Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Lafayette McLaws Papers, #472, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy available.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Virginia McLaws prior to 1940.

Additional materials purchased from Charles Hamilton, June 1975.

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, October 2009; Nancy Kaiser, April 2021

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Biography.
• Georgia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.
• Gettysburg Campaign, 1863.
• Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863.
• Indians of North America--Government relations--History--19th century.
• Indians of North America--Wars--1815-1875.
• Longstreet, James, 1821-1904.
• Maryland Campaign, 1862.
• McLaws, Lafayette, 1821-1897.
• Navajo Indians--Wars.
• North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.
• Peninsular Campaign, 1862.
• Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.
• United States. Army--Military life--History.
• Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.
• Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Lafayette McLaws (1821-1897) was a United States and Confederate Army officer, and a postmaster and collector of internal revenue in Savannah, Ga., 1885-1886. During the Civil War, McLaws served in Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina. He was engaged in the Peninsula and Maryland campaigns in 1862; the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863; action in Tennessee in late 1863, especially in the vicinity of Knoxville; in Georgia and South Carolina in 1864; and actions in North Carolina in 1865. In early 1864 McLaws was court-martialed, and later exonerated, for failure to cooperate with General James Longstreet.

McLaws was the son of James and Elizabeth McLaws of Savannah, Ga. He married Emily Allison Taylor, niece of Zachary Taylor. They had at least five children including William, John Taylor, Laura, Uldrick Hugenin, and another daughter.

The collection includes correspondence, maps, orders and official documents, speeches, and clippings, chiefly related to Lafayette McLaws's military career. There is little personal or family information except as relates to his personal health and living conditions in the various camps at which he was stationed.

The bulk of the papers relate to McLaws's service as a Confederate officer during the Civil War. Items, 1861-1865, are chiefly letters from McLaws to his wife commenting on Union and Confederate troop movements and strategy, military engagements, and criticize other Confederate officers. The letters and other military papers disuss campaigns in which McLaws participated, includind the Peninsula and Maryland campaigns in 1862; the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863; action in Tennessee in late 1863, especially in the vicinity of Knoxville; McLaws's court-martial in 1864 for failure to cooperate with General James Longstreet, and his exoneration; his command in Georgia and South Carolina in 1864; and actions in North Carolina in 1865. Civil War maps of sites in Virginia, and Gettysburg, and other battles are also present. The papers also include a letter from Robert E. Lee, 1862; papers in McLaws' defense following the evacuation of Pocotaligo; and journal entries concerning his role in the North Carolina campaign.

Post-war papers are primarily articles and speeches made by McLaws on military engagements, especially the Battle of Gettysburg, and McLaws's relationship with General Longstreet. The papers, 1876-1896, consist mainly of correspondence about Civil War issues and battles between Lafayette McLaws and James Longstreet. There are also scattered letters from Goode Bryan, Benjamin G. Humphries, P. G. T. Beauregard, Marcus J. Wright, D. Wyatt Aiken, Edward Porter Alexander, J. B. Kershaw, and Thomas Munford. Topics include battles of Gettysburg, Knoxville, Harpers Ferry, the Maryland campaign, and Seven Pines.

The earliest papers include items related to Lafayette McLaws's youth and career in the United States Army prior to the Civil War, some concerning his involvement in the Utah campaign against the Navajo Indians.

• Oversize papers (XOPF-472/1)
• Microfilm (M-472/1)