January 15, 1864---"Four years have dealt us many sad blows."

JANUARY 15, 1864:            

"Four years have dealt us many sad blows." Of the 19 young men who graduated Ashland, Virginia’s Randolph-Macon College in 1859, five would die as a result of their military service, three from wounds and two from illness, a more than 25% mortality rate for the class. Others would be wounded, in some cases multiple times; for some, their health would be compromised for the rest of their lives. Stlll others would spend time in harsh conditions as prisoners of war. Leroy Edwards, who would spend a year in the infamous Union POW camp at Elmira, New York, kept a copy of the graduation program for the Class of 1859 that includes his pencilled annotations "died" and "killed" next to the names of his classmates who did not survive the war.