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Henry Breidenthal Civil War diary

Manuscripts

Henry Breidenthal Civil War diary

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Description: Breidenthal's diary that covers the month from October 10 to November 12, 1861, when the 3rd Regiment was attached to Reynolds's command at Cheat Mountain, W. Va. Breidethal, being and a devout Christian and possessing of an indomitable if somewhat morose personality, set to out devote his spare time to writing a diary in large part to avoid "the society here" that he found was "not congenial to my tastes." (He dismissed "the general character of our soldiery" as "lowbred" and their aspirations "rising but little above the instinct of the animal creature.") The daily entry contain detailed expositions on his Bible reading, including political implications of the Scripture, (Breidenthal was a passionate abolitionist who counted "our complicity with African Slavery -- a crime of sufficient enormity to sink this great nation" as one of the great sins and regarded "Bible defenders of the American slavery" as "false prophets"); his opinions on the books he was reading (he studiously avoided "trashy novels" and "obscene books," preferring sermons by Henry Ward Beecher, a biography of Cavour, or a "Life of Balaam, by Rev. Hatfield"); political news, including discussion of Fremont's proclamation of Aug. 30, 1861; and camp life, especially entertainment (of which he heartily disapproved, being particularly troubled by the widespread gambling, "not edifying conversation and vulgar songs" as well as dancing and smoking); regimental gossip and jockeying for promotions. He also recounts, in great detail, the inquiry into the death of a soldier killed by a sentinel too scared to give the required challenge.

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Type

Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)

Production date

1861, October 10-November 12.

Call number

mssHM 68485-68486

Creator

Breidenthal, Henry (approximately 1834-)(Opens in new tab)

Additional description

Also included is a copy of a letter to his wife Linna "written a few days before the Battle of Chickamauga" (1863, Sept. 14) and copied from "his Diary he wrote while in the Civil War."

Provenance

Gift of David P. Garrett, July 2, 1994.

Dimensions

15 cm :

Find out more

View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab)

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