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F. Stanley Russell Letters

Stewart Bell Jr. Archives
Handley Regional Library
Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society

P.O. Box 58, Winchester, VA 22604
(540) 662-9041 ext. 17
archives@handleyregional.org
www.handleyregional.org

490 THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff 01/1984. Last revised 04/2020.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, duplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 0.21 linear feet

DATE: 1837 - 1924

SCOPE AND CONTENT: This collection contains correspondences of F. Stanley Russell to his parents, sister and cousin during his service in the Civil War until his death in May 1864. He served in Company H, Thirteenth VA Regiment, C.S.A. Also included in this collection are letters and reports from William W. Hayden and Annie Russell Hack.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL:  F. Stanley enlisted in Company H, Thirteenth Virginia Infantry in Winchester, VA. just one week after the firing on Fort Sumter and served with the regiment until his death at the Battle of Spotsylvania in May, 1864. The Civil War letters of  F. Stanley Russell, including those in this collection, appear in the book The Letters of F. Stanley Russell - The Movements of Company H, Thirteenth Virginia Regiment, Confederate States Army, 1861-1864, edited by Douglas Carroll, Paul M. Harrod Company, Baltimore, April 1963.

Annie Russell Hack was F. Stanley Russell’s sister. She married Andrew Hack. There is a record of a William Hayden of Harpers Ferry as having attended Georgetown University in 1837 and 1838. He enlisted in on March 3, 1863 in Caroline County, Va. as a private in Captain J. D. Smith’s Company, Light Artillery. He was killed at Chancellorsville in May 1863. There is some confusion about the middle initial of this individual, which appears as either a W or N in these sources.
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: : Carroll, Douglas, ed., The Letters of F. Stanley Russell, The Movements of Company H, Thirteenth Virginia Regiment, Confederate States Army, 1861-1864, Paul M. Harrod Company, Baltimore, MD, April, 1963; Georgetown University Alumni Association, Blue and Grey: Georgetown University and the Civil War, 1961; Koleszar, Marilyn Brewer. Ashland, Bedford, and Taylor Virginia Light Artillery, Virginia Regimental Histories Series, 1994.

CITE AS: F. Stanley Russell Collection, 490 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA.

BOX 1

The first three folders contain correspondence from F. Stanley Russell while he was a member of Company H, 13th Virginia Regiment. A mark in the transcript column indicates that a transcript is available in the fourth folder.

Correspondence, Russell, F. Stanley, written while a member of Company H, 13th Virginia Regiment,  August 26, 1861 to August 22, 1863 (folder contains the following):

Date

To

Place of Origin

Notes

Number of Pages

Transcript

August 26, 1861

 [cousin] Fred

Fairfax Station

Situation with regiment is going pretty well

4

X

February 4, 1862

 Papa

Camp Walker

 

3

 

January 6, 1863

Sister

Fredericksburg

Letter published in The Winchester Times, February 11, 1891

1

 

February 4, 1863

 Sister

Camp near Port Royal

 

4

 

February 12, 1863

Sister

Camp near Port Royal

 

4

 

March 16, 1863

Papa

Camp near Hamilton's Crossing

Can see Yankee camps from their encampment; feels he should have been appointed lieutenant

2

X

March 20, 1863

 Ada

Camp near Hamilton's Crossing

 

6

 

April 21, 1863

Papa

Camp near Hamilton's Crossing

 

4

 

May 12, 1863

Jimmie [James A. Russell],

Fort Delaware

 

 

2

envelope

 

May 29, 1863

Sister

Camp near Hamilton's Crossing

 

2

 

June 1, 1863   

Papa

Camp near Hamilton's Crossing

 

4

X

July 21, 1863  

Papa

Winchester

 

2

 

August 1, 1863

 Papa

Camp near Locust Dale, Madison County, VA

Tells of the hardest marching the regiment has ever done. Back in eastern Virginia.

