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The Virginia Regiment was subsequently expanded into two regiments for the 1758 Forbes Expedition. As a result of the outbreak of the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1762, the unit remained on the Virginia frontier for longer than expected, but was disbanded by Governor Francis Fauquier in 1762.
In 1758 Virginia raised two regiments of a thousand men each for the Forbes Expedition. The enlistment period for the first regiment expired in May 1759, and for the second in December 1758: [177] [178] First Virginia Regiment, Colonel George Washington. Second Virginia Regiment, Colonel William Byrd III.
[7] [8] In 1758, George Mercer accepted command of the newly formed Second Virginia Regiment, with a commission as lieutenant colonel. In 1758, the governor assigned both Virginia regiments to regular British Army Brigadier General John Forbes , who planned to march from Philadelphia westward and take Fort Duquesne in the western frontier.
The units included military district brigades established in 1776, county regiments, four battalions, and one independent corps of light horse. Four regiments were located in counties that became part of the Southwest Territory in 1790 and later Tennessee in 1796. The size of brigades could be up to a few thousand volunteers.
The Continental regiments in the Southern colonies saw active service before the year ended, fighting forces raised by Virginia's royal governor, Lord Dunmore, at Great Bridge in December. In this action the 2nd Virginia Regiment was commanded by William Woodford, who later became a brigadier general in the Continental Army.
The regiment originated from the Charles City-Henrico County Regiment of Militia founded in 1652. During the French and Indian War, the Virginia Regiment was organized and was the only colonial regiment incorporated into the British line (1754-1763) and saw action at the Battle of Jumonville Glen, Fort Necessity, and the Braddock and Forbes expeditions.
The 2d Virginia Regiment again served with distinction, as reflected in the Virginia Gazette, October 17, 1777: "The heroism and gallantry of the second Virginia regiment I cannot help particularly mentioning; they would do honour to any country in the world. It is universally believed they behaved the best of any troops in the field."
During the Civil War, the Virginia militia was the main recruiting body for first the Provisional Army of Virginia and later the Virginia state regiments of the Confederate Army. After the Civil War, Reconstruction governments forced upon Virginia an all-volunteer militia system in opposition to Virginia's Bill of Rights. The militia became ...