Their nickname was the Bloody First, given to them in recognition of their courageous conduct and supreme sacrifice in battle. In the midst of the Battle of Fredericksburg, General James Kemper declared, Men of the First Virginia Regiment you who have on so many hard-fought fields gained the name of the Bloody First today your country calls on you again to stand between her and her enemy, and I know you will do your duty.
The Bloody First follows the exploits of this brave group of young men who left their families and went off to war in defense of their homeland. Through their own words, newspaper accounts, official reports, correspondence, and articles, we can relive their hardships and pain as they experience the most devastating war in our nations history. Three days before the Battle of Manassas, they were the first Confederate unit to engage in battle with the Union Army along the banks of Bull Run, and four years later their remnants were at Appomattox Court House for the final surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Among their many battle honors, the Bloody First made that immortal charge up Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg, as part of Kemper’s brigade in Pickett’s division. On that day, July 3, 1863, they suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any regiment in Kemper’s brigade. The Bloody First tells their story, keeping their memory and their history alive today.
