Charles H. Powell Letter

Location of collection:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)

Newman Library

Virginia Tech

P.O. Box 90001

560 Drillfield Drive

Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001

Contact for questions and access:

Email: specref@vt.edu

Phone: (540) 231-6308

Fax: (540) 231-3694

Web: spec.lib.vt.edu

Restrictions:

The collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Charles H. Powell Letter, Ms1997-012, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:

0.1 Cubic Feet 1 folder

Creator:

Powell, Charles H.

Abstract:

Post-war letter from Charles H. Powell, who served as a bugler in Company F, 4th Virginia Cavalry during the American Civil War, providing information about the Confederate units organized in Goochland County, Virginia, during the war.

Language:

The materials in the collection are in English.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Charles H. Powell Letter, Ms1997-012, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of a single post-war letter written by Charles H. Powell, a Confederate veteran who had served in Company F, 4th Virginia Cavalry during the American Civil War. Written at "Soldiers Home" (Lee Camp Soldiers Home, Richmond, Virginia), the letter is addressed to "Miss Dorris." Powell briefly mentions his intention to visit Hanover Court House to see the presentation of twelve historical portraits, then writes of having a copy of "Goochland in War Times by Mrs Buchanan." Powell argues that Buchanan had under-represented the county's participation in the Confederate Army and provides information on the various Confederate units organized in the county, particularly focusing on John H. Guy and the Goochland Artillery.

Biographical / historical:

Charles Henry Powell, son of Thomas R. and Lucy Volney Carrington Powell, was born in Columbia (Fluvanna County), Virginia on January 21, 1843. By 1850, according to the federal census, the Powells were living in neighboring Goochland County. In 1860, the younger Powell was still attending school. On May 10, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company F, 4th Virginia Cavalry and served throughout the American Civil War as a bugler. He was paroled in Richmond, Virginia, on April 28, 1865. Following the war, Powell returned to Goochland County. There, he married Willie S. Pace (1851-1919), on December 9, 1879; the couple would have two daughters. In the 1880 through 1910 federal censuses, Powell is listed as a merchant, living in Licking Hole (Goochland County). Charles H. Powell died at the Lee Camp Soldiers Home in Richmond on October 9, 1926, and was buried in Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery, Goochland (Goochland County), Virginia.

Acquisition information:

The Charles H. Powell Letter was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in 1997.

Processing information:

The processing and description of the Charles H. Powell Letter commenced and was completed in November, 2023.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related

Alternative form available:

A typed transcript accompanies the letter.

Other descriptive data:

The guide to the Charles H. Powell Letter by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).

This letter bears a date of July 9th, 1861, but it is obviously a post-war letter. Faintly visible beneath the "1861" is another date that had obviously been erased. Information from the donor indicates that a family member later assumed that the letter had been written in 1861, and had written that year over the original year. Upon the letter's donation to Special Collections and University Archives in 1997, Professor James I. Robertson, Jr. surmised that the letter had been written in 1891. However, research in the course of processing the letter in 2023 revealed that the Hanover County portraits to which Powell refers were presented on August 10, 1926. As Powell indicates his intention to see the portraits' presentation on the following day (i.e., July 10), and the portraits were actually presented on August 10, 1926, the presumption is that he mistakenly dated his letter July 9, and that latter-day attempts to "fix" the letter's year of creation were in error.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Civil War