Nickelsville Spartan Band Roster, Company E
48th Virginia Regiment

Kilgore Fort House, Copper Creek, Scott Co. Va.
Sketch by Andrew Bond, August 1996

William P. Harris

Rank: Capt.

1860 Census: Farm hand, Scott Co., age 19

Enlistment: Nickelsville, Scott Co., age 27, 1st Cpl., 7/2/61

Present thru 10/15/61. On leave 11/12/61 thru 11/30/61. Elected 2nd Lt. 4/21/62. Present 4/3062 and 7/15/62. Promoted 1st Lt. By 9/22/62 when present. Present comdg. Company 11/12/62. Detailed, gen. court martial duty, 11/25/62. Promoted capt. By 12/10/62 when present. Present thru 4/13/63.

The following information is taken from Mr. Wayne McConnell, Gate City, VA; "The Nickelsville Spartan Band", by Omer C. Addington, published in Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia; and "Charles Kilgore of Kings Mountain", by Hugh M. Addington, published by Cecil L. Durham, Kingsport, TN.

Captain Harris took over command of the Spartan Band, Co. E after Captain Henry McConnell left the unit. During the war he wrote a number of letters "filled with sentiments of friendship and affection " to a young lady named Drusilla McConnell. Harris wrote of his love and his plans for them once the war was over. Drusilla was the sister of William S. McConnell, another member of Co. E.

Months went by and she hadn't heard from him. Finally word came that he had been killed on the field at Gettysburg. Drusilla also did not survive the war. Some say she mourned herself to death over the loss of her gallant soldier.

As of the 1935 publication of Hugh Addington's book, these letters were still in the possession of the family.

48th Virginia Infantry Organization 48th Virginia Infantry Actions 48th Virginia Infantry Roster

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