Title: Letter from Roswell S. Ripley to Major J. W. Ratchford

Identifier: 0049-b1-fa   (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/32476)

Description: Military report letter from Brigadier General Roswell S. Ripley to Major J. W. Ratchford. The battle action described in the report recounts in detail the activities of Ripley's brigade in the Seven Days' Battles (Peninsular Campaign, June 25 - July 1, 1862) in which General Robert E. Lee dislodged the Union Army under General McClellan from its positions before Richmond. Ripley recounts the movement of his troops across the Chickahominy River to support A. P. Hill's division, then holding a position on the Mechanicsville Road near Ellison's Mill. Battle action at Mechanicsville, Ellison's Mill, and Malvern Hill is described. Of particular interest is Ripley's accounting of battle losses and his comments on the deaths of Colonel Montfort S. Stokes, Commander of the 1st N. C. Infantry, and Gaston Meares, Commander of the 3rd N. C. Infantry.