History Commons^™

Networks Of Resistance : Black Virginians Remember Civil War Loyalties, Amanda Kleintop

Honors Theses

On June 22, 1877, William Charity explained his neighborhood’s Civil War loyalties to special commissioner Isaac Baldwin of the Southern Claims Commission (SCC): “The colored people were mostly all for the union.” Charity, a free black Virginian, recognized that “mostly” did not mean all. He went on to suggest: “some of them were blind.” As a self-identified Unionist, Charity had difficulty envisioning a black man who was not loyal to the Union cause and emancipation during the Civil War. Current debates, however, have seized on those black Virginians Charity called “blind,” taking the “mostly” Unionist majority for granted. Like Charity, …

The Botetourt Dragoons In War And Peace, Michael G. Henkle

Honors Theses

This thesis studies a Confederate cavalry company from the immediate prewar years through the war, ending with the death of one of its last members. Most soldiers were residents of Botetourt County, Virginia. The study focuses upon both the men themselves and the battles in which they fought. Letters, diaries, and postwar accounts reveal their thoughts. After the war, many took an active role in both veterans' affairs and their community by joining veteran camps and participating in politics. Near the end, many received pensions or stayed in old soldiers' homes.

Confederate Matrons : Women Who Served In Virginia Civil War Hospitals, A. Elise Allison

Honors Theses

In September 1862, the Confederate Congress authorized hospitals to employ white women as chief matrons, assistant matrons, and ward matrons. This paper examines the lives and experiences of matrons who worked in Confederate hospitals in Virginia. It concludes that only ''exceptional" women with the stamina to endure physical and mental hardships were able to defy conventional ideas about their proper role and contribute to the care of Confederate sick and wounded as matrons.

A Diary Kept On The Battlefield In The Year Of 1863, John A. Holtzman

Honors Theses

Thursday, January 1, 1863.

Left Mr. James Luttrell for Oak Shade thence to Mr. L. Strigfellow where I staid all night. Heard that the Yankees were at Warrenton, also at Waterloo whick proved not to be so.Quite a warm day.

Friday 2.

Left Mr. Satingfellow for camp whick I Found 6 miles of Fredericksburg.

Saturday 3.

Went out on drill-

Sunday 4.

Moved camp some 2 miles up the plank road, found our tents on an eminence has some singing at night. Our chaplan did not preach.