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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Existence and Location of Copies

This collection has been digitized and is available online.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Lee Hendrix Correspondence, Ms1990-020, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Lee Hendrix Correspondence was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1990.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the Lee Hendrix Correspondence commenced and was completed in September, 2022.

Biographical Note

Lee Hendrix was born in North Carolina on December 15, 1834. In the 1860 federal census, 25-year-old miller Lee Hendrix is listed among the residents in the Salem, North Carolina home of Alexander A. Snyder. Hendrix enlisted as a private in Company B, 1st North Carolina Sharpshooters Battalion in Wake County, North Carolina on July 8, 1862. He was slightly wounded in the stomach near Fredericksburg on May 4, 1863. Records indicate that he remained with his battalion through December, 1864; no further military record could be found.

Following the war, Hendrix returned to work as a miller, and he married Louisa Fisher on December 20, 1865. The 1870 federal census shows the Hendrixes--including six-year-old Robert L. Hendrix--living in Winston (Forsyth County), North Carolina. The "Hendricks" family had moved to nearby Salem Chapel by 1880. The census for that year identifies Robert as Lee Hendrix's nephew. Hendrix married Emma Lucinda Shore (1838-1912) on September 20, 1883; the couple had one son that did not survive infancy. Hendrix had apparently retired by 1900; the census for that year lists no occupation for him. Lee Hendrix died on October 3, 1902, and was buried in Salem Moravian God's Acre, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Scope and Content

This collection contains eight wartime letters written by Lee Hendrix, a private in Company B, 1st North Carolina Sharpshooter Battalion during the American Civil War. Written from various points in Virginia, the letters are all addressed to members of the Beeson family, all but one specifically to Noah Beeson.

In the first letter, written November 2, 1862, Hendrix briefly describes the recent movements of his battalion. He notes his proximity to the enemy, then comments on the lice in camp and the high prices of assorted goods. In a pair of letters written on January 18, 1863, from a camp near Port Royal, Hendrix notes that they are in winter camp: "We get plenty to eat and nothing to do we liv like rats in the Barnd." Writing again from the Port Royal camp on February 17, describes his rations and easy life. "All I dread her is Lincuns pills for tha will pass thru a man in less than no time" ("Lincoln's pills" being slang for various forms of ammunition). Hendrix then engages in a little bawdy doggerel that incorporates a line from Oliver Goldsmith and another from an anonymous source. On May 23, Hendrix writes from an unidentified hospital, recounting the wound that he recently received, presumably at the Battle of Chancellorsville. In Hendrix's letter of June 3, written from Lynchburg Hospital, the private describes his meager rations and his belief that "a solder is the least thout of of any class of peeple in the wirld" before concluding with a brief poem: "The rose is new / The stem is green / All the good times is past / That I have seen / Or ever will se enymore."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Civil War
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Lee Hendrix Correspondence by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).