page_title: Virginia Defense Force
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Virginia Defense Force / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Virginia Defense Force conducts a Change of Unit Designation Ceremony Sept. 28, 2013, at Fort Pickett as part of the organization's ongoing reorganization effort. During the ceremony, the VDF stood down the Black Horse and Highland Brigades and activated the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Regiments. In previously held ceremonies, the VDF deactivated the Lafayette Brigade and stood up the 1st Regiment. The all-volunteer VDF is in the final stages of a reorganization that will make them more flexible and capable of providing the mission packages as prescribed by the Virginia National Guard Defense Support to Civil Authorities Playbook. Some of the response packages include Incident Management Assistance Teams, JOC Augmentation Teams as well as teams focused on interoperable communications and shelter management. At the end of the ceremony, retiring VDF Command Sgt. Maj. Andy Stevens was recognized for his 28 years of active duty service in the U. S. Army and 11 years of service in the VDF. After the ceremony, Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Long, Jr., the Adjutant General of Virginia, addressed VDF leaders at their annual Commander's Conference. (Photo by Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)
context_page_description: The Virginia Defense Force is the official state defense force of Virginia, one of the three components of Virginia's state military along with the Virginia National Guard which includes the Virginia Army National Guard and the Virginia Air National Guard and the unorganized militia. As of 2019 the VDF has approximately 250 soldiers. The VDF is the descendant of the Virginia State Guard, the Virginia Regiment, and ultimately the Colonial Virginia militia of the Virginia Colony.
  The Virginia Defense Force Command is headquartered at the historic Old City Hall, but drills out of Waller Armory in Richmond, Virginia. State law allows the command to grow to as many as 7,800 troops to be activated in the VDF when necessary by a call out by the Governor. The VDF is all-volunteer unless activated to "Active Duty" status and augmented by unorganized militia draftees by the Governor of Virginia. The federal government authorizes purely state-level forces under 32 U.S.C. § 109 which provides that state forces as a whole may not be called, ordered, or drafted into the armed forces of the United States, thus preserving their separation from the National Guard.
context_section_description: In 1607, the Virginia Militia was formed as a part of the British militia system in order to provide an organized defense against attacks and to give the Governor a body of men capable of bringing order during a disaster.  Soon after in 1623, the Governor dictated that all men in the Virginia Militia must drill every month on their county court house green.  He also appointed officers to lead the Militia for the first time.  By 1676, the Virginia Militia had responded to numerous Indian raids and had served in Bacon's Rebellion.
  As the 18th century evolved into a near continuous war between the British and French Empires, and due to wars with Indian tribes and French incursions to the west of the colony, The Virginia Regiment was formed by Governor Dinwiddie in 1754 out of the Virginia Militia.   It was the first all professional colonial regiment ever raised in the New World and thus given status of a regular British Army regiment during the Seven Years' War.  Its officers were often unpaid volunteers and they would provide a corps to serve as Aides de Camp to the Commanding Generals of the British Army as well as fighting forces.  Colonel Joshua Fry was selected as the first commander and George Washington as its Lt. Colonel.  Washington became its Colonel in 1755 and established the command at Winchester, Virginia.  The regiment was a hybrid and included soldiers of "foote, rangers and mounted" and fought in the southern battles of the French and Indian War.  Its colors were retired in 1758 and members were returned to the Virginia Militia
  As the revolutionary spirit spread across the new nation, the House of Burgesses reconstituted the Virginia Regiment and expanded it dramatically.  Further, it was determined that the standard Militia unit needed to institutionalize separate mounted troops.  In 1776, the State reorganized the Virginia Regiment into ten regiments of infantry called "The Virginia Line", and organized the first mounted infantry unit called the Virginia Light Horse Regiment.  Colonel Bland, a Virginia Militia officer was tasked to form, out of the Militia, this mounted regiment. In turn, it was commanded by Lt Colonel Henry Lee III or "Light Horse Harry", father of General Robert E. Lee of the Union and Confederate Armies.
  In the summer of 1776, Bland and Lee organized The Virginia Light Horse regiment.  This unit was predominantly led by the aristocracy of Virginia and made up of the wealthy planters and merchants sons.  The Virginia Light Horse was by November of that year brought into Continental Army service and was re-designated the 1st Continental Light Dragoons.  Troops 1 & 2 were stood up outside of Boston, troops 3 & 4 were stood up in Pennsylvania, and 5th & 6th troops were assigned to the Virginia Regiment/Line as it assumed Federal military duties.  Henry Lee, a Virginia militia Captain, was commissioned by Congress in 1776 to form 5th Troop.  5th Troop took over 6th Troop and evolved over the years into Lee's Legion and later into the 2nd Partisan Corps; it was the primary cavalry force in the Southern Campaign and was on active duty until its colors were retired in 1783, again at Winchester, Virginia.
  In 1846, the main county units mustered for service in the Mexican War, but the requirements on the Virginia Regiment did not have them actually deploy west and they were sent back to their homes and colors cased again in 1848.  These units formed the nucleus of the Virginia Divisions of the Confederacy in the Civil War; and though little activity took place during the reconstruction period, the Virginia troops again mustered for service in the Spanish–American War.  These troops were incorporated in the 2nd U.S. Virginia Volunteer Cavalry and Infantry in 1898/99, but were not deployed and stood down in 1901, except the Fourth Virginia Infantry, Fourth Regiment Volunteers (Norfolk, mustered May 20, 1898) sent from the United States for service in Cuba.
  During World War I, the Virginia State Volunteers (later renamed the Virginia Volunteers) were organized as a state defense force to support c
caption: The VDF conducts a Change of Unit Designation Ceremony Sept. 28, 2013, at Fort Pickett.
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