Blackford enlisted in the Second Virginia Cavalry at the outset of the war and in 1863 was posted to Longstreet’s Corps. Most of his service was in northern Virginia around the Rappahannock and the Rapidan Rivers, in the Shenandoah Valley, and with Lee’s army at Gettysburg. In 1864 Blackford went west with Longstreet’s army to Chattanooga, and he returned with Longstreet for the war’s final days.