13 July 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his friends

Writes to his friends. Reports some artillery firing and little picket firing. Discusses what his life would be like if he never enlisted. Writes, "we live to much on the heathen style Here have not much respect for each other especialy [sic] the soldiers quarrel and curs each other to a great extent." Discusses his band's drummer who is sick in the hospital and expected to die soon. Signs letter "from your affectionate brother and son."

GLC03523.52.61

21 July 1864

Kilbourn, H., fl. 1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Kessler

Informs him he contacted the Secretary of War and is still waiting for an answer. Promises he will do his best to get him and the rest of the band members discharged. First name is illegible.

GLC03523.52.62

5 August 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his friends

Writes to his friends from camp. Expresses his loneliness and boredom with the army. Reports on the fighting in Petersburg, Virginia. Describes soldiering and what a waste war is. Writes, "It is just calling young men from home and Bringing them here for slaughter and fast as they can kill them off call for more. A mans life is value nothing here and is not Respected By any one, is all for himself…" Comments he has not had a change of clothes for two months.

GLC03523.52.63

16 September 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Elizabeth N. Kessler

Writes to his sister from camp. Comments he has been sick but is now doing better. Reports it is quiet in camp and there has not been a lot of action for the last couple of weeks. Writes of being homesick. Notes he only weighs 120 pounds.

GLC03523.52.64

22 September 1864

Wirt, John, fl. 1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Bill Kessler

Writes to his cousin. Provides direction to California. Explains he cannot join him because of his job. Complains about his new stepmother. Writes, "thare never was a bigger fool than my father when he married that girl whenever thare is any work to be done she plays off sick she dont care about anything but dress…please never call her my mother again I wont own her…" Discusses the "Hundred day boys" who just arrived home.

GLC03523.52.66

27 September 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to A. P. Kessler

Writes to his father from camp. States it is quiet in camp but they are under marching orders. Describes being in the masters department where he cooks for six and has first rate living. Discusses the possibility of his father visiting him this fall. Explains he is on the move a lot and it may be difficult for him to catch up with them. Informs him he will be sending $60 home. Mentions his colonel believes some of the band members will be discharged and he will be one of them. Expresses his doubts on receiving a discharge. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner.

GLC03523.52.67

3 October 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to A. P. Kessler

Writes to his father from camp. Reports they lost several men in a skirmish and their lieutenant was wounded and taken prisoner. States they are receiving reinforcements daily and will see more fighting. Believes they will soon take Petersburg, Virginia. Expresses skepticism of getting out of the army since his colonel was taken prisoner. Request they contact Mr. Kilbourn immediately and see if he can urge their case along. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner.

GLC03523.52.68

5 October 1864

Wirt, Matilda, fl. 1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Cyrus Wirt

Writes to her brother and sister. Informs them that Elles, their brother, has volunteered for the service. Requests they come down and visit before he leaves. Asks them to send two gallons of molasses down with whoever comes. Discusses the cold weather and making a fence. Jefferson is listed as the city but state is not listed. The letter is signed by Matilda, "your loving sister and brother Elles & Matilda." Surname is not given. Assuming she is not married, Matilda's surname should be Wirt since the letter is addressed to her brother, Mr. Cyrus Wirt.

GLC03523.52.69

10 October 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to A. P. Kessler

Writes to his father from camp. Expresses how thankful he is for his new boots and says they are first rate. Comments he was offered $15 for them before he even got them on. Reports his colonel, who was taken prisoner, has been paroled and is on his way home. Discusses his band's discharge case against the government for non-payment of their musical services.

GLC03523.52.71

13 October 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his friends

Writes to his friends from camp. Informs them he received marching orders today. Mentions they are expecting an attack somewhere along their lines. Comments the rebels tried charging one of their forts three times but was repulsed every time. Request they write him back with the latest news. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner. Letter is addressed to his friends but envelope is addressed to his father, A. P. Kessler.

GLC03523.52.72

16 October 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter

Title: to A. P Kessler

Writes to his father from camp. Complains about enlisting in the army and what a mistake it was. Writes, "I will loose the Best part of my life By staying in this Hellish place of Discontent…" Discusses the war and how he does not believe it will be over in a few months. Requests some stamps. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner. The letter has an image of an anchor printed in red.

GLC03523.52.73

4 March 1862

Hurst, Logan, fl. 1861

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his wife

Describes aspects of the Confederate States Army including the fact that there are many men [possibly referring to officers] who are in "fine humors with themselves & their uniforms" while men in the ranks huddle together without such comforts. Also mentions he will be returning home next week.

GLC06371.01

5 May 1862

Hurst, Logan, fl. 1861

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Affidavit certifying Timothy White as a substitute for Logan Hurst]

Signed by Timothy White and LeRoy Edwards. Other endorsements include that of J. E. Smith, Surgeon Pacs and V.O Cassell of the Jackson Light Artillery. Officially relieves Logan Hurst of service to the Confederate States Army after having found a suitable substitute. Certifies Timothy White was paid $1000 in cash by Logan Hurst to serve as a substitute.

GLC06371.02

13 December 1865

Wallace, George T., fl. 1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Logan Hurst

Regarding debt laws and pay loss.

GLC06371.03

2 September 1864

Winston, A.C., fl. 1861

Manuscript document

Title: [Special orders No. 320]

Commanded by Brigadier General [Benjamin?] Huger, signed S. S. Anomias, Liet. Col. and acting Adjutant General. A partially printed (conditional) discharge for Confederate soldier A.C. Winston, provided he can find a substitute.

GLC06371.04

circa June 1865

Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875

Pamphlet

Title: [Amnesty Proclamation]

Full printing of the oath with several circular letters appended. [The proclamation states the terms on which the citizens of the Southern states could be restored to their civil rights; Johnson's terms were much more stringent than Lincoln's, excluding 14 classes of prominent Confederates from taking the oath.] Housed in folder with .01 and .02.

GLC09326.03

5 November 1852

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Broadsheet

Title: To the voters of Oswego and Madison counties New York

Thanking them for electing him to a seat in Congress, and reprising his anti-slavery, pro-equality platform.

GLC09329.02

November 1782

Vose, Joseph, 1738-1816

Document signed

Title: [Muster roll fragment]

Muster roll for field and staff officers for Colonel Vose's 1st Massachusetts Regiment for November 1782. Vose's son Col. Elijah Vose is noted "on furlough."

GLC09338.10

March 1783

Vose, Joseph, 1738-1816

Document signed

Title: [Muster roll fragment]

Muster roll for Colonel Joseph Vose's 1st Massachusetts Regiment for March 1783. Joseph Vose is noted "on furlough."

GLC09338.11

1867-1869

Thompson, Samuel K., fl. 1867-1869

Diary

Title: [Diary of Samuel K. Thompson]

Officer diary of a Civil War veteran who had served as lieutenant in the 54th U.S. Colored Infantry during the war. The three diaries were written during service in one of four "buffalo soldier" regiments created after the war, comprising African-American volunteers and white commissioned officers, to occupy the South during Reconstruction and to man frontier forts on the Plains. Each diary includes additional notes and small newspaper clippings and a copy of his will (written April 1867). They provide great insight into the early history of one of the most celebrated "colored" regiments of…

GLC09357

1863-1870

Barwood, James, fl. 1863-1870

Header Record

Title: [Collection of Barwood James]

Three letters, two of war date, from a British-born American seaman. One written during the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1863. He offers fine detail on life aboard Civil War naval vessels, as well as the conflicted attitudes of many northern seamen and soldiers on war aims and race relations. He was skeptical about abolition, as seen in the question he raises with his friend, "Are we wronging 10,000,000 whites to right 4,000,000 Blacks who will never benefit by the righting?"

GLC09358

24 July 1861

Newspaper

Title: [Newspaper]

Offers Confederate view of the First Battle of Bull Run from a newspaper in Sandersville, Georgia. Page 2 is dedicated to reports of "The Great Battle of Manassas: …The Southern troops were again victorious, but the slaughter on both sides was terrific."

GLC09359

12 July 1862

Broadside

Title: [Instructions for guard duty]

Instructions for all enlisted and commissioned officers doing guard duty, issued by Major Wm. H. Haskell, 67th Regt. Ill, Guard Instructor, and Col. Joseph H. Tucker, Post Commander. Camp Douglas was a training camp near Chicago, but was used through most of the war as a POW camp beginning in early 1862 with Grant's capture of Fort Donelson, Tennessee.

GLC09360

4 October 1829

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Coffee

To John Coffee, General in the Tennessee state militia. During first year of his administration, Jackson forecasts his support for removal of the southeastern Indians, which would be made public in his message to Congress in 1830 and would result in the Indian Removal Act of 1830. "It has become necessary for the government of the United States, from the urgent complaints of the Cherokee Indians on the one hand, & the Executive of Georgia on the other, that we should cause to be ascertained the true and ancient line between the Cherokee and Creek Indians … and by a commissioner whose…

GLC09361

1850-1851

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: [Journal of the U.S.S. Portsmouth of the African Squadron, U.S. Navy]

Journal of the U.S.S. Portsmouth of the African Squadron, U.S. Navy, organized to protect legitimate American trading activity in western Africa, as well as to suppress "the Slave trade, so far as the Citizens of Flag of the U.S. may be found engaged therein." Includes a letter to the commander of the U.S.S. Dale, sending a copy of the treaty with Britain that authorized the anti-slave trade patrols, and the following order: "Should you meet any of the British Cruisers engaged in the suppression of the Slave trade, you are to communicate freely with them on this service, and whenever it can…

GLC09362