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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Henry Kyd Douglas Letter, Ms2010-023, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Henry Kyd Douglas Letter was found by Special Collections staff in March 2010, in a book that was among a collection donated to Special Collections in 2001.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the Henry Kyd Douglas Letter commenced and was completed in May 2010.

Biographical Note - Henry Kyd Douglas

Henry Kyd Douglas, son of Rev. Robert and Mary Robertson Douglas, was born near Shepherdstown, (West) Virginia on September 29, 1838. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1858, then attended law school in Lexington, Virginia. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Douglas was a practicing attorney in St. Louis. He returned to Virginia to join the Confederate Army and enlisted as a private in Company B of the 2nd Virginia Infantry. Rising through the ranks, Douglas eventually earned an officer's commission and was appointed to a position on the staff of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Following Jackson's death in May 1863, Douglas served successively on the staffs of Confederate generals Edward Johnson, John B. Gordon, Jubal Early, John Pegram and James Walker. Douglas was seriously wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg and was held prisoner for nine months at Johnson's Island. In 1865, he was exchanged and appointed commander of the Light Brigade, a position he held through the end of the war. Following the war, Douglas established a law practice in Winchester, Virginia, but soon moved to Hagerstown, Maryland and in 1891 was appointed a circuit court judge. He died in 1903 and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. His wartime experiences were chronicled in the book I Rode with Stonewall , published in 1940.

Biographical Note - William P. Maulsby

William P. Maulsby (1815-1894) was a lawyer and judge from Frederick and Westminster, Maryland. He also served as a state senator for Carroll County. He served as a colonel in the First Regiment of the Potomac Home Brigade of the United States Army during the American Civil War.

External sources:

"William P. Maulsby (1815-1894)" MSA SC 3520-1835, Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series), Maryland State Archives, https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/001800/001835/html/msa01835.html , accessed April 25, 2023.

"COL William Pinkney Maulsby Sr.", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24862236/William-Pinkney-Maulsby , accessed April 25, 2023.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a letter written by Henry Kyd Douglas, a Hagerstown, Maryland attorney and former Confederate staff officer, to William P. Maulsby, a lawyer and judge of Frederick, Maryland. Douglas writes of the case of Fiery et al v. Emmert et al, a suit between two groups of stockholders in the Antietam Manufacturing Company, in which Maulsby has been named a defendant. Douglas explains that an appeal filed by the plaintiffs will soon be heard by the court of appeals. He doubts that the court will overturn an earlier decision but requests Maulsby's assistance in preparing his brief.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

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

Rights Statement for Archival Description

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