Creator: Mackall, William Whann, 1818-1891.
Collection number: 1299
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Abstract: Mackall, a West Point graduate, served in the United States Army from his graduation in 1837 until 1861, and in the Confederate Army, 1861- 1865, attaining the rank of brigadier general. After the war he lived at Langley, Va. He married Aminta Sorrel of Savannah, Ga., and had a son, W. W. Mackall (b. 1853), who was a lawyer in Savannah. Letters during the early period, 1839-1849, include those written from Florida while Mackall was on his way to Mexico, and from Mexico, discussing the military situation. Letters during the Civil War period include those written by Mackay to his family discussing skirmishes and battles and also the family’s welfare, and letters written to Mackay from other Confederate officers discussing army politics and military actions in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Correspondents include Joseph Eggleston Johnston (27 letters), Braxton Bragg, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, and Jeremy F. Gilmer. Post-war papers largely concern Confederate military history and recollections, and include also the papers of Mackall’s son, W. W. Mackall, who published privately “A Son’s Recollections of his Father.” Also available are scrapbooks and commissions and, on microfilm, genealogical and biographical data on the Mackall family.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection