Samuel Marshall diary

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  John Meyer diary

  Manuscripts

  John Meyer's diary for the year 1863 when the 28th Regiment was part of the Department of the Tennessee and, since July 1863, the Department of Gulf. Long, detailed daily entries cover the military campaigns and operations -- Gorman's expedition up the White River (Jan. 13-19); expedition from Helena, Ark. to Yazoo Pass (Feb. 13 - Apr. 5); operations against Fort Pemberton and Greenwood (Mar. 13 - Apr. 5); expedition to St. Francis River (Apr. 5-11); the battles of Port Gibson (May 1); Bayou Pierre (May 2-3); Fourteen-Mile Creek (May 12 -13); Champion Hill (May 17); Big Black River (May 17); siege of Vicksburg, Miss. (May 18 - July 4); the siege of Jackson (Miss)' duty at Carrollton and Brashear City, La. (Aug. 2 - Oct. 3); Western Louisiana Campaign (Oct. 3 - Nov. 3), and duty at New Iberia and New Orleans, La. The diary also discusses the soldiers' health; war and political news; encounters with Union loyalists and African Americans, etc.

  mssHM 76194

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  Charles Lee Civil War diary

  Manuscripts

  Diary that Charles Lee kept from January 1 to November 10, 1864. In addition to camp life and multiple vows to lay off whiskey, the diary covers visits to the regiment by Ulysses S. Grant and Joshua Thomas Owen, and gives brief accounts of the battles at Morton's Ford (1864, Feb. 6 - 7), Po River, (May 10, 1864), and the Petersburg campaign, including Jerusalem Plank Road (June 22 - 23), Strawberry Plains (Aug. 14), Ream''s Station (Aug. 25), Weldon Railroad (Aug. 25), and Fort Sedgwick (Oct. 27) and describes Finley hospital which Lee described as "a singular place" with the "Band playing at one End of the Ward outside and the Doctors performing an operation at the other."

  mssHM 30476

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  Samuel Breck diary

  Manuscripts

  This diary, kept by Samuel Breck from 1841 to 1846, includes almost daily entries by Breck. In it, he talks about his personal life and family, businesses, philanthropy, the financial conditions in Pennsylvania and the United States, and bank closures, as well as local and federal politics. He talks about the government of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. He makes several comments regarding President John Tyler and his policies, Washington D.C., and Congress; he also talks about the funeral of President William Henry Harrison shortly after he was elected. The majority of the diary, however, is filled with writing regarding various miscellaneous topics such as astronomy, science, geology, religion, music, history, etc. He also talks about Daniel Webster, a friend of Breck's, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. There are also several hand-drawn sketches by Breck in the diary. One sketch entitled "A Gerrymander," shows an animal and a map of several counties in Ohio; on the same page, Breck talks about gerrymandering going on in Ohio at the time. The volume has newspaper clippings and various other items glued into it.

  mssHM 75113

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  David Wood letter to William J. Hiles

  Manuscripts

  An autograph, signed letter from David Wood, a member of the West Virginia 1st Cavalry Regiment; he is writing to a former member of the regiment, William J. Hiles. The letter is written from Camp Russell, Virginia, and contains news of many fellow soldiers in the regiment, some of whom have had horses shot out from under them or had been wounded in various battles; Wood also mentions some who have been ill and left the Army or have deserted. The letter is beginning to tear along the folds and there is an old repair along the top of the letter. Enclosed with the letter is the back only of a pictorial envelope.

  mssHM 84102

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  Diary and miscellaneous accounts of Samuel Cooper

  Manuscripts

  Fragment of Samuel Cooper's 1775 diary. Brief entries for Apr. 10 - 18 describe Cooper's travels to Milton, Roxbury, Weston, Waltham, and Lexington. A long entry recorded on May 6, 1775, recaps the events that took place since April 10, including the "Troubles in Boston," Cooper's decision to leave the city because of "Menaces & Insults" that he had received, his travel to Weston, the battle of Lexington, and the town meeting in Boston with Thomas Gage on Apr. 30, 1775, and the inhabitants of Boston who "sufferr'd greatly for Want of Supplies... & much more from the Trror & Anxiety."

  mssCO 271

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  Diaries

  Manuscripts

  In the letters to his wife, John B. Burrud, shared his war experiences, political views, religious sentiments, and intense longing for his home and family. The letters, many written over two or three days, cover the regiment's organization in Auburn, New York in September 1862; training in New York City; the voyage to Louisiana; the 1863 campaigns in Louisiana and duty at Morgan City, Bayou Boeuf, and Pattersonville; Burrud's month-long stay in St. James Hospital in New Orleans; the Red River and the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864, including the battles of Pleasant Hill (April 9), the third Winchester (September 19), Fisher's Hill (September 22-23), and Cedar Creek (October 19); duty at Middletown and Winchester, Virginia (1864 October27-1865, April), and Washington, D.C. (1865 April-June); the Grand Review (1865 May 23-25); and duty at Savannah and Hawkinsville, Georgia (1865 June-November). In addition to the detailed accounts of the campaigns and battles and discussion of the commanding officers (Weitzel, Banks, Grant, Sheridan, and others), Burrud's letters contain descriptions of Louisiana, Virginia, Maryland, and Georgia countryside, especially historical sites (e.g. the remains of the Jamestown church; the place of John Brown's execution; Blakely, a farm near Charles Town, West Virginia that belonged to George Washington's family, museums, public building, and gardens of Washington, D.C., or a Creek Indian mounds in Pulaski County), and natural wonders and various species of wildlife. He also reports, often in elaborate detail, encounters with residents, particularly enslaved people, contrabands, and women ("Yaller Gals"), who flocked to the Union lines as well as members of freedmen's aid associations and Union sympathizers. Burrud shares his thoughts on a wide range of subjects: slavery ("most damnable man degrading, soul killing, God dishonoring Institution that ever was permitted to exist on the face of the earth"); the Union cause ("the good of Mankind and the world and the Maintenance of the best and the Only true form of Government of the face of the Earth"); the Confederate government ("Jeff Davis's Empire"); Copperheads ("Political Miscreants"), African American soldiers whom he considered superior to white soldiers from "9 month regiments" and substitutes; guerrilla warfare, and race relations. He also at length discusses personal concerns and troubles of "the Boys" in his company, including an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases and an alarming rate of marital infidelity that seems to have affected most of soldiers' wives of Wayne County; the role of women in the war effort; news from home (including his profound disappointment in the lack of patriotism and respect for the Union uniform on the part of the people of his hometown); war and political news; recruiting and draft; home front, religious revival in Marion; etc. Burrud, a staunch Republican, avidly followed political news, especially the New York state elections of 1863 and the 1864 elections. The letters also contain news from the 111th Regiment of New York Infantry where his brother William G. Burrud and his brother-in-law, Joseph Newton served as privates. An accomplished musician, Burrud also at length discusses music and army bands. Three pocket diaries cover the years of 1863, 1864, and 1865; the entries contain accounts of campaign and battles, duties, detachments, and details; and war and political news.

  mssHM 75115-75334