William Henry Powell, Colonel, Civil War Telegram
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 3779
Telegram by Colonel William Henry Powell, 2nd West Virginia Cavalry, from Camp Piatt, to Captain Eli W. Botsford, 16th Ohio Infantry, dated 6 July 1863. The telegram regards the report of a scouting party concerning Confederate troop positions and recent engagements. The scouts report finding 300 Confederate cavalry and capturing a small number of men and horses. The party was also ambushed and one man was killed and another wounded. Camp Piatt occupied a location of strategic importance on the James River, Kanawha River, and Kanawha Turnpike, and is nearby to present-day Belle, West Virginia. See historical note for further information concerning Colonel Powell.
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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.
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