1

X

August 16, 1863

 Ma

Camp near Orange County Court House

Still wants a cavalry horse from home; at camp they are living under pretty decent conditions; men turning towards religion and a number of them have been baptized

2

X

August 22, 1863

 Sister

Camp near Orange County Court House

 

4

 

Correspondence, Russell, F. Stanley, written while a member of Company H, 13th Virginia Regiment,  September 5, 1863 - December 25, 1863 (folder contains the following):

 

Date

To

Place of Origin

Notes

Number of Pages

Transcript

Undated

Papa

 

In winter camp (not in book)

3

 

September 5, 1863

Papa

Camp 13, VA Infantry near Orange County Court House

Month of inaction for the troop; the North has not taken Charleston as of this letter

2

X

September 20, 1863

Sister

Camp 13, VA Infantry near Orange County Court House

 

4

X

October 3, 1863

Papa

Camp 13, VA Infantry near Orange County Court House

 

4

 

October 22, 1863

Sister

Camp near Brandy Station, Culpepper Co., Va.

Tells about fighting at Manassas; wants family to send food; he is running out of clothing and good paper to write on.

2

X

October 28, 1863

Papa

Camp near Brandy Station, Culpepper Co., Va.

 

3

 

November 5, 1863

Ma

Camp near Brandy Station, Culpepper Co., Va.

 

4

 

November 11, 1863

Papa

Camp near Brandy Station, Culpepper Co., Va.

 

4

 

November 18, 1863

Sister

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry, Pegram's Brigade

 

4

 

November 21, 1863

Cousin

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

Soldiers can only eat two meals per day; tells of religious revival.

4

X

December 11, 1863

Sister

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

Sister sent him clothing, writing paper, and chestnuts; one of his friends, Turner, is a prisoner at Ft. Delaware; they are not getting enough food to eat

4

X

December 11, 1863

Papa

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

Tells of recent military affairs; he wants to get an appointment at V. M. Institute but realizes he may be needed to fight in the war

4

X

December 17, 1863

Papa

Camp near Somerville Ford

Still looking forward to hearing about V.M.I. appointment

4

X

December 25, 1863

Papa

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

 

2

 

Correspondence, Russell, F. Stanley, written while a member of Company H, 13th Virginia Regiment,  January 1, 1864 - May 19, 1864 (folder contains the following):

Date

To

Place of Origin

Notes

Number of Pages

Transcript

February 21, 1864

Papa

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

 

2

 

February 25, 1864

Papa

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

 

1

 

March 8, 1864

Ma

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

 

4

 

March 14, 1864

Papa

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

Fourth year of the war; monotonous state of affairs; people are beginning to rely solely on God for success; talks about European intervention; also mentions men deserting and that one such man will be executed.

4

X

March 23, 1864

Sister

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

Military operations are at a perfect standstill; more desertions and executions

2

 

April 19, 1864

Sister

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

Both sides are confident of victory

2

envelope

 

April 23, 1864

Papa

Camp of the 13th Va. Infantry

 

2

 

May 18, 1864

Papa

Near Spotsylvania Court House

Speaks of how the Yankees were defeated.

4

 

May 19, 1864

Sister

Near Spotsylvania Court House

The fighting is the worst he has seen in the war; tells of General Officers being killed - J.E.B. Stuart, Major General Heath, Brigadier Generals Jones, Stafford, and others; the North received some casualties also; he wants the Yankees to move out of the Valley.

4

X

Correspondence, transcripts, incomplete, Russell, F. Stanley, correspondence while a member of Company H, 13th Virginia
Regiment, August 26, 1861 to May 19, 1864 (folder includes the following):
- Transcripts of selected letters in folders 1 through 3, 21 pages, typescript
- Transcript of letter dated January 5, 1863 from F. Stanley Russell to his sister describing the Battle of Fredericksburg., 3 pages, typescript. The Archives does not hold the original of this letter.

Correspondence, Annie Russell Hack, 1896-1924, 11 pages, 11 envelopes, manuscript; 4 envelopes, blank

Papers, William W. Hayden, school reports, Georgetown College, November 19, 1837 to June 18, 1838 (folder contains the following):
- Correspondence, 10 leaves, manuscript
- Reports, Georgetown College, 1837-8, 3 items, manuscript on printed form

Essay, Hayden, William W., Napoleon Bonaparte, 1 item, 4 pages, manuscript