4th West Virginia Cavalry Regiment

The 4th West Virginia Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

4th West Virginia Cavalry Regiment
Active	July 1863 to June 23, 1864
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Cavalry

Service

The 4th West Virginia Cavalry Regiment was enlisted in Parkersburg and Wheeling in western Virginia between July and August 1863 for one year's service.

• January 30, 1864, Engagement at Moorefield

The regiment was mustered out on June 23, 1864.

Casualties

The 4th West Virginia Cavalry Regiment suffered 30 enlisted men dead from disease for a total of 30 deaths.

Officers

Colonel

• Joseph Snider (formerly of the 7th West Virginia Infantry)

Lieutenant-Colonel

• Samuel W. Snider

Majors

• Nathan Goff Jr. (formerly of the 6th West Virginia Cavalry). He was captured during the action at Moorefield, when pinned under his fallen horse, and sent to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia where he was held in close confinement as a hostage for the captured Confederate Major Thomas D. Armsey. He and Armsey were eventually exchanged and President Abraham Lincoln sent for Goff, who described the conditions in Confederate prison camps, prompting Lincoln to arrange further exchanges.
• Charles F. Howes
• James A. Smith

QM Sergeants

• Octavius C. Bray Company A 1863-65

First Sergeant

• Montgomery Hager Company K

See also

• West Virginia Units in the Civil War
• West Virginia in the Civil War

References

• The Civil War Archive
• West Virginia in the Civil War Website
• Octavius Bray QM Sergeant 4th WV Cavalry