Virginia Memory, Library of Virginia
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THIS DAY IN VIRGINIA HISTORY

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June 24, 1918

Tazewell Rifles at North Tazewell, 24 June 1918 [graphic], From a Collection of Tazewell County Photographs Housed in the Archives at the Tazewell County Public Library, Computer file: 1999, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

A Photograph of the Tazewell Rifles Was Taken

The Tazewell Rifles was a unit of the Virginia State Volunteers, a home defense organization. The volunteers were called up between 1917 and 1918 to protect the state in the absence of the National Guard during World War I. They guarded bridges, waterways and public buildings. Companies were raised throughout the state and more than twenty companies were recruited. After World War I, with the return of the National Guard, most of these units were deactivated by 1920. From 1917 to 1921 a total of 1,300 Virginians served with the Volunteers.