1865 Oath of William P. Moseley, 21st Virginia Infantry, POW and WIA Cold Harbor & 3rd Winchester

Partly printed oath accomplished in manuscript. Fort Delaware, 17 June 1865. 1 page. Stamped and undersigned.

William P. Moseley (1841-1885) of Buckingham County, Virginia, enlisted into Company E of the 21st Virginia Infantry and saw consistent promotion to captain (21 April 1862) and to lieutenant colonel (10 June 1863). The regiment saw many of the major battles of the Eastern Theater including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, where Moseley commanded the company. In 1864, Moseley was wounded twice, first in his left hip at Cold Harbor on June 3rd, then in his shoulder at the Third Battle of Winchester (Battle of Opequon) on 19 September 1864. Then he was captured as a prisoner of war during the Siege of Petersburg on 25 March 1864 where he was held until the end of the war and his release on 24 July 1865. Though not listed, this document suggests that his confinement was likely at Fort Delaware. After the war, records indicate that he worked as a teacher in his native Virginia before immigrating to Texas.

A rare oath of allegiance for a soldier who experienced the breadth of war’s horrors. A similar oath taken at Fort Delaware is held in the archives of the Virginia Military Institute (MS 0358).




[Civil War, Union, Confederate, POW, Manuscripts, Ephemera]