5 1/2 x 4 1/4 in., creasing, staining, wear to edges and corners. Undersigned by "C. Morgan" as aide-de-camp to General Arnold Elzey. Addressed to Colonel R. E. Withers, 18th Virginia Volunteers.

In full: "Private Hatchell has leave to go to the Manassas Junction and return."

Richard Irby (1835-1902) enlisted as a first lieutenant on 22 April 1861. He was commissioned into Company G of the 18th Virginia Infantry that same day. He was promoted to captain on 29 March 1862, and listed as wounded from a shot in the breast at Second Manassas on 30 August of that year. He was ultimately paroled on 19 April 1865 at Jones House, Virginia.

After the war, Irby wrote a history of the 18th Virginia Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Nottoway Grays," along with other books. He also served as Secretary and Treasurer of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA.