Description:

A brief, but comprehensive history of this short-lived Confederate unit is presented for your consideration. Led by Wise County, Virginia lawyer, James Milton French, and recruited from the remnants of the Virginia State Line, French's Battalion survived about two months. Captured almost en masse in their first engagement at Pikeville, Kentucky in April 1863, these men were sent to Camp Chase, Ohio. After being exchanged later in the year, most joined Clarence Prentice's 7th Battalion Confederate Cavalry.