Military Monday: Capt. Richard T. Powell

Capt. Richard Thompson Powell

Military Unit

 Co. B, 8th SC Infantry

Military Rank (Date of Rank and whether by appointment, elected or promotion)

2 Lt - - Elected – May 13, 1862

1 Lt –Promoted – July 19, 1862

Captain – Promoted  - August 1, 1862

1861

April 13, 1861

Enlisted April 13, 1861 at Florence, SC

April 13, 1861 to 30 June 1861

Sick in Hospital since 30 June

July 22, 1861

CSA General Hospital, Charlottesville, Virginia with the measles

Returned to duty on August 20, 1861

1862

March 15, 1862

He was in Chimborazo Hospital No. 5, Richmond, Virginia with diarrhea

July 19, 1862

Capt Promoted July 2, 1862

1 August 1862.

Promoted to Captain on 1 August 1862

Nov-Dec 1862

Under arrest or confinement ( no explanation for arrest or confinement)

1863

July –August 1863

Absent on furlough wounded at Gettysburg, PA, 2 July 1863

July 20, 1863

He was in general Hospital No. 4, Richmond, Virginia

V S L. Thigh (My interpretation >>V? Shot Left Thigh)

July 27, 1863

Hospital No. 4 furloughed him for 40 days

1864

May – June 1864

Absent at Hospital sick since May 24, 1864

May 28, 1864

Jackson Hospital, Richmond, Virginia

His name appears on morning report – no explanation

Sept 13 1964

On September 13, 1864 he was captured near Opequon Creek, Winchester, VA by the 1st Brigade, 3rd Calvary Division on Berryville and Winchester Pike.

Released on Oath of Allegiance June 16, 1865 G. O. 109 (page 22)[1]

Oath of Allegiance

Capt. Richard Thompson Powell remained a "prisoner of War" for a total of 9 months 3 days being released from captivity 2 months 6 days after the war ended on April 9, 1863. When he signed his Oath of Allegiance he was imprisoned at Johnson's Island Prison, Johnson's Island, Ohio. That's a one-way trip of over 500 miles back home to Chesterfield.

1865

April 9, 1865 - Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant; Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

Capt. Powell military file consists of 82 pages; most of the latter pages in the file consists of requisitions for his troops and pay stubs for his service.

Capt. Powell survived the war and returned home to Chesterfield County, South Carolina. After returning home, he married and had two known children – a son W. T. Powell (b.1876) and a daughter M. W. Powell (b. 1878). The last record found for him and his family in the 1880 Census where his wife and two children are listed by initials for their names.

Had it not been for progress, his grave-site may have been lost forever. In 1974, the SC Department of Transportation discovered 3 graves that were in the right away for expansion of SC Highway Number 9 just east of Chesterfield. The 3 graves – Richard T. Powell, Drury Boatwright and Lavica Gulledge - were re-interred at Pine Grove Baptist Church Cemetery on July 10^th, 1974. Richard T. Powell's grave is marked with a Confederate Monument – no dates.

Richard was born about 1841 to Thompson B. Powell and his wife Mary Boatwright. He is listed as age 9 in the 1850 population census for Chesterfield County, SC and age 24 on his Oath of Allegiance dated 16 June 1865. Richard is a grandson of Lewis Boatwright and his wife Sarah Lundy.

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 [1] Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, (http://www.fold3.com : accessed 31 May 2012), entry for Richard T. Powell, Capt.; 8th SC Infantry (SCVI); Confederate. < http://www.fold3.com/image/#20|73872493>