Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the W. G. Lewis Papers #2314-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy (filmed 2005-2006) available.

• Reel 1: Entire collection

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. Wade Barrier of Johnson City, Tenn., in January 1941. One item, dated 21 August 1886, transferred from William T. Dortch Papers (#2211) in March 1970.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Jane Adkins, February 1960 and Suzanne Ruffing, August 1996

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, June 2005

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Biography.
• Drewry's Bluff (Va.)--History--19th century.
• Lewis, W. G. (William Gaston), 1835-1901.
• Love-letters--History--19th century.
• Pender, William Dorsey, 1834-1863.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--History--19th century.
• Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

• Information on family genealogy is located in the Lewis Family Papers (#427) and Battle Family Papers (#3223).

William Gaston Lewis was born in 1835 in Rocky Mount, N.C., the son of Dr. John Wesley Lewis and Catherine Ann Battle. He studied civil engineering at the University of North Carolina and graduated in 1855. In 1861 Lewis enlisted in the Confederate Army as third lieutenant of Company A, First North Carolina Regiment ("Bethel"). He saw action in the Battle of Bethel, Battle of New Bern, the Seven Days' Campaign, the Battle of Malvern Hill, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Cold Harbor, and in numerous other battles and skirmishes. Lewis also supervised the entrenchment of Drewry's Bluff, Va. He was wounded twice, both times after he rose to the rank of brigadier general in June 1864. Lewis was paroled at Farmville, Va., in April 1865.

In 1864, Lewis married Martha Lucinda Pender ("Mittie") of Tarboro, N.C. Following the war, Lewis lived in Edgecombe County, N.C., and worked as an engineer for various railroads, as a surveyor, and as a farmer. He died in 1901.

The collection consists of papers, 1855-1911, of W. G. Lewis, a civil engineer, Confederate brigadier general, surveyor, and resident of Edgecombe County, N.C. Included are recommendations following his graduation from the University of North Carolina in 1855; Civil War era love letters, 1861-1865, from North Carolina and Virginia, written to Mittie Pender of Tarboro, N.C., whom Lewis married in 1864; and scattered postwar items, a few pertaining to Civil War events, including a map of the battlefield of Drewry's Bluff, Va., 1864, and biographical data on W. G. Lewis and on General William Dorsey Pender.