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View of the southwest face of Fort Sumter

Osborn stamp on verso. View of the southwest face of Fort Sumter showing damage from the guns of the Iron Clad Battery.

GLC04509.29

View of the cannons from inside Fort Sumter

Osborn stamp on verso. View of the cannons from inside Fort Sumter, probably on the parapet.

GLC04509.30

View of the makeshift flagstaff at Fort Sumter

Osborn stamp on verso. View of the makeshift flagstaff at Fort Sumter with the sally-port and damaged officers' quarters in the background.

GLC04509.33

View of the main sally-port into Fort Sumter.

Osborn stamp on verso. View of the main sally-port into Fort Sumter, taken from outside the fort.

GLC04509.34

View of Confederate soldiers posing with captured guns at Fort Sumter.

Osborn stamp on verso. View of Confederate soldiers posing with captured guns at Fort Sumter. Stair tower is visible in the background.

GLC04509.36

interior of Fort Sumter's casemate .

Oval scene of a river valley pasted on verso. Purported to be the only known photograph of the interior of Fort Sumter's casemate, this view shows a row of guns mounted beneath brick archways.

GLC04509.38

View of damage on the interior of Fort Sumter .

Osborn imprint on verso. View of damage on the interior of Fort Sumter by the Iron Clad Battery.

GLC04509.39

View of five Confederate soldiers gathered in the sally-port of Fort Sumter.

Osborn stamp on verso. View of five Confederate soldiers gathered in the sally-port of Fort Sumter.

GLC04509.40

View of southwest side of Fort Sumter

Oval scene of a river valley pasted on verso. View of southwest side of Fort Sumter showing the now-demolished officers' quarters and a row of unmounted cannon barrels.

GLC04509.41

View of Fort Sumter's rear parapet .

Oval bust portrait [lithograph?] of a young woman pasted on verso. View of Fort Sumter's rear parapet showing a dismounted gun and a sandbag traverse.

GLC04509.42

to Edwin M. Stanton

Written by General Halleck as commander of the Department of the Mississippi to Stanton as Secretary of War. Has heard that the rebels are building one or more riverboats "clad in rail road iron like the Merrimac." Says if it is true they can wreak...

GLC04536

to Mrs. S. W. K. Brown

Relieving siege of Taku and Tientsin. A long letter describing fighting: "2300 men of all nations held the city [Tientsin] against 30,000 Imperial troops and 100,000 Boxers. It was hell for 6 days [as] they bombarded the city. Our losses - over 600...

GLC04546.011

to Harvey L. Brown

Mentions siege of Peking, bombardment of Taku forts. Asks whether they received 'The Siege of Peking' or the photographs of the "bombardment of the Taku Forts."

GLC04546.020

to Samuel Hodgdon

Secretary of War Knox writes from the War Department instructing Hodgdon, superintendent of military stores, to transport mortars, shells, and fuzes to Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania.

GLC04552

To his wife

Ailment of another soldier, Dan, and his own visit to doctor about lameness and soreness (given an emetic). Hears artillery in distance but expects to continue guard duty. Letter continued on August 23rd.

GLC04558.039

To his wife

Marching. Near the Rappahannock and approaching Fredericksburg. Mentions artillery fighting, and long discussion of stealing from Confederate civilians: "Notwithstanding all the orders to the contrary, we soldiers dont considder [sic] it much sin...

GLC04558.053

To his wife

Battle letter. Taking the rebel fort (mentioned in #84): "as soon as the boat touched the shore the boys piled off like a flock of sheep and as soon as they got ashore struck a dead run for the fort. Some of the officers asked the officer in command...

GLC04558.085

To his wife

Reports that a federal raid captured 3,000 rebel prisoners. Also says he does not notice the boom of guns anymore. Concludes with his longing to see his children and wife.

GLC04558.086

To his wife

Rebels "appear ready to siege us out" and reports "Old Stonewall Jackson has sent a flag of truce [to the city] warning the citizens to leave if they didnt want to get hurt." Mentions visiting other NY regiments and describes "a queer kind of...

GLC04558.088

To his wife

Now camping at a fort, mentions guns in forts, describes looking over battlefield where he fought. Comments on home news and jokes that "I might I suppose 'send up a few contraband' to work for you only Uncle Samuel wont let em go so far North."...

GLC04558.093

To his wife

Written in pencil on patriotic stationery. Describes the situation of forts ringing Charleston (Moultrie, Sumter, Wagner), and mentions that Wagner was taken last night but lost due to shelling. "...I dont like the looks of things here in general...

GLC04558.108

To his wife

Expects to receive order the next day; writes that he has a good view of operations and artillery; says Fort Sumter "is sometimes completely enveloped in a cloud of brick dust[,] smoke, and spray, from our balls and shells." Describes other...

GLC04558.112

To his wife

He has put on more weight; has gotten used to constant firing on Charleston; encloses a "greenback" for Dolly.

GLC04558.123

To his wife

Written in pencil. Camped less than a mile from the front. Observes that shells are more dangerous in the rear than at the front. Discusses events of past few days; wishes his foot had been wounded so he could get a furlough.

GLC04558.143

To his wife

Evaluates the damage that different types of artillery shells (i.e. mortar and rifled cannon shot) create at various distances from the front line. Mentions troops rotations between lines, and farm business. Gives a current price for cotton cloth...

GLC04558.146

To his wife

Written on U.S. Christian Commission stationery. More discussion of artillery shelling and trenches; predicts a possible evacuation; worries over not having heard from his wife; better rations; illness. Written in a camp near Petersburg, Virginia

GLC04558.147

To his wife

Cross written. Receives letters from home. Wonderful description of night time artillery barrages, comparing them to fireworks. Also writes of tearing down rebel fortifications, rain in the trenches, and news of comrades.Written in a camp near...

