56th Virginia Regiment

Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg is regarded as the Civil War's most disastrous battle action. This history brings you an "eyeball" personal account of it from the rifle soldier's point of view...a horrendous echo from nearly 150 years ago. The valiant men of Virginia's 56th Volunteer Infantry Regiment were in the middle...of the front line...in Pickett's Charge. They saw it, felt it, lived (and died) it all. And they watched as Confederate General Robert E. Lee rode out of the woods on his horse, rolled out his battle maps, consulted with his officers,  and approved Pickett's Charge. The men of the 56th Virginia fought in many other famed, major, battles in the east, described in such detail as to make the reader a part of it. Some were so savage as to be reduced to hand to hand combat with rifle butts, fists, and rocks when ammunition on both sides ran out. They even fought in the Confederate loss of  Fort Donelson in the west. You'll find a world of fascinating detail about Confederate camp life, as well as vibrant cameos of  daily life for the citizenry, during America's Civil War years. Perhaps even more important to present day families of Civil War soldiers, there is an amazing collection of personal geneological data in the bios of nearly 1,500 men who served in Virginia's 56th Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the four years of America's Civil War.