California Civil War Rosters

Introduction to the California Hundred and Battalion

From the book �Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1867�
by Brig.-Gen. Richard H. Orton, pub. 1890

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler


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The California Hundred began as a large number of men in California who 
wanted to go and enter the Army. After it was found out that they were being 
kept on the West coast, a proposition was made to Massachusetts to raise a 
company here and take it back East, crediting it to the total men representing 
Massachusetts. The success in raising the �California Hundred�, with many 
more wishing to join them, resulted in four more similar companies being 
formed. Eventually it led to a battalion of four companies, which were attached 
to the Second Massachusetts Cavalry - Companies E, F, L and M.


            These organizations were raised under the following circumstances:  
There were a large number of young men in the State who desired to go East and 
enter the army, and when it was found that the California Volunteers were being 
kept on this coast, a proposition was made to the State of Massachusetts to 
raise a company here, take it East, and credit it to the quota of that State, if 
the expenses of its organization and transportation were guaranteed.  The State 
of Massachusetts was paying large bounties for volunteers; this bounty, it was 
decided, should be paid into the company fund and used for the purpose of paying 
the expenses of the company.

            On the twenty-seventh day of October, 1862, Captain J. Sewell Reed 
received the necessary authority from Governor Andrews, of Massachusetts, and on 
the following day recruiting commenced.  Assembly Hall, located on the northwest 
corner of Kearny and Post Streets, San Francisco, was made headquarters, and a 
man named H.H. Fillebrown was the first enrolled, on October 28, 1862.  In three 
weeks over five hundred men had offered themselves for enrollment.  One hundred 
were selected, and they were mustered into the United States service by 
Lieutenant-Colonel George H. Ringgold, U.S.A., at Platt�s Hall, December 10, 
1862, and on December eleventh sailed on the steamer �Golden Age� for the East.

            The company went to Readville, near Boston, Massachusetts, where it 
arrived January 4, 1863.  The company was made Company A, of the Second 
Massachusetts Cavalry, then consisting of a battalion of four companies.  The 
company was soon mounted and ordered to the front, arriving at Yorktown, 
Virginia, in February, 1863.  The battalion was under the command of Major 
Caspar Crowninshield.  After its arrival at Yorktown it performed picket and 
scouting duty, and had its first battle at South Anna Bridge, where seventy 
Californians and twenty Massachusetts men captured one hundred and twenty-three 
of the Forty-fourth North Carolina Infantry, in a dismounted charge upon their 
earth-works.  In the fight the company lost Joseph B. Burdick, killed, and two 
seriously wounded.

            The success attending the raising of the �California Hundred,� and 
the large number presenting themselves for enlistment, induced others to offer 
to raise four more companies under the same conditions.  After considerable 
negotiation with the authorities in Washington and Massachusetts, permission was 
received by Major D.W. C. Thompson to raise a battalion of four companies, which 
were rapidly recruited.  Upon the arrival of these companies at Readville they 
were also attached to the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, and became Companies E, 
F, L, and M, of that regiment.

            The following report of Major D.W.C. Thompson, who became one of the 
Majors of the regiment, gives a full account of the future operations of the 
battalion:
 
SAN FRANCISCO, November 15, 1867.
Brigadier-General GEORGE S. EVANS, Adjutant-General of California, Sacramento:
GENERAL:  I have the honor to furnish you with the following report of the 
organization and military services of the California Cavalry Battalion:

                On the fifteenth of January, 1863, I received from the Secretary 
of War, through the Headquarters of the Department of California, authority to 
raise in this State a battalion of four companies of cavalry to serve in the war 
at the East.  Arrangements were promptly made to recruit the companies and place 
them in the field without delay.  Thirteen officers and three hundred and 
eighty-seven enlisted men were mustered, uniformed, and drilled within two 
months, and after having been reviewed, inspected, and highly complimented by 
Brigadier-General Wright, commanding Department of the Pacific, the battalion 
left for New York by steamer, �Constitution,� on the twenty-first of March, 
1863.  The high character and good habits of these soldiers were fully tested 
during the voyage.  Good order and discipline were maintained throughout.  
Drilling and instruction took place nearly every day, and though no unusual 
watch or restrictions were placed over the men, I am not aware that any improper 
conduct or dissipation was indulged in by any of them during the trip.  The 
battalion arrived in New York on the fourteenth of April, and was warmly 
received by many gentlemen from the Pacific Coast, and the residents of that 
city.

                On the fifteenth, after having been addressed by Governor Nye, 
of Nevada, reviewed by the Mayor, and having marched through Broadway, it 
proceeded to a camp of instruction at Readville, Massachusetts.  There the 
battalion was mounted, armed, and equipped for the field, and many of the men 
were granted short furloughs to visit their early homes and friends.

                On the twelfth of May it proceeded to Washington and was 
attached to the Twenty-second Army Corps, then comprising the forces in that 
department.  Its first service was to stand picket at the out-posts, and scout 
in front of the forts defending the National Capital.

                On the first of June its camp was moved to the north of 
Washington, and the battalion was employed in scouting along the upper Potomac, 
looking out for the anticipated movement of Lee�s army into Maryland.

                About this time the battalion made its first raid, crossing the 
Potomac at White�s Ford, and marching through Loudon and Fairfax Counties, 
Virginia, in search of Mosby�s guerrillas; but as the wily enemy could not be 
found, it returned, the officers and men having gained a knowledge of the 
country and experience valuable in future movements.

                On the twenty-sixth of June it joined the Army of the Potomac 
near Edward�s Ferry � then under command of General Hooker � and marched with 
the Twelfth Corps toward Gettysburg.  A few days afterwards, Stuart�s cavalry 
having crossed the Potomac at Muddy Branch Ford, the battalion was sent to watch 
their movements.  By a forced march it came up with the enemy, and had an 
engagement with the rear guard near Brookville, Maryland, on the first day of 
July, and continued to follow them into Pennsylvania, capturing stragglers and 
harassing their column.  Orders to join Lee�s army � then at Gettysburg � made 
Stuart�s cavalry hurry forward and pay but little attention to the small forces 
about them; otherwise, his veterans would have made the Californians more 
distant and respectful in their attentions.

                The battalion formed the right of a cavalry force that started 
on the eighth of July to make a reconnaissance to Virginia, east of the Blue 
Ridge and through Ashby�s Gap into the Shenandoah Valley, to discover the 
position and watch the movements of Lee�s army then retreating up the valley.

                On the morning of July twelfth a sharp action took place at 
Ashby�s Gap, exclusively by the four companies of this battalion, against a 
detachment of the enemy strongly posted, resulting in driving the Rebels from 
the gap and up the valley, and enabling the command to accomplish the objects of 
the reconnaissance.  In this engagement Lieutenant John C. Norcross and several 
men were captured and hurried off, having gallantly charged through the enemy�s 
ranks.  Privates Walter S. Barnes and Henry P. Irving were killed in the Gap, 
and many of the battalion were wounded.  This expedition resulted in several 
skirmishes, the taking of a goodly number of prisoners, and gained much 
information in relation to the enemy�s movements.

	On the seventeenth of July the battalion was attached to a mixed command 
of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, detailed to protect the line of communication 
between Washington and the Army of the Potomac, then concentrating near 
Culpepper, and to operate against the partisan troops of the enemy east of the 
Blue Ridge.  While on this duty the battalion had regular camps at Falls Church, 
Vienna, Fairfax Court House,  and Centerville, and scouted over most of the 
country bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Rappahannock and Potomac 
Rivers.

                On the thirtieth of July it had an engagement with Mosby�s 
guerrillas near Aldie, and recaptured a train of thirty-three wagons taken the 
day before on the Warrenton Pike.

	On the seventeenth of August it recaptured, near Frying Pan, another 
train of thirteen wagons taken by Mosby near Annandale, on the Fairfax Pike.
On the twenty-fifth of August an unsuccessful engagement took place between 
about thirty Californians and Mosby�s command, near Coyle�s Tavern, in which 
three of the battalion were killed, and several wounded and captured.  In this 
skirmish Mosby was severly wounded, and disabled for several months.
During the fall of 1863 several skirmishes and running fights took place between 
the Californians and detachments of the Sixth Virginia Cavalry.  White�s 
battalion, and Mosby�s men, with varied success to either party.

A detachment of cavalry, of which two companies belonged to the battalion, were 
surprised and defeated near Dranesville, on the twenty-second of February, by a 
larger force under Mosby.  The commanding officer, Captain Reed, of the 
California Hundred, and thirteen enlisted men were killed, and a large number 
wounded and captured; Captain George A. Manning and Lieutenant William C. 
Manning were disabled and taken prisoners.  This affair was the most disastrous 
that occurred  to the battalion during its long and eventful service.

During the spring of 1864 considerable skirmishes took place in the vicinity of 
Upperville, Rectortown, and Manassas Gap, between the battalion and the partisan 
troops of the enemy, but no decisive action could be forced from them, though in 
their own county.

	On the eighth of June, 1864, two companies of the battalion formed part 
of a cavalry force detailed to protect a train of ambulances sent from Washington to 
remove our wounded from the battle field of the Wilderness.

Early on the morning of the eleventh the column crossed the Rappahannock at 
United States Ford, and after passing over the old battle field of 
Chancellorsville, soon reached the scenes of the more desperate battle of the 
Wilderness, fought a short time before.  The badly wounded of both armies were 
still in field hospitals, and the dead lay in lines, or scattered through the 
woods, unburied as they fell in the fight.  The command visited Parker�s Store, 
Locust Grove, Wilderness Tavern, and other parts of the field, and collected all 
our wounded that were able to be removed in ambulances.

On the twelfth the train and escort recrossed the Rappahannock on its return, 
and passing through Brentsville, Manassas Junction, and Centerville, reached 
Alexandria on the fourteenth.  During this march some skirmishing took place, a 
few guerrillas were captured, and a superior force of the enemy, sent from 
Orange Court House to take the ambulances, was avoided.

A part of the battalion, with small details from other regiments, while out 
scouting,  were attacked near Aldie, on the sixth of July, by a superior force 
under Mosby, and compelled to retire with considerable loss.

This was the last affair between the Californians and the guerrillas in 
Virginia.  For a year they had been pitted against Mosby�s White�s, Imboden�s, 
and Gilmore�s men; they had hunted them summer and winter, night and day, 
mounted and dismounted, together and in squads, from the Blue Ridge to the 
Potomac, on every road and in almost every house in Loudon, Fairfax, Prince 
William, and Fauquier Counties.  When a fair, square fight could be obtained, 
the Californians were never beaten.  If a small scouting party or isolated 
picket post could be pounced upon, or a detachment ambushed in the woods, or 
going through a pass, the wily enemy were often successful in such operations.  
Eigenbrodt�s and Manning�s companies, on the sixth of March, 1864, were attached 
to the cavalry forces of the upper Potomac, camped near Edwards� Ferry, and were 
employed in picketing along the river and scouting between Washington and 
Harper�s Ferry.  They made frequent raids into Virginia, and assisted in 
surrounding and searching Leesburg and other towns for guerrillas and furloughed 
Rebel soldiers.  These companies continued on this active duty until the fifth 
of July, when they were moved to watch Early�s army, then crossing into 
Maryland.  At Point of Rocks, on that day, part of them were engaged skirmishing 
with the enemy�s advance.      

