The Ball's Bluff address by Elijah Viers White is an account of his experiences during the battle. The address was used as a part of a fundraiser for the monument of a Confederate soldier that stands outside the Loudoun County Court House. The account is in overall good condition; several words are crossed out or have been inserted in the prose. White begins the address by recalling the honorable service of the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, who were "united by the strongest bonds that bind men together." He then recalls the southern defeat twenty-two years earlier, and the grief and destruction that followed. White commends the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their devotion to the cause of states' rights and urges that a monument be erected to honor them. He also insists that these soldiers' efforts during the war were not in vain, as the south had progressed both intellectually and industrially since the war. White then begins his account of the Battle of Ball's Bluff by describing two crucial points of passage on the Potomac River, which were in the Ball's Bluff district and about three miles apart. He recalls Col. Eppa Hunton's forces lining the woods surrounding Ball's Bluff. Several events of the day are mentioned, including the reinforcement of W.H. Jenifer's four companies of cavalry, Hunton's control of the artillery, White's position riding in front of the 17th Mississippi Infantry, his capture of over 300 prisoners, and his important role as courier for General Nathan "Shanks" Evans, commander of the Seventh Virginia Brigade. White concludes the address by commending the courage of the 17th Mississippi Infantry, who faced the hardest fighting during the day, as well as the 8th Virginia Infantry.
