A Guide to the John D. Chapla Papers, 1972-2013 Chapla, John D., Papers, 1972-2013 51115

A Guide to the John D. Chapla Papers, 1972-2013

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 51115


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Processed by: Jim Greve

Repository
The Library of Virginia
Accession Number
51115
Title
John D. Chapla Papers, 1972-2013
Physical Description
22.525 cubic feet (53 boxes).
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish or copy certain material contained in the collection must be obtained from the individual or institution holding the original.

Preferred Citation

John D. Chapla Papers, 1972-2013. Accession 51115. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of John D. Chapla, Alexandria.

Biographical Information

John David Chapla was born on 6 June 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a degree in English in 1968, and then served in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade as an infantry officer and as a public affairs officer during his 22 years in the Army. He earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina in 1978. In 1990, Chapla joined the staff of the United States House Armed Services Committee, and served for 24 years. He was a Civil War historian, and authored three books for the Virginia Regimental Histories Series . Chapla died in Alexandria, Virginia on 5 January 2014, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Scope and Content

Papers, 1972-2013, of John D. Chapla (1947-2014) of Alexandria, Virginia, containing his research files compiled while writing books on the 42nd, 48th, and 50th Virginia Infantry Regiments for the Virginia Regimental Histories Series , miscellaneous subject files, and his research on Alexander Welch Reynolds (1816-1876) for articles which he co-authored.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Series I. 42nd, 48th, and 50th Virginia Infantry Regiments Research Files. Series II. Miscellaneous Subject Files. Series III. Alexander Welch Reynolds Research Files.

Contents List

Series I. 42nd, 48th, and 50th Virginia Infantry Regiments Research Files .
Boxes 1-29, 47-51
Extent: 34 boxes.

The research files on the 42nd, 48th, and 50th Virginia Infantry regiments include notes, transcriptions, and copies of materials from numerous archival repositories, mainly the National Archives and Library of Congress, and from collections held privately by other researchers and descendants of Confederate soldiers. Some of the sources include census records, court records, compiled service records and other military records, published works, information from various Civil War websites and message boards, maps and photographs. There are also chronologies of operations and rosters for each regiment compiled by Chapla. There is a good deal of information on John Dudley Greever (1836-1924), William McCauley (1837-1908), and Fleming Saunders (1829-1907). The research files were compiled by Chapla for his article "Quartermaster Operations in the Forty-Second Virginia Infantry Regiment," which appeared in the March 1984 issue of Civil War History , and later for books published for the Virginia Regimental Histories Series . Also included in this series is information on Jesse Spinner Burks (1823-1885), which Chapla used for a sketch written for the Dictionary of Virginia Biography . Some of the folders include source citation numbers written on the left margin. There is a key to the sources contained in the files for each regiment.

Arranged alphabetically.

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Series II. Miscellaneous Subject Files .
Boxes 30-39, 51-52
Extent: 12 boxes.

The miscellaneous subject files contain information pertaining to Chapla's interest in Civil War battles and battlefields. There are brochures, guidebooks, and maps from numerous sites mainly in Virginia. This series also includes transcriptions of census records, abstracts and copies of newspaper articles, copies of Virginia disabliity applications from the Library of Virginia, copies of National Archives records and microfilm, maps, and published sources.

Arranged alphabetically.

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Series III. Alexander Welch Reynolds Research Files .
Boxes 39-46
Extent: 8 boxes.

The research files on Alexander Welch Reynolds include notes, correspondence, copies of records from archival repositories, including the National Archives, Library of Congress, and West Virginia University, House and Senate documents, published sources, and a military service record of Reynolds compiled by Chapla. The information in this series was used by Chapla for articles on Welch which were published by the Greenbrier Historical Society, and in the New Mexico Historical Review and North Carolina Historical Review .

Arranged alphabetically.

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