During the battle of Monocacy Junction, fought on the ninth of July, between 
General Wallace�s forces, from Baltimore, and Early�s army, Captain Eigenbrodt�s 
company held the fords below on the Monocacy River, and Captain Manning�s 
company, under Lieutenant Partridge, was placed on the Frederick Pike, to watch 
the enemy�s movements toward Washington.  Both companies were employed in 
skirmishing in front and on the flanks of the enemy�s column, during the tenth 
and on the eleventh, until forced up to Fort Stevens on the Seventh Street Road, 
a few miles from the Capital.   They were there dismounted and engaged on the 
skirmish line and in the rifle pits of the fort until the enemy retreated on the 
morning of July thirteenth.

On the tenth of July Adams� and De Merritt�s companies, that had remained on 
duty in Virginia, near Fairfax Court House, were ordered over to the defense of 
Washinton.  On the morning of the eleventh they took position in the Tanallytown 
Road and Rockville Pike, to oppose a demonstration of the Rebels on that road.  
As Early�s army advanced against the forts, they were placed on the skirmish 
line, in front of Fort Reno, and were on duty there until the enemy retired.
The battalion, mounted, and had the honor of the right and leading the advance 
in driving Early�s army out of Maryland.  At Rockville, on the thirteenth, it 
made a dash on a Rebel brigade, and with its seven-shooters did the enemy 
considerable damage.  At Darnestown, on the morning of the fourteenth, a small 
skirmish took place, resulting in capturing an officer and several men from the 
enemy�s rear guard; and at Poolsville, on the afternoon of the same day, the 
battalion, dismounted, and deployed, took part in an action against infantry and 
artillery, lasting some two hours, until the arrival of the Sixth Army Corps, 
when the enemy retired over the Potomac.

On the fifteenth, the two companies that had been stationed on the Potomac, near 
Edwards� Ferry, resumed their former position and duties along the river, and 
the two companies from Fairfax Court House continued to follow up the enemy in 
advance of the Sixth and Nineteenth Army Corps, through Loudon County and 
Snicker�s Gap into the Shenandoah Valley, skirmishing with their rear guard or 
flankers on every favorable opportunity.  Soon after reaching the valley they 
were ordered to return to their former camp and duties near Fairfax Court House.
Early�s army having threatened another invasion of Maryland, these companies, on 
the twenty-fifth of July, moved over the river again and proceeded up the 
Frederick Pike to South Mountain and Harper�s Ferry.  Eigenbrodt�s and Manning�s 
companies, that had been picketing on the Potomac, were stationed at Poolsville 
on the thirty-first day of July, when Mosby�s guerrillas crossed the river at 
Nolan�s Ford for the purpose of capturing a wagon train on its way from 
Washington to Harper�s Ferry.  Before the enemy could reach the prize the 
Californians interfered, and coming on the guerrillas near Sugar Loaf Mountain, 
drove them in a running fight back over the Potomac and scattered them in the 
woods beyond.  The companies continued to cover the communications and protect 
the trains going to Harper�s Ferry until the ninth of August, when they moved to 
Halltown and joined the Army of the Shenandoah, under the command of General 
Sheridan.  There the four companies of the battalion were again united and 
formed a part of the Third Brigade, First Division of Cavalry, under the command 
of General Merritt.

At daylight on the morning of the tenth of August, 1864, the battalion marched 
with Sheridan�s army up the valley towards Winchester, commencing on that day 
those brilliant and successful operations and almost daily battles against the 
enemy that resulted, on the evening of the memorable nineteenth of October, at 
Cedar Creek, in the ruin and almost total annihilation of Early�s army.
During this campaign the Californians participated in the following battles:  
Shepardstown, August tenth; Whitepost, August thirteenth; Strasburg, August 
fifteenth; Kearnstown, August seventeenth; Winchester, August eighteenth; 
Berryville Pike, August twentieth; Berryville, August twenty-first; Charlestown, 
August twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth; Halltown, August 
twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, and twenty-seventh; Summit Point, August 
twenty-ninth; Smithfield, August thirtieth; Opequan Creek, September seventh; 
Knox�s Ford, September twelfth; Sheridan�s battle of Winchester, September 
nineteenth; Front Royal, September twentieth; Snake Mountain, September 
twentieth; Mills� Ford, September twenty-third; Luray Court House, September 
twenty-fourth; Waynesboro, September twenty-eighth; Mount Crawford, October 
fourth; Tomsbrook, October eighth and ninth, and Sheridan�s great battle of 
Cedar Creek, October nineteenth.

