A Guide to the Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address, 1887 Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address SC 0023

A Guide to the Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address, 1887

A Collection in the
Thomas Balch Library
Collection Number SC 0023


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Processed by: Emily Hershman

Repository
Thomas Balch Library
Collection number
SC 0023
Title
Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address 1887
Extent
1 item
Creator
Elijah Viers White
Language
English
Abstract
The Ball's Bluff address by Elijah Viers White is an account of his experiences during the battle. The address was used as a part of a fundraiser for the monument of a Confederate soldier that stands outside the Loudoun County Court House.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

Physical characteristics and conditions affect use of this material. Photocopying not permitted.

Preferred Citation

Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address-1887 (SC 0023), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Loudoun County Historical Society

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

1989.0005

Processing Information

Formerly catalogued as NUCMC 65

Biographical Information

Elijah Viers White (1832-1907), known as "Lige", is perhaps best remembered for his role as a Confederate cavalry officer. During the Civil War he was a major perpetrator of Confederate partisan operations, and was praised by leaders such as Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, and Wade Hampton.

Born in Montgomery County, Maryland on 29 Aug 1832, White received a two-year education at the Lima Seminary and Granville College, both in upstate New York. In 1855 he joined one of the Missouri Companies to combat abolitionists entering the Kansas territory. A year later he bought land in Loudoun County and married Sarah Elizabeth Gott (b. 1837). When the war broke out in 1861, White served with Lieutenant Colonel Turner Ashby's 7th Virginia Cavalry Regiment. Throughout the war, his distinguished service at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, Battle of Antietam, Second Battle of Bull Run was commended, as well as his command of the 35th Virginia Battalion (known as the "Comanches"). After the war, White became a businessman, president of the Peoples National Bank of Leesburg, and was elected Sheriff of Loudoun County. He continued to support veterans' organizations such as United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Veterans until his death in 1907.

Scope and Content

The Ball's Bluff address by Elijah Viers White is an account of his experiences during the battle. The address was used as a part of a fundraiser for the monument of a Confederate soldier that stands outside the Loudoun County Court House. The account is in overall good condition; several words are crossed out or have been inserted in the prose.

White begins the address by recalling the honorable service of the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, who were "united by the strongest bonds that bind men together." He then recalls the southern defeat twenty-two years earlier, and the grief and destruction that followed. White commends the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their devotion to the cause of states' rights and urges that a monument be erected to honor them. He also insists that these soldiers' efforts during the war were not in vain, as the south had progressed both intellectually and industrially since the war. White then begins his account of the Battle of Ball's Bluff by describing two crucial points of passage on the Potomac River, which were in the Ball's Bluff district and about three miles apart. He recalls Colonel Eppa Hunton's forces lining the woods surrounding Ball's Bluff. Several events of the day are mentioned, including the reinforcement of W.H. Jenifer's four companies of cavalry, Hunton's control of the artillery, White's position riding in front of the 17th Mississippi Infantry, his capture of over 300 prisoners, and his important role as courier for General Nathan "Shanks" Evans, commander of the Seventh Virginia Brigade. White concludes the address by commending the courage of the 17th Mississippi Infantry, who faced the hardest fighting during the day, as well as the 8th Virginia Infantry.

The Ball's Bluff address is the only item in this collection.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Jacobs, Charles and Marian Waters, "Colonel Elijah Viers White." The Bulletin of the Loudoun County Historical Society , 2005.
White, Elijah V., Vertical File, Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA
Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address (SC 0023), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA

Other Finding Aid

None


Other Finding Aid

None


Bibliography

Jacobs, Charles and Marian Waters, "Colonel Elijah Viers White." The Bulletin of the Loudoun County Historical Society , 2005.
White, Elijah V., Vertical File, Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA
Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address (SC 0023), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA

Contents List

Folder 1: Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address (SC 0023) , 1887