GLC04558.148

To his wife

Written in pencil with portions of pages 1-4 traced in a darker pencil. The explosion and charge on fort along the rebel line by Burnside's 9th Corps was at first rumored to be a great success although GWT noticed Grant "appeared a little troubled."...

GLC04558.151

To his wife

The discovery that rebels had mined some of the Union forts discouraged Burnside's plan to blow up additional rebel forts. Requests that his wife not publish his letters. "Maybe you wouldn't like to think that I had killed any body but I do know...

GLC04558.152

To his wife

Continued Sept. 10th. Cross written. Describes arrival at the Fort and Garrison duty. Fort is manned by "the 89th New York [GWT's regiment], one company of darkey cavalry, one company of heavy artillery, and a signal station." Relieved to hear...

GLC04558.160

To George Tillotson

Conducting camp business: sending out receipt for clothes received at Fort Powhattan; amount of ordinance used in battle; paper work. Expects to be sent home. Written at Fort Monroe.

GLC04558.181

Diary of Milton Whipple

Early entries are brief and mostly record staff changes, troop movements, drills, and the weather but the entries lengthen as Whipple details the Appomattox campaign and the last few weeks leading up to General Robert E. Lee's surrender. On 24...

GLC04561

Cannon shell

Piece of a cannonball shell.

GLC04564.02

[Diary of Samuel G. Gottshall]

Leather bound autograph manuscript signed. Describes activity at Fort Donelson (the Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from 11 February to 16 February 1862), Yorktown (Siege of Yorktown took place from 5 April to 4 May 1862, as part of the Peninsula...

GLC04564.03

[Diary of Samuel G. Gottshall]

Leather bound autograph manuscript signed. Gottshall returns to the Army after being wounded in the arm by a cannonball. Throughout the early months Gottshall sees little action and he discusses his recovery and soldiering in the winter. In [13-15...

GLC04564.04

to A.M. Flinn [incomplete]

His regiment suffered heavy casualties in the battle. They were caught in the crossfire of several Yankee infantry units and within the sights of an artillery battery. He also speculates on whether Yankees in Virginia or Tennessee fight harder...

GLC04573.05

Carte de visite of "A Rebel dismounted Columbiad."

Penciled caption on verso, with additional inscriptions "306" and #7793." Image of a damaged cannon with the rear portion broken off and lying near several cannonballs and a ramrod.

GLC04596.02

[to the Chairman of the Board of Health]

Informs that he has received orders from the Commander in Chief to detail the necessary companies of infantry and artillery to assist the civil authority in enforcing the quarantine regulations for the city of Natchez. Signed as Brigadier General.

GLC04601.11

to mother

Short letter sent with some artillery shells [not included].

GLC04662.025

to mother

Reports the Confederate evacuation of Forts Wagner and Gregg. Now believes he will be allowed to remain quartermaster. He has bought a colt and intends to raise her. Informs his mother that he sent home a 42 pound shell fired from a confederate gun...

GLC04662.044

to mother

The army celebrated Christmas with an artillery barrage on the city of Charleston. As a result a fire broke out in the city which burned for 11 hours. The rebels fired back, hit a gun boat and killed three people. He is applying for leave, but...

GLC04662.052

to mother

Continued 2/22 at Hilton Head. He is waiting for a transport to take him to Florida. He hopes to get an appointment [as quartermaster] and a furlough. Reports the news of the Florida expedition: it has lost 7 guns, 400 wounded men have been...

GLC04662.059

to mother

He encloses a rose [included] that he picked near his house. His express box arrived almost two months after being sent, "There has been time enough I suppose for it to have reached Constantinople." He likes his new nightshirts. However, the pants...

GLC04662.064

to Mrs. Walbridge

Writes to his mother that he returned last night from a two day excursion across the Appomattox River to bring supplies to the troops since their supply trains had not yet arrived. Discusses the fighting at Petersburg, 15-18 June 1864. States he...

GLC04662.069

1864 Diary

In this diary, dated from January through November, 1864, Henry Cook documents life in the US Signal Corps. Stationed near New Bern, NC, Cook writes of matters of daily life--meals, rations, guard duty, trips to town, construction projects--and of...

GLC03958.03

to J. A. Wilson

Deas's retained copy with emendations by him. General Deas reports on the Battle of Chickamauga to Colonel Wilson, assistant adjutant general of Thomas C. Hindman's Division. Written from Headquarters of Deas's Brigade near Chattanooga, Tennessee...

GLC03965

[Manuscript Civil War map of Dover, Tennessee, showing battlefield and artillery]

Shows Confederate line of batteries, roads, rivers, and ravines. Also shows the town layout with gun placements and building locations. Approximately forty buildings appear, including the headquarters of the 83rd Illinois Regiments, Colonel A.C...

GLC04042.01

to Elizabeth Smith and children

Rain and mud foiled the attack on Fredericksburg. The pontoons and artillery became stuck in the mud. Confederate soldiers taunted the stranded union soldiers by offering to help build the pontoon bridge, if the federals could get the pontoons to...

GLC04189.25

to Elizabeth Smith and family

The army has retreated back to their old camp. Describes Stonewall Jackson's maneuver which forced them to retreat. He discusses losses to the regiment and lists the names of friends who were killed or wounded. He writes that he had been in battle...

GLC04189.41

to Elizabeth Smith

Describes the Battle of Gettysburg. Smith was stationed in the Union center near a stone wall. Smith's regiment may have missed the first day's battle because he writes Pickett's Charge occurred on the second day. "We was in the front & center for...

GLC04189.49