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Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], William Henry Powell, Colonel, Civil War Telegram, A&M 3779, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

William Henry Powell (1822-1904), an Ohio manufacturer, joined the Union army November 1861. He served in the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry as a captain and was promoted several times, achieving the rank of Colonel in May 1863. Shortly after the date of this telegram, Powell was severely wounded and captured at Wytheville, Virginia on 18 July 1863. He spent six months at the Libby prison in Richmond, Virginia before being passed through the lines in exchange for one of Robert E. Lee's sons. Powell continued to serve in the Union army, eventually reaching the rank of Brigadier General in October 1864. He had also been brevetted Major General during the West Virginia Campaign and Front Royal. Powell was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1890 for capturing an enemy camp at Sinking Creek, Virginia on 26 November 1862 without losing a man or a gun. Powell resigned from the army in January 1865, moved West, and returned to manufacturing. He was also active in Republican politics.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Botsford, Eli W.
• Civil War - Ohio 16th Infantry.
• Civil War - West Virginia 2nd Cavalry.
• Civil War - military telegraph.
• Civil War -- Kanawha County, (W. Va.)
• Kanawha County (W. Va.)
• Kanawha County - Civil War.
• Powell, William Henry
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865