Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Unidentified Confederate Soldier. Letters, 1863. Accession 41234. Personal papers collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

This item came in a transfer of court papers from Powhatan County.

Biographical and Historical Information

The unidentified Confederate soldier served as a member of the Forty-fourth Virginia Infantry Battalion during the Battle of Chancellorsville, May 1-4, 1863.

William Campbell Scott was born in 1809 in Powhatan Company. He attended Hampden-Sydney College in 1823-1827. Scott graduated from University of Virginia Law School in 1829. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1837 and 1851. Scott ran as Know-Nothing candidate in 1856 and was defeated. He was a lawyer in Powhatan County, colonel of the 102nd Virginia Militia Regiment, and brigadier general of the 4th Brigade, 1st Division, Virginia Militia. Scott was a member of the Virginia Secession Convention in 1861. He was appointed colonel of the 44th Virginia Infantry on June 14, 1861. He commanded the 44th during the Valley Campaign. Scott resigned his commission of the 44th on January 14, 1863. Scott died in Powhatan County on April 9, 1865.

Scope and Content

Letter dated May 12, 1863, written by an unidentified Confederate soldier to William Campbell Scott of Powhatan County. The soldier was a member of the Forty-fourth Virginia Infantry Battalion. He writes to Scott about the casualties suffered by the Forty-fourth Virginia Infantry during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He provides the names of officers and enlisted men who were wounded and killed, type of injuries suffered by the wounded, and the companies they were members of. The Confederate soldier also remarks on the death of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and the impact his loss would have on the Confederat cause.