Lt. Col. W. H. Powell, US, Charged With Murder

January 7 1862 (Tuesday)

It was a busy week for Union Lt. Col. W.H. Powell, 2nd Regiment West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, as he was charged with killing a Confederate prisoner during a raid on this date, and burning several houses and barns on January 10th or 11th.

One of the charges was for shooting a Confederate prisoner deliberately. This charge was made by one of your own men, who was taken prisoner on the Wythe-ville raid, and who volunteered the information. He says he saw you commit the murder. The other charge was burning the houses and barns of Messrs. Handley and Feamster, near Lewisburg, on or about the night of the 9th or 10th of January last, in violation of all law, civil and military. Mr. Handley's house was set on fire when his wife and children were in bed asleep, and they just had time to escape without shoes or proper clothing, on a very cold night.

Powell would eventually be captured by the Confederates in an affair at Wytheville, Virginia on July 18, 1863 and held in close confinement at Libby Prison. His exchange would be delayed by these charges until September 27, 1864. He was allowed to return to the Union Army in time to join Phil Sheridan's cavalry and was promoted to Brigadier-General by the close of the war.