1 January 1865

Woolston, Charles, fl. 1864-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Woolston

Writes from the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac. Writes to his mother in Tullytown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Describes how they were summoned out of bed to confront attacking Rebels who they were able to drive away. Writes that they may get paid in two weeks, but that it could be in six months. Wants to send money home but states that most letters with money in it never reach their destination. Mentions some acquaintances. Informs that he has not received his box yet and that he has heard that no boxes have left Washington since December 20th.

GLC03523.26.05

6 January 1865

Woolston, Charles, fl. 1864-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Woolston

Written from headquarters of the Army of the Potomac. Writes to his mother in Tullytown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Reports that he is well and received his box. Reports that a man was shot nearby for desertion. Discusses his discharge and is worried that if his father puts up the money, they still might not give him the discharge papers. Writes, "there is a Rebel Congressman in the house at Washington a trying to Negotiate peace none of the soldiers here want to see peace ... when our armies if on the point of victory they dont want to see a dishonerable peace." Describes seeing…

GLC03523.26.06

8 December 1864

Woolston, Charles, fl. 1864-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Benjamin A. Woolston

Written from Headquarters, Army of the Potomac. Writes to his father in Tullytown, Bucks County, Pennslyvania. States that his regiment left camp on marching orders and came across the 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry and the 6th Ohio Cavalry. Describes an engagement with the Confederates, "...when the 13 advanced about 200 yards to the creek where they were met by the Rebs with a yell but they were not so easily scared and a general engagement took place our Cavilry being on one side and the Rebel Infantry on the other after about 1/2 an hours fight our men finding that they could not cross the…

GLC03523.26.04

16 April 1865

Woolston, Charles, fl. 1864-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Benjamin A. Wooston and Maria Woolston

Written from headquarters of the Army of the Potomac. Writes to his parents in Tullytown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Reports that they broke camp in front of Petersburg on 28 March, forced the Confederate forces out of Petersburg, and chased them within 18 or 20 miles of Lynchburg. Writes about the last day of the Appomattox campaign, "...Sheridan got around them and when Lee went to move on the morning of Aprile the 9th he came against our skirmishd line to his surprise and here ended his career he fought desperately that morning we got there just after it had ended..." Informs that…

GLC03523.26.08

1864

Gottshall, Samuel G., 1841-1902

Diary

Title: [Diary of Samuel G. Gottshall] [Incomplete]

Leather bound manuscript signed. First entry is not logged down until 18 February 1864. On 25 March, he reports that General Ulysses Grant is visiting. Reports on the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. Reports of heavy fighting from May through the 24th, right when his enlistment expired. On 5 May, he relates how "we crossed the Rabidan 1 p.m. fight commenced on plank road 11 p.m." On 6 May he reports, "fighting heavy," then a few hours later "still heavy fighting." Writes on 11 May that Company A is reported to have "suffered severely in loss… a regular engagement took place in…

GLC04564.05

January 5, 1863

Gorsuch, Joseph B., 1834-1908

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph Curtis

Written on the Mississippi River. Gorsuch, Captain of the 83rd Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, writes to his uncle in Hamilton, Ohio regarding the recent Battle of Chickasaw Bayou. He relates that his regiment left Memphis, Tennessee on December 23, 1861 and sailed toward Vicksburg, Mississippi (possibly on the Mississippi River). He mentions foliage, sawmills, and plantations visible from the river. He reports the destruction of Confederate rail lines, cotton gins, and bridges. He relates that his men went six miles up the Yazoo River, and waited outside of Vicksburg before battle began on…

GLC00653.09.01

January 5, 1862

Gorsuch, Joseph B., 1834-1908

Map

Title: [Depiction of the battle of Chickasaw Bayou]

Drawn by Gorsuch, Captain of the 83rd Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Depicts the Yazoo River, fleet location, Confederate fortifications, Chickasaw Bayou, the Mississippi River, and the Vicksburg Texas Railroad, among other details. Indicates the line of battle, position of Gorsuch's regiment, and Union batteries. This map is possibly the map transmitted within a letter Gorsuch wrote to his uncle Joseph Curtis 5 January 1863 (refer to GLC00653.09.01). Fragile, including a slightly torn crease.

GLC00653.09.02

February 1, 1863

Gorsuch, Joseph B., 1834-1908

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph and his wife

Written in the field near Vicksburg, on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River. Gorsuch, Captain of the 83rd Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, discusses recent Union attempts to take Vicksburg, Mississippi by way of a constructed canal. He writes: "You need not be troubled but what we will take Vicksburg, but I confess that I consider it very doubtful whether we will now. If we do take it, it will be by very hard fighting. The rebels appreciate the importance of this point as well as we do... I hope that our Generals will not waste any more valuable lives... Bayonet charges are very…

GLC00653.09.03

1862

Gottshall, Samuel G., 1841-1902

Diary

Title: [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 Campaign), the Peninsula Campaign withdrawal (March through July 1