Lew Powell's Frostbitten Feet

[Natty]

(08-24-2012 12:50 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  According to Hartranft's letterbook, Lewis Powell had a female African American visitor at 10:00 A.M. on June 1, 1865. Do we know who that lady was and why she was visiting Powell?

Betty would probably know best here - all I know is the mention of the African American women in Alias Paine, who mistook Lewis for Dan Murray Lee, whose Mammy she had been.
But her visit was listed in the book as on June 16th.

(08-24-2012 11:30 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Lewis could have been ill at Dranesville and did not fight -- I don't know....I do know that he was ill quite a bit with bouts of unspecified sickness. On June 30,at the battle of Gaines Mill he fought for one day and then was carted the 12 miles to Richmond where he spent over 3 months in the Florida Hospital (still standing) with illness. He was there until mid November 1862. The anthropologist who discovered Lew's noggin stated that he suffered apparently from chronic sinusitis. We do know that he had an attack of measles when he enlisted and was sent to the Camp of Instruction (boot camp) at Jacksonville, FL at the beginning of the war. This childhood illness turned ultimately into pneumonia from which he almost died. This could have also weakened his constitution. We don't know....He apparently began recruitment for the SS in November 1864 and then left for Baltimore on January 1, 1865. For all his hearty appearance, he appears to have been a somewhat frail lad constitutionally.

As for those girls -- we have yet to see. I know a bit more but can't divulge it yet. He also had a girlfriend in VA - so he DID get around a bit! Boys will be boys!

The sinusitis would have been as a result of his teeth, right? Dental infections can lead to all kinds of complications, even death, so this would not surprise me.
Yes, if Lewis was floundering in the health department and the others in the Rangers noticed it, they might have judged him as unfit for fighting duty. Lewis might have seemed under the weather, or generally weak due to chronic bouts of illness.

The other girlfriend was Betty Meredith, right? No, it does not surprise me that he quickly recovered from lovesickness due to the Bransons. A new pretty face would have provided ample amounts of distraction!