Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

Physical characteristics and conditions affect use of this material. Photocopying not permitted.

Preferred Citation

Elijah V. White Laurel Brigade Wreath 1863-2014 (SC 140), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Provenance Unknown

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2016.0080

Processing Information

Sarah Farver, 27 September 2018

Historical Information

Born in Poolesville, Maryland, Elijah Viers "Lige" White (1832-1907) lived in Loudoun County, VA at the outbreak of the American Civil War. The owner of Ball farm, White served the Confederacy as a scout and aid at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, receiving a captain's commission soon afterward and raising a company in Loudoun that became the 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. White's battalion became part of the regular service as part of the Laurel Brigade, engaging in battles and skirmishes across Virginia, including some in Loudoun County.

On 27 August 1862, White and his battalion (known as White's Commanches) entered Leesburg after defeating the Union-aligned Loudoun Rangers at Waterford's Baptist Church. This entrance into Leesburg was celebrated by Confederate sympathizers in Leesburg, and later commemorated when the "Ladies of Leesburg" presented White and his battalion with cake and wine on the one year anniversary of the event, 27 August 1863. The commemoration continued a second year as the "Ladies" presented White with an artificial laurel wreath on 24 August 1864.

The artificial wreath presented to Colonel Elijah V. White on 24 August 1864 reflects broader classical themes embraced by the Confederacy. While traditions of wreath laying and presentation are found across various cultures and periods in human history, the laurel wreath was a symbol of honor presented to the victorious. The artificial wreath presented by the "Ladies of Leesburg" in 1864 reflects the Confederate emulation of classical ideals and motifs. Before and during the Civil War, people in the American South looked to Platonic and Aristotelian notions of "ordered inequality" and "natural slavery" as justifications for the Southern way of life. Southerners believed that their agrarian democracy resembled those of Ancient Greece, which trickled down into Southern decorative arts from Grecian temple-inspired plantation architecture to laurel wreath motifs on Confederate sword belt plates and insignias.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of one artifact: a framed silk laurel wreath presented to Colonel E. V. White of the Laurel Brigade by "the Ladies of Leesburg" on 24 August 1864. The wreath has been removed from its original frame for preservation storage. Also present are related manuscript materials including one letter, with a transcription, and a pamphlet entitled Making War on Women July 5 A.D. 1864" by Reverend Elijah B. White III (1938-2016).

Arrangement

Folder

Related Material

Elijah V. White's Ball's Bluff Address (SC 0023); Battle at Waterford Baptist Church (SC 0031); Civil War Research Collection (SC 0095); Leesburg Civil War Collection (M 075)

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Chamberlin, Taylor M. and John M. Souders. Between a Reb and a Yank: A Civil War History of Northern Loudoun County, Virginia. 2011.

Find a Grave. "LTC Elijah Viers White." Last modified October 29, 2006. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16367339/elijah-viers-white

"Inequality in the Confederacy: a Manifestation of Ancient Greece and Rome." Pharos (February 2018). https://pages.vassar.edu/pharos/2018/02/19/inequality-in-the-confederacy-a-manifestation-of-ancient-greece-and-rome/

Loudoun History. "Loudoun County Civil War Timeline 1861-1865 - A Country Divided." https://www.loudounhistory.org/history/loudoun-cw-chronology/

Marquardt, Savannah. "The Nashville Parthenon Glorifies Ancient Greece?-?and the Confederacy." Eidolon (January 2018). https://eidolon.pub/the-heirs-of- athens-of-the-south-a8b730b84de3

McDonald, William N. and Bushrod C. Washington. A History of the Laurel Brigade : Originally the Ashby Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia and Chew's Battery. General Books, 2009.

Mine Creek Battlefield. "Accoutrements." Last modified January 21, 2018. https://www.minecreek.info/infantry-regiment/accoutrements.html

Wikipedia. "General Officers in the Confederate States Army." Last modified September 22, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_officers_in_the_Confederate_States Army#Uniform_insignia

Williams, Harrison. Legends of Loudoun: an Account of the History and Homes of a Border County of Virginia's Northern Neck. 1938.

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None