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Virginia Military Institute Archives
VMI ArchivesPreston Library
Lexington, VA 24450
Business Number: 540-464-7516
archives@vmi.edu
URL: http://www.vmi.edu/archives
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Use
Manuscript collections in the VMI Archives are made available for educational and research use. The VMI Archives should be cited as the source. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright holders. Materials from our collections may not be redistributed, published or reproduced without permission from the VMI Archives. Contact the VMI Archives for additional information.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Junius L. Hempstead papers, 1865. MS 0172. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.
Biographical / Historical
Junius Lackland Hempstead was born in 1842 in Dubuque, Iowa. He graduated VMI in 1864. During the Civil War he served with the 25th Virginia Infantry Regiment, Confederate States of America. After the War he was a bookkeeper and author. Hempstead died in 1920 in Jennings, Louisiana.
Scope and Contents
The Junius L. Hempstead papers consist of two items. The first is a letter (dated September 2, 1865) from Hempstead to DeWitt C. Craun in which he defends the position taken by the South during the Civil War and his own service in the Confederate States of America. The second item is a manuscript poem (undated) titled "Ode to the 4th Classmen of 1861 who never heard Auld Lang Syne."
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Correspondence
- United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865—Personal narratives—Confederate
- Virginia Military Institute—Cadet compositions—Poetry
- Virginia Military Institute—Class of 1864
Significant Persons Associated With the Collection
- Hempstead, Junius L. (Junius Lackland), 1842-1920
Container List
Dubuque, Iowa September 2nd, 1865 Major Dewitt C. Craun
Sir: When the war broke out I was a Cadet, in the Virginia Military Institute, which is a state school and Arsenal. Upon my entrance I enlisted in the Virginia service, took the usual oath to support Va. against all of her enemies, and became subject to the order of the Governor of that state. When President Lincoln unconstitutionally called out seventy five thousand men, and required Virginia to furnish her quota, she was compelled to choose, and of course as all of her interests were with the South, she seceded from the old Federal union, and even if my feelings had not prompted me I should have been compelled to go or be considered a deserter. I should have gone in any event, for I believed in State Rights, to the fullest extent, and every state is a sovereign Power capable of governing her own internal affairs and privileged to withdraw at will. Virginia with reluctance entered into the compact and all know the position Patrick Henry took in regard to the question and we all know the conditions upon entering, that she could withdraw, when she felt herself aggrieved, she did withdraw. Her enemies became mine. The Corps was ordered into service and with a willing heart. I served from the time Virginia seceded until my capture in the Battle of the Wilderness on the Fifth of May 1864, and at the time of my capture was a Captain in the Confederate States Army and had the honor of service under General Robert E. Lee, Army Northern Virginia. As I served in the army for three years it is very natural to suppose that I drew my regular pay as an officer. I was a prisoner until my release upon the Presidents Amnesty proclamation, and took the oath. I am a cosmopolite and am here upon the authority of an American Citizen of the Best Government the world ever saw.
Very truly J. L . Hempstead
Written from Dubuque, Iowa. Letter regards the position taken by the South during the Civil War and Junius L. Hempstead's own service in the Confederate States of America.
A manuscript poem (undated) titled "Ode to the 4th Classmen of 1861 who never heard Auld Lang Syne."