At Halltown, on the twenty-sixth of August, 1864, Captain Charles S. Eigenbrodt, 
while gallantly leading his squadron in a charge against the enemy, was shot 
dead from his horse.  Thus was lost to the battalion one of its bravest and best 
beloved officers, and to California one of its most patriotic and valuable 
citizens.

On the next day, and near the same field, First Lieutenant Charles E. Meader, 
after charging with his company on the enemy�s lines, was killed, fighting hand 
to hand � �too brave to retreat and too proud to surrender.�  Lieutenant Meader 
enlisted as a private in the battalion, and by superior abilities and faithful 
services was promoted to First Lieutenant, and at the time of his death was in 
command of the �California Hundred.�

Early in the day, at the hard-fought battle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864, 
Captain Rufus W. Smith, formerly commander of the Light Guard of San Francisco, 
was killed while in command of his squadron, endeavoring to check the then 
successful advance of the enemy.  This brave officer left home, friends, and 
business to serve with the battalion, and after participating in many 
engagements lost his life on the field of Sheridan�s greatest victory.
Many non-commissioned officers and privates of the battalion, all brave and 
patriotic Californians, were killed in various battles of the valley.  I regret 
that the limits of this report will not permit me to mention the name and 
meritorious services of each.  No better soldiers died for the Union cause 
during the war.

A large number of the officers and enlisted men of the battalion were wounded 
during this campaign.  The annexed roll of the members of each of the four 
companies will, though briefly, refer to such facts.

After the close of the battle of Cedar Creek, the battalion was with the 
advance, following up the defeated enemy, and many of the cannon captured and 
retaken from the Rebels, that made the gallant Custer hug his General for joy, 
were halted and turned back by the sabers of the Califonians.

Having returned from the pursuit of the enemy up the valley, after the battle of 
the nineteenth of October, the battalion was stationed for several weeks near 
Strasburg, engaged in scouting and picket duty.

On the twenty-eighth of November it formed a part of General Merritt�s Division 
of Cavalry, that moved through Ashby�s Gap to operate against the guerrillas 
east of the Blue Ridge, and destroy such forage, supplies, and property as could 
be of use to the enemy in that section of country.  During this raid the 
battalion passed through many towns frequently visited on scouts from its old 
camps near Centreville.

Early in December it went into camp near Winchester, and was employed in 
protecting communications, collecting supplies, and camp duty.

On the nineteenth of December it marched with the cavalry, under command of 
General Torbert, on a raid towards Charlottesville and Gordonsville, passing 
through Chester Gap, and returning through Madison Court House, Culpepper, 
Warrenton, and Ashby�s Gap, to Winchester.  During this raid the weather was 
intensely cold, and the men and horses suffered severely.

During the greater part of January and February, 1865, it performed picket and 
camp duty.

