Leroy Summerfield Edwards, Class of 1859

LEROY SUMMERFIELD EDWARDS attended R-MC from 1857-1859, graduating with an A.B. in 1859 and receiving an A.M. in 1866. He was teaching at Petersburg Female College in 1861 when he enlisted as a private in the 12th Virginia Infantry, Company E.

He was wounded in the arm September 14, 1862 at Crampton’s Gap, MD, and was promoted to sergeant in 1863. On May 8, 1864, he was taken prisoner of war, imprisoned at Point Lookout, MD from May-August 1864, and then transferred to the prison camp in Elmira, NY, referred to by prisoners as “Helmira,” where he remained from August, 1864 until February 1865 when he was paroled and exchanged. He returned to Richmond in March, 1865, left the city with the retreating army in early April, and surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

The LeRoy S. Edwards Papers 1853-1899, consisting of his Civil War letters in addition to diaries from his school days and from after the war, as well as many other personal materials, resides in the R-MC Archives. The letters have been digitized. For more information, see http://library.rmc.edu/specialcollections/exhibits/RMCCivilWar/RMCLeroySEdwards.html