2nd Regiment Rifles was organized during the spring of 1862 using the 5th South Carolina Battalion Rifles as its nucleus. The unit served in South Carolina, then was ordered to Virginia and assigned to General Jenkins' and Bratton's Brigade. It participated in the Seven Days' Battles and the conflicts at Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg. Later the regiment was with Longstreet at Suffolk and D.H. Hill in North Carolina. It moved again with Longstreet but did not take part in the Battle of Chickamauga. The unit was involved in the Knoxville operations, returned to Virginia, and saw action at The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. After enduring the hardships of the Petersburg siege south and north of the James River, it ended the war at Appomattox. This regiment sustained 149 casualties at Gaines' Mill and Frayser's Farm, 58 at Second Manassas, 18 at Sharpsburg, and 64 at Wauhatchie. During 1864 from May 4 to June 12, it lost 14 killed, 93 wounded, and 2 missing, and from June 13 to December 31, there were 16 killed, 90 wounded, and 11 missing. The unit surrendered 22 officers and 274 men. Its commanders were Colonels Robert E. Bowen, John V. Moore, and Thomas Thomson; Lieutenant Colonels Thomas H. Boggs, David L. Donald, and Robert A. Thompson; and Majors Daniel L. Cox and Stiles P. Dendy.