On the twenty-seventh of February the battalion was again in the saddle for one 
of the hardest marches made during the war � from Winchester to Petersburg � 
about three hundred miles, through rain and mud, fighting the enemy all the way 
and destroying his railroads, canals, and other property.  The command consisted 
of the First Division of Cavalry, under  General Devin, to which the battalion 
belonged; Third Division, under General Custer, with a small force of artillery, 
pontoons, etc. � all under General Sheridan.  On this march the battalion moved 
from Winchester up the valley, through Woodstock and Harrisburg, to Staunton and 
Waynesboro.  At the latter place a battle was fought, resulting in the capture 
of the remnant of Early�s army, and a large amount of Rebel supplies.  The march 
was continued to Charlottesville, where the railroad and enemy�s stores were 
destroyed; then to the James River, destroying the canals and the bridges over 
that river down to Goochland; then to the north of Richmond, across the South 
and North Anna Rivers, down to White House Landing.  The battalion assisted in 
charging and taking the railroad bridge across the South Anna, with its defenses 
and cannon.  From the White House the march was continued across the peninsula 
and over the James River in front of Petersburg, where the battalion went into 
camp, on the twenty-sixth of March, after one month of constant marching, 
fighting, and skirmishing, destroying railroads, canals, and the enemy�s 
property beyond any immediate repair, and overcoming impediments of Nature and 
the enemy seldom offered against the advance of troops.

The battalion marched from in front of Petersburg on the twenty-ninth of March 
and took part in the brilliant operations that resulted in the surrender of 
General Lee�s army at Appomattox Court House on the ninth of April, 1865.  It 
formed a part of General Gibbs� brigade, that gallantly attacked the enemy at 
Dinwiddie Court House and forced him to retire.

 On the first day of April the battalion was in the hottest of the fight at Five 
Forks, and was among the first troops inside of the enemy�s works.  It was 
inDevin�s Division, referred to by President Lincoln in the following dispatch:  
�The Five Forks, strongly barricaded, were carried by Devin�s First Division of 
Cavalry.�

In this engagement, First Lieutenant Lewis Munger, while leading his company, 
was killed.  This promising young officer enlisted in California, and had been 
promoted to First Lieutenant for faithful services and distinguished bravery.  
He was the fourth officer of the battalion killed in battle.  Eigenbrodt, 
Meader, Smith, and Munger are names that will always be cherished by their 
comrades in arms, and should be honored by California, the State they all loved 
so well.

On the second of April the battalion marched toward the South Side Railroad, and 
during the day heard of the fall of Petersburg.  On the third of April it was in 
an engagement on the South Side Railroad.

The news of the fall of Richmond reached the battalion on the fourth of April, 
while following up Lee�s army.  During the day it was in an engagement at 
Devil�s Ford.  On the fifth of April it assisted in cutting the Danville 
Railroad and capturing three hundred wagons of General Lee�s trains.
It took part in the battle of Sailor�s Creek, on the sixth of April, that 
resulted in the capture of General Ewell and about ten thousand men of General 
Lee�s army, together with their artillery trains and supplies.
On the seventh of April it continued in pursuit of Lee�s army, marching on their 
left flank and skirmishing nearly all the way.

On the eighth of April it marched rapidly to Appomattox Station, on the 
Lynchburg Railroad, and assisted in capturing five trains of cars loaded with 
Rebel supplies, and during the night twenty-two pieces of artillery.

On the morning of the memorable ninth of April, Sheridan�s cavalry having formed 
in line of battle across Lee�s line of retreat, the battalion was dismounted and 
deployed as skirmishers immediately in front of the enemy.  When the army of 
Northern Virginia attempted to advance that morning it found every foot of 
ground stubbornly contested.  For some time this spirited engagement was kept 
up, the Rebels expecting to break through the cavalry and escape.  While this 
was going on, the Fifth, Twenty-fourth, and part of the Twenty-fifth Corps came 
up and formed in rear of the cavalry, which gradually moved to the right flank 
to allow them to come into action.  When their long line of battle advanced 
under General Ord, the veterans of the best Rebel army, who had fought for four 
years vainly, but too well, saw that their doom was sealed.  They stopped firing 
and slowly fell back around Appomattox Court House, the Union troops following 
and hemming them in on all sides.  Soon a white flag, in token of surrender, was 
presented to Sheridan�s cavalry � an honor they well merited � and hostilities 
ceased.  Early in the afternoon the battalion had the pleasure of witnessing the 
meeting of the General-in-Chief of the armies of the United States and the 
General-in-Chief of the Rebel armies, and soon after the formal surrender of the 
army of Northern Virginia.

On the tenth of April the battalion commenced its march with the cavalry forces 
back to Petersburg, arriving and going into camp on the south side of that city 
on the nineteenth.  There is was prepared to move with Sheridan�s command to the 
assistance of General Sherman in North Carolina.

On the twenty-fourth of April it marched for that destination, but when near the 
North Carolina line news was received of the surrender of General Johnston�s 
army to General Sherman, when it returned with the other cavalry to Petersburg, 
remaining there in camp until the tenth of May, when the battalion marched 
toward Washington, arriving near Alexandria on the sixteenth of May.

It participated in the grand review at Washington on the twenty-third of May, 
where the California companies� colors were greeted with enthusiasm by the 
highest and bravest in the land.  Soon after the review it went into camp near 
Fairfax Court House, where it remained on picket and guard duty until it was 
mustered out of the United States service on the twentieth of July, 1865.

After being mustered out it proceeded to Camp Meigs, Readville, Massachusetts, 
where it was paid off, discharged, and disbanded on the third of August, the 
companies having been through nearly two and a half years of hard service in the 
field and participated in over fifty engagements.

Four hundred officers and enlisted men were mustered into the battalion at San 
Francisco, of which number only one hundred and forty-eight remained to be 
mustered out at its final discharge from the service.  Many were killed in 
battle or died in the service; some were missing and unaccounted for; a large 
number were discharged from time to time on account of wounds or disability, and 
thirty of the enlisted men were promoted to commissioned officers in various 
regiments.

The veterans of the California Cavalry Battalion and California Hundred, 
organized in this State, have inscribed on their colors the names of the 
following engagements in which they have participated:  Brookville, Ashby�s Gap, 
Coyle�s Tavern, Little River Pike, Dranesville, Rectortown, Point of Rocks, 
Aldie, Frederick Pike, Tanallytown, Fort Reno, Fort Stevens, Rockville, 
Poolsville, Leesburg, Snicker�s Gap, Nolan�s Ford, Shepardstown, Whitepost, 
Middletown, Strasburg, Kearnstown, Winchester, Berryville, Pike, Charlestown, 
Summit Point, Halltown, Berryville, Smithfield, Oqequan Creek, Knoxford, Front 
Royal, Snake Mountain, Luray Court House, Mills Ford, Waynesboro, Mount 
Crawford, Tomsbrook, Cedar Creek, Madison Court House, Gordonsville, 
Charlottesville, South  Anna, White Oak Road, Dinwiddie Court House, Five Forks, 
South Side Railroad, Devil�s Ford, Sailor�s Creek, and Appomattox Court House.  
Many skirmishes that the Californians were in, with the guerrillas in Virginia, 
with Early�s forces in the Valley, while on the march to Petersburg, and during 
the ten days� campaign before the surrender of Lee�s army, have not been 
mentioned.

I am, General, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
C.W.C. THOMPSON,
Late Major California Cavalry Battalion
 
      NAMERemarks
      FIELD OFFICER 
      1. Major DeWitt C. ThompsonIn command of the battalion from January 15 to 
      July 15, 1863.  In command of cavalry camp near Alexandria, Va., from July 
      15 to August 16, 1863.  In command of battalion in the field from August 
      16 to September 16, 1863.  In command of �Cavalry Forces, Upper Potomac,� 
      from September 16, 1863 to August 9, 1864, embracing posts at Edwards 
      Ferry and all troops between Washington and Point of Rocks, Maryland.  
      Joined Army of the Shenandoah, August ninth, with detachments of 620 
      cavalry, which were ordered to their respective regiments.  Resigned and 
      honorably discharged by General Sheridan, August 9, 1864.