Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)Laura Katz Smith, Archivist
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The collection open to research.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Alexander Floyd Wall Correspondence, Ms1982-007, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Alexander Floyd Wall Correspondence was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in April 1982.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Alexander Floyd Wall Correspondence was completed prior to 2001.
Alexander Floyd Wall was a farmer in Montgomery County, Virginia. Wall's brother-in-law Waddy Thompson James (1836-1926 or 1931) was a Captain of Company B and then Lieutenant Colonel of the 57th Virginia Infantry during the American Civil War. He organized Company B, or the "Franklin Sharpshooters," of men from Franklin County, Virginia. James was injured in the Battle of Malvern Hill (July 1862), resigned from service soon thereafter, and returned to his farm in Franklin County. After the war, James served in the Virginia House of Delegates (1864-1878) and the Virginia Senate (1879-1882) as a representative from Franklin County.
This collection consists of photocopies of four letters, 1862-1865, three of which are from Wall to Waddy Thompson James. Wall's letters describe conditions on his farm during the American Civil War, prices of crops, problems of getting supplies to soldiers, and the transfer of people who were enslaved. The collection also includes one letter from James to his wife Jennie, written from Camp Belcher in Richmond, Virginia, on October 4, 1861, and biographical and military information about James and his career as a soldier. Transcripts of the letters are available.
This collection is arranged chronologically.
The guide to the Alexander Floyd Wall Correspondence by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).
Death of two soldiers in his company due to sickness; move to Camp Belcher; unit not completely equipped; urges Jennie to visit him
Purchase of a horse
Corn and wheat harvest poor; difficult and expensive to buy corn and wheat; trouble with deserters
Severe winter; difficulty getting supplies; discusses transfer of people who were enslaved