnots” had long ago ceased to exist as a viable entity.
Capt. John A. Preston, now commanding the regiment, had been wounded at Sayler’s Creek and was unable to write. The
surrender roll of the 37th Virginia Infantry
was signed by 1st Sgt. Andrew Kelley, who wrote: “I certify, on honor, that of the
above number of men, that there were present, actually armed and in line of battle, seventeen(17) enlisted men on the morning
of the ninth(9th) instant, the day of the surrender of this army”. The 37th Virginia’s war was over. Recommended reading: |
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