The collection is open for research.
Permission to publish material from William L. Colley Letter must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: William L. Colley Letter, Ms2018-007, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The William L. Colley Letter was purchased by Special Collections in November 2014.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the William L. Colley Letter was completed in September, 2018.
This collection consists of a letter from William Lewis Colley written from a hospital around Winchester, VA, September 3d, 1861, to his sister. In the letter, Colley describes how he accidentally shot off his little finger on his left hand while on picket duty on Millwood Pike near the Opequon River four miles from Winchester. The letter is very descriptive of the injury to his finger and exactly which joints and bones were affected. Colley also related how Federal troops advanced toward them only to fall back. Colley believed he would get a furlough on account of his wound but did not want to stay at the hospital but would return to his regiment. He tells his sister that he would stay with a Capt Preston, quartermaster of the 37th VA Regiment.
Special Collections also contains a collection of materials relating to William Colley's brother, Thomas, which includes additional letters by William: Thomas W. Colley Collection, Ms2003-017, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.