The collection is open for research use.
The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source.
[Identification of item], Thomas J. Neel Correspondence (WLU Coll. 0454), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.
WLU Coll. 0109 August Forsberg Memoir
Thomas J. Neel was in the 51st Viginia infantry in the Confederate States of American army, which was part of General Floyd's bridgade.
This collection consists of five letters, four of which are written by Neel to his friends and family. In a letter to his mother dated June 22, 1864, Neel writes about receiving orders to travel to Lynchburg to meet Union General Hunter's forces, which had just moved through Lexington, Virginia.
In the letter to Hicks, Neel requests for Captain Hicks to speak on his behalf as he is a candidate for the Commissioner of Revenue in Bland County, Va.
In a letter dated September 1861, Neel writes to his mother and brothers from Camp Gauley. He writes about losing his bible during a recent battle and notes that several men were severely wounded. In a letter dated March 18, 1865, while camped near Reeling Springs, Virginia, Neel writes about a division of men, believed to be Forsberg's Brigade, Wharton's division, being captured by Union forces. He writes that Generals Early and Wharton escaped, but Forsberg was captured.In letters from April 1863 and November 3, 1863 he gives general updates to his family and friends. The fifth letter from 1836 is from his aunt, Maria, to his mother, Nancy, about the death of their sister Liza.