20 December 1866

Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905

Autograph document signed

Title: [Account of Army of Northern Virginia cavalry operations]

"…praise to the valor, endurance & patriotism of the noble band of troopers I had the honor to Comd. … they at least did their whole duty in the unsuccessful struggle in which we were engaged." Opening with the Wilderness and Spotsylvania battles, Fitz Lee provides a detailed account of Army of Northern Virginia cavalry operations, fighting practically non-stop from May 4, 1864 to April 9, 1865. Fitz Lee's account is especially informative for the campaigns of the spring and summer of 1864, including the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, the opening of the Petersburg siege, and Philip Sheridan's…

GLC09392

21 July 1863

Echols, William H., fl. 1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to M.L. Bonham

Chief engineer of the Confederacy to SC Governor Bonham. "The matter of Mr. Maxwell's Negroes having appeared in the City was through neglect but is excusable when the facts are known. They were, at the time of the assault on Battery Wagner, on Morris Island (last Saturday) when the steamer landed the troops." The troops were sent to repel those of the 54th Mass. Vols. under Colonel Robert Shaw. Includes W.J. Maxwell's written statement.

GLC09403

31 March 1864

Fleetwood, Christian, fl. 1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary Gibbs

Civil War letter of one of first African-American soldiers to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and the first honored by the Smithsonian, to "Mother Gibbs." "…the expedition brought in altogether 502 contrabands. I had the good fortune of being instrumental in freeing fifty or more of them…I had the pleasure of depriving our southern brethren of over fifty contrabands, four or five horses with carts, wagons etc [?], five or six teams with carts and a considerable part of their good temper. For all of which I am truly thankful."

GLC09405

August 30, 1864

King, Robert M., fl. 1863-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joshua King

King, an African-American soldier who served as Color Sergeant of Company K, 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment writes from Folly Island, SC to his father Joshua King in Ohio. "Father I want you to try & write little oftener then you doe write every week it is all the Consolation A Soldier has is to get letters from his Parriants & friends and loveers." King was killed at the Battle of Honey Hill on November 30, 1864.

GLC09406

1864

Stokes, George, fl. 1864

Manuscript document

Title: [Report on evacuating contrabands]

Union chaplain's report on evacuating contrabands. "I cannot help wonder at the management of the evacuation of Huntsville-a memorable event in the history of this wicked rebellion. The gov't property destroyed and the apparent determination that the colored people should be left in the hands of the fiends in human shape and when they had resolved to accompany the Federal troops that no guard should be left to protect them…Fifty or one hundred good cavalry men might have saved much property and many men women and children from rebel hands…I am still satisfied that the colored population can…

GLC09409

12 December 1864

Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard, 1809-1870

Autograph document signed

Title: to Gideon Welles

Telegram as commander of the South-Atlantic Squadron, to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, providing the first news from Sherman's army that the march to the sea had been successful: "I have just received a communication from Gen. Sherman's Army. It is a few miles from Savannah and in fine spirits. A dispatch is forwarded with this…. I shall bring all my available force into connection with the Army." Dahlgren learned the news by courier from Gen. O.O. Howard and immediately forwarded the crucial information to the government in Washington.

GLC09330

May 1863-April 1865

Clapp, George, fl. 1839-1892

Header Record

Title: [Collection of George C. Clapp] [word processed inventory available] [Decimalized .001- .124]

This collection is a series of letters and other items from Private George C. Clapp. Private Clapp was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was mustered into G Company of the 37th Massachusetts Infantry on July 15, 1862 when he was a 23-year-old bookbinder. The regiment then journeyed to Washington D.C. and became part of the Army of the Potomac. As part of the Army of the Potomac, Clapp saw battle at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania. On September 19, 1864, Clapp was severely wounded in the shoulder in Winchester, Virginia. He was officially discharged for his wounds on April…

GLC09355

1861-1863

Dunn, Thomas, fl. 1861-1863

Diary

Title: [Diary of Thomas Dunn]

Diary of a soldier in the 25th Ohio Regiment, with wonderful content on the campaigns and battles of the eastern theater, such as Second Bull Run (1862): "August the 31st. the roads was just lined with ambulances and coaches from Washington city they came after the wounded." Dunn's diary ends on April 20, 1863, just before the Battle of Chancellorsville. He sent it home to his mother with instructions, "please mother to keep this Book for me until I get home." He died a little over two months later at the Battle of Gettysburg.

GLC09356

3 January 1863

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his friends

Writes to friends from Camp Douglas. Discusses a terrible storm and the cold weather. Comments he does not believe he has seen colder weather. Writes the soldiers are freezing and the prisoners are suffering, and many of them have died. Reports it is the coldest weather that the West has seen. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner.

GLC03523.52.03

July 1862

Broadside

Title: News by Telegraph.

Headlines "Good News by McClellan! The Rebels Beaten in the F[i]ght of Tuesday!" reporting the Seven Days Battles; article on "The Army Signal Corps-How Intelligence is Transmitted"; and reactions to "the news of the sanction given by the people of Illinois, by a heavy majority, to the exclusion of negroes from the right of suffrage, and the prohibition of their admission into the State."

GLC09303

19 March 1879

Porter, Fitz-John, 1822-1901

Pamphlet signed

Title: Report of the Board of Officers in the Case of Fitz-John Porter...

"Report of the Board of Officers in the Case of Fitz-John Porter, Late Major-General of Volunteers" published by the Army and Navy Gazette. Annuls Porter's 1863 court-martial and restores his position of major general. Includes transcriptions of communications between Porter and General Pope before the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, after which Porter was arrested for actions that Pope said led to the Union defeat.

GLC09312

1862-1864

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Manuscript document

Title: [Union orderly book]

Union orderly book primarily from the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, with orders from various army and regimental officers, including General Sherman: "Special Orders No. 62" [issued by Sherman, near September 3, 1864]: "The Genl. Commanding announces with great pleasure, that our troops under Maj. Genl. Slocum occupied Atlanta yesterday at 11 oclock AM. The enemy having evacuated the night before, destroying vast magazines and stores, and blowing up along their route eighty car loads of ammunition which accounts for sounds heard by us on the night of the 1st inst. Your task has been well done."

GLC09313

July 1862

Broadside

Title: News by Telegraph

Includes the New York Herald's reports of McClellan's battles in the Peninsular Campaign; summarizes the news recently received from Europe; reports on "The Colored Race in Illinois" concerning the denial of "negroes" the right to vote in Illinois.

GLC09314

1862-1865

Boston, John W., fl. 1862-1865

Header Record

Title: [Collection of Union private John W. Boston] [Decimalized .01- .52]

52 articulate letters of Union Pvt. John W. Boston, Company A, 81st Ohio Volunteers, between October 1862 and July 1865. Describes fighting in Sherman's Atlanta Campaign at Corinth and Resaca; also describes the March to the Sea. "[Camp Limy 10/13/62] I would love to come home and see you all before I go to Dixie for when we leave we will soon be in an engagement and in danger but we have to stand our chances with the rest but I go not for the money but for our Government and if I die I die a soldier and not a coward we are to be armed and equipped for the 81 Regiment and I expect to be…

GLC09315

21 September 1862

Fales, Charles L., fl. 1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Adelaide Fales

Captured after a Union bayonet charge at Second Bull Run: "...when we charged bayonets and rushed with a yell on to the railroad. The rebels poured the shot with us fast but we drove them away and held the railroad....They shot some men after they surrendered. I expected to get killed one fellow rushed up to me with his bayonet and asked me if I wanted to die, I told him I did not care. He with several others marched me off."

GLC09316

1862-1865

Tinker, S.F., fl. 1862-1865

Diary

Title: [3 war-date diaries]

Union engineer or bridge-builder's three war-date diaries, describing work done from Harper's Ferry to the Atlanta Campaign: "Had the pleasure of seeing Uncle Abe and riding on a special train with him down Sandy Hook to Harpers Ferry. McClellan was here also, Burnside and quite a number of other officers.…I was in the little fort which John Brown held in his possession for 48 hours against the combined forces of Virginia and it is only a little brick building with iron doors, they are now selling hides in it."

GLC09317

21 November 1863

Thomas, Lorenzo, 1804-1875

Document signed

Title: to R.L. Wilson

As Brig. General and Adj. General, to R. L. Wilson: "...You are hereby informed that the President of the United States has appointed you First Lieutenant in the Seventh Regiment Louisiana Volunteers of African Descent."

GLC09318

March 7, 1863

Clark, Alex M., fl. 1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sara McMillan

Captain in the 8th Regiment Iowa Infantry, earlier taken prisoner at Shiloh and later paroled: "My vengeful feelings are the hardest to keep down, when thinking of those in the free North, who would prefer giving up to that Tyrant, Jeff. Davis who is trying to establish a government the corner stone of which is oppression....We…are fighting…for the principles that are, or ought to be, dearer than life, Liberty, Freedom from the oppression of the basest of tyrants."

GLC09319

1864-1865

Hilliard, Thomas B., fl. 1864-1865

Diary

Title: [Diary of private in 50th Penn. Infantry]

Diary of private in 50th Pennsylvania Infantry, with entries from Sept. 1864 through June 1865, encompassing the close of the war: "Today the election took place for President of the United States everything moved off quietly majority for Lincoln in the 50th Regiment.... news of Sheridan's victory on the left rebels still retreating... [April 1865] a great talk of peace...2000 prisoners taken to City Point...considerable talk about the death of Lincoln."

GLC09320

1864

Richardson, W., fl. 1800-1810

Map

Title: [Battle map]

Hand-drawn battle map of the movements of the 23rd Army Corps during the siege of Atlanta, with positions of the Union and Confederate forces in Resaca, Marietta, and Atlanta.

GLC09321

9 October 1864

Hotchkin, W.S., fl. 1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: To Parenle

Soldier in the 1st New York Engineers: "One of our company was shot while at work on the parapet of the fort. He was shot through the heart by a Rebel Sharpshooter and instantly killed.… [Colonel] blamed the sergeant in command of the squad for letting him get in so exposed a situation."

GLC09323

circa 1860-1865

McSherry, Henry F., fl. 1837

Header Record

Title: [Collection of Henry F. McSherry] [Decimalized .01- .40]

37 letters and documents pertaining to Assistant Surgeon of Martinsburg, [West] Virginia, who served in the U.S. Navy throughout the war. Letters from his family contain good wartime content, from Union supporters in the South. Includes July 1860 Navy Department commission issued to McSherry; a poem dedicated to two local Confederate soldier brothers who "fell in the battle of Manassas… standing side by side. At the same instant, both, mortally wounded"; a telegram from McSherry's father dated May 17, 1861, which simply states "Do not resign." Letter of 5/1/1865 has observations of Lee and…

GLC09324

15 July 1865

Van Wyck, C.H., fl. 1865

Broadside

Title: General Orders No, 3

Brig. Gen. commanding Military District of Western South Carolina during the Southern Occupation period, orders equal rights for the newly freed black population. Recounts incidents of abuse of freedmen and threatens punishment if such acts continue: "Like offences will be severely punished some very wicked men by disregarding the rights of the freedmen render necessary the presence of military power to prevent that which they ought not do however obnoxious it may be, every man is free and must be treated as such you cannot expect the sudden change in your system of labor to work smoothly."

GLC09325

February 12, 1863

Logan, John Alexander, 1826-1886

Printed letter

Title: To My Fellow Soldiers (Circular Letter)

Gen. "Black Jack" Logan encourages his Union troops, writing from "Headquarters, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps" in Memphis, TN: "The day is not far distant, when traitors and cowards North and South, will cower before the indignation of an outraged people. March Bravely Forward! Nerve your strong arms to the task of overthrowing every obstacle in the pathway of victory until with shouts of triumph the last gun is fired that proclaims us a United People under the old Flag and one Government. Patriot soldiers!"

GLC09333

25 May 1863

Breese, Kidder Randolph, 1831-1881

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Eugene Mack

During the Vicksburg bombardment, the Union naval commander on board the flagship Black Hawk sends urgent orders to gunner Eugene Mack. "The bearer of this brings fifty men detailed to work the mortars. Man as many as possible with them and relieve our men. Let one of the old mortar men attend on each boat until these Soldiers are sufficiently instructed to work them.... I want as many of our men sent back as can be spared as it will take all our force to keep the mortars supplied with ammunition.... All the iron mortar boats will be sent down as fast as possible and they are to be put in…

GLC09334