Collections

This collection consists of one Civil War document (dated November 25, 1862) from Captain Albert H. Pettigrew to General Robert E. Lee. Pettigrew requests to have Private Snow of the 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment transferred to his company.

This collection consists of Civil War correspondence (three items) from Confederate soldier Andrew J. McCoy to his sister Martha written while he was serving with the 25th Virginia Infantry Regiment. The letters primarily concern family matters, camp hardships, and personal news, and provide insight into the life and thoughts of an ordinary soldier.

This collection consists of one Civil War parole document (dated April 18, 1865) signed by Andrew Pizzini, Jr. This document is a typical example of the document signed by Confederate prisoners at the end of the Civil War.

This collection consists of correspondence from Carlton B. Shafer (VMI Class of 1864) to his family dated 1860 to 1865. Shafter details cadet life during this period and includes discussion of an impending Civil War and when the cadets were called to service in the Confederate States of America. The letters also discuss skirmishes happening around Leesburg, Virginia.

This collection consists of the message book and diary (in one volume) kept by Charles C. Phillips during the period between April 24, 1864 and July 13, 1864. The diary details Signal Corps activities during this period, and mentions seeing VMI cadets at Hanover Junction on May 23, 1864 (including his brother Samuel Travers Phillips) where they stopped on their way to Richmond, Virginia after the Battle of New Market, Virginia on May 15.

This collection consists of one letter from Charles W. Turner to Major Garnett Andrews, commander of the 2nd Foreign Battalion. In the letter, Turner discussions his commission, other soldiers, and asks to be appointed as a 1st Lieutenant in Andrews' unit.

The Civil War documents and ephemera collection consists of Civil War-related documents, largely items with autograph rather than content significance. The collection includes a shares document, autograph card, correspondence, an enrollement document, and a bond certificate.

The Francis M. Boykin Civil War papers include:

• Two commission documents
• Extracts from military orders
• One letter from Governor John Letcher that orders Boykin to proceed to Grafton, West Virginia and communicate with Colonel Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall)
• One letter bearing the signature of General Robert E. Lee

This collection of manuscripts (nine items) principally autograph letters of Civil War notables dating from 1858 to 1906, including a dispatch (dated April 28, 1862) from Stonewall Jackson to General Richard S. Ewell, requesting Ewell's presence. Other signed documents are in the hand of:

• Henry "Light horse Harry" Lee (1794)
• Robert E. Lee (1858)
• James Longstreet (1893)
• Jeb Stuart (1863)
• Mrs. Jeb Stuart (1886)
• Wade Hampton (1889)
• John Mosby (undated)

The Horace P. Meader papers consist of two Civil War discharge documents issued to Private Meader of the United States Army, 24th Massachusetts Infantry, Company K. The documents are dated December 28, 1863 at St. Augustine, Florida and January 20, 1866 at Richmond, Virginia.