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40th Virginia Infantry

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this unit’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Muster In: Organized in state service on May 30, 1861.  Transferred to Confederate service on July 1, 1861.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Lieutenant Colonel Arthur S. Cunningham
Commander Image

Captain Hiram E. Coles
Commander Image

Captain Robert Beale Davis
Commander Image

Commander 4
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Walker’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army3

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Walker’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army4

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Walker’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army5

  • Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Arthur S. Cunningham6
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Archer’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army7

  • Commander:
    • Captain Hiram E. Coles (at least August 15, 1864)8,9
    • Lieutenant Colonel Arthur S. Cunningham10
  • Unit Strength:
    • 168 officers and men PFD (August 15, 1864)11
  • Weapons: Springfield and/or Enfield Rifles12

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Archer’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army13,14

  • Commander:
    • Captain Robert Beale Davis (October 1, 1864) (killed in action October 1, 1864)15
    • Captain Hiram E. Coles (?) (after Davis was killed and before Cunningham returned)16
    • Lieutenant Colonel Arthur S. Cunningham (at least September 30, 1864)17,18
  • Unit Strength: 140 officers and men PFD (September 30, 1864)19
  • Weapons: .54 and .58 caliber (presumably mix of Model 1841 “Mississippi” rifles and Springfields and/or Enfields)(September 30, 1864)20

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Archer’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army21

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant Colonel Arthur S. Cunningham22
    • Captain Hiram E. Coles (?)23
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle:

Archer’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army (November 1864)24

Barton’s Command | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (December 1864)25

  • Commander:
    • Captain Hiram E. Coles (November 1864)26
    • Lieutenant Colonel Arthur S. Cunningham (December 1864)27
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: On November 30, 1864, the former regiments of Walker’s Brigade were sent to Barton’s command in the Department of Richmond.28

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle:

Barton’s Command | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (January 1-9, 1865)

Barton’s Command | Lee’s Division | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army (January 9-February 28, 1865)29,30,31

  • Commander:
    • None listed. (January 1865)32
    • Captain Hiram E. Coles (February 1865)33
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: On January 9, 1865, Custis Lee’s Division was formed in the Department of Richmond, and Barton’s Brigade became a part of that organization.

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Barton’s Command | Lee’s Division | Department of Richmond | Confederate Army34,35

  • Commander: None listed. (March & April 1-2, 1865)36,37
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles38:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Squirrel Level Road (September 29, 1864)
  • Jones’ Farm (September 30, 1864)
  • Pegram’s Farm (October 1, 1864)
  • Harman Road (October 2, 1864)
  • Sayler’s Creek (April 6, 1865)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 227-228
    2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 227-228
    3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112
    4. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112
    5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121
    6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121
    7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131
    8. Confederate Inspection Report 16-P-17: Fry’s Brigade, August 15, 1864Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131
    10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131
    11. Confederate Inspection Report 16-P-17: Fry’s Brigade, August 15, 1864Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    12. Confederate Inspection Report 16-P-17: Fry’s Brigade, August 15, 1864Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    13. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 139
    14. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1312.
    15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148
    16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148: Sibley has Coles listed for “October 1864.”  The question is, on what dates did Coles command?  He should be listed in the Fifth Offensive if he served from October 1-13, and in the Sixth Offensive if he served from October 14-31.
    17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 139
    18. Confederate Inspection Report 19-P-24: Archer’s / Walker’s Brigade, September 30, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    19. Confederate Inspection Report 19-P-24: Archer’s / Walker’s Brigade, September 30, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    20. Confederate Inspection Report 19-P-24: Archer’s / Walker’s Brigade, September 30, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
    21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148
    22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148
    23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148: Sibley has Coles listed for “October 1864.”  The question is, on what dates did Coles command?  He should be listed in the Fifth Offensive if he served from October 1-13, and in the Sixth Offensive if he served from October 14-31.
    24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156
    25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 169
    26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156
    27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 169
    28. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 169
    29. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178
    30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 187
    31. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1275: “Organization of the Infantry and Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, February 28, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from February 28, 1865.  However, leaders listed are from January.  I’ve chosen to ignore the leaders and just use this source for the organization of the order of battle.
    32. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 178
    33. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 187
    34. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 196
    35. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 206
    36. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 196
    37. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 206
    38. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 227-228
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