Here is what is recorded in the American Civil War Research Database:
William Eldridge
Residence was not listed;
Enlisted on 3/24/1862 at Cumberland Gap, VA as a Private.
On 3/24/1862 he mustered into "C" Co. VA 21st Battn Infantry
(date and method of discharge not given)
(Later served in Lee County Home Guard.)
Sources used by Historical Data Systems, Inc.:
- The Virginia Regimental Histories Series
I believe the unit was on 12/1/1862 transferred to the 64th Virginia Infantry VA 64th
.......
Confederate Order of Battle
POUND GAP, KENTUCKY
16 March 1862
OR- Series I, Volume X, Chapter XXII, Pg 33
21st Virginia Infantry Battalion --- Major John R. Thompson
Maner’s Company – Captain Maner
Miller’s Company – Captain Miller
Pridemore’s Company – Captain Pridemore
Russell’s Company – Captain Russell
Slemp’s Company – Captain Slemp
STRENGTH= 175
.........
There is little information on the 21st, here is what the US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pa contains in their unit bibliography. And even here, there is little information.
21st Virginia Infantry Battalion
Confederate Military History, Extended Edition. Vol. 4: Virginia. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot, 1987. 1295 p. E484C65.1987v4.
Contains numerous, scattered references to Virginia units.
Crute, Joseph H., Jr. Units of the Confederate States Army. Midlothian, VA: Derwent, 1987. Ref. See p. 371 (1 photocopied page) for a concise summary of the battalion's service.
Sifakis, Stewart. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Virginia. NY: Facts on File, 1992. pp. 196-97 (1 photocopied page). E581S53. (Unit organizational history).
Wallace, Lee A., Jr. A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations, 1861-1865. Lynchburg, VA: Howard, 1986. pp. 103-04 (2 photocopied pages). E581.4W35. (Brief unit history).