A Guide to the John Collins Enright Letters 1861-1863
Collection Number Ms96-021
A Collection in
the Special Collections



Contact Information:
University Libraries
P.O. Box 90001
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-9001
USA
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Email: specref@vt.edu
URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/

Processed by: John M. Jackson, Special Collections Staff

© 2005 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All rights reserved.

Conditions of Use

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the John Collins Enright Letters must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

John Collins Enright Letters, Ms96-021 - Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The John Collins Enright Letters were donated to the Special Collections in 1996.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement and description of the John Collins Enright Letters commenced and was completed in April 2005.

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.
Accession number: Ms96-021
Title: John Collins Enright Letters 1861-1863
Physical Characteristics: 1 container; 0.1 cu. ft.
Language: English
Abstract: Transcribed war-time letters of John Collins Enright, first sergeant in the 18th Virginia Infantry, written from camps in northern and eastern Virginia.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the letters of John Collins Enright, a soldier in the 18th Virginia Infantry during the Civil War. The letters are in the form of transcripts (71 pages), made by Enright's wife in 1899. Enright writes from various locations in Virginia, including Danville, Manassas, Centreville, Germantown, Fairfax, Warwick, Yorktown, Richmond, and Charles City. His letters discuss his company's formation, early troop movements and skirmishes in northern Virginia, the Battle of First Manassas and its aftermath, camp activities, his duties as orderly sergeant, the Siege of Yorktown, the Battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines and the Seven Days' Battles.

Biographical/Historical Information

John Collins Enright, a soldier in the 18th Virginia Infantry, was born on January 22, 1837, in Kilmeedy, County Limerick, Ireland. Emigrating to New York at age 11, he settled in Danville, Virginia in 1859. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Enright joined the Danville Blues, which was mustered into Confederate service as Company A, 18th Virginia Infantry. He was promoted from corporal to second sergeant on October 15, 1861, and to first sergeant on March 1, 1862. Records indicate that Enright was discharged from the service on July 23, 1862, but he was assigned for the remainder of the war to the Quartermaster's Department in Richmond. (In the final letter of this collection, Enright indicates that he is no longer in the army but is employed cutting clothes in Richmond for the Confederate Army.)

Enright married Mary ("Mollie") Adams of Petersburg on May 7, 1863. He was taken prisoner during the evacuation of Richmond in 1865 but was soon paroled. Following the Civil War, he operated a tailoring business in Danville, counting among his customers several prominent Civil War-era families. He was a member of the Cabell-Graves Camp of the United Confederate Veterans and the Masonic Knights Templar. He died in Danville on October 13, 1900, and was buried in Danville's Green Hill Cemetery.

Among Enright's descendants have been two graduates of Virginia Tech: William Enright Stepp Sr. (class of 1924) and William Enright Stepp Jr. (class of 1969).

Arrangement

The letter transcripts are arranged chronologically.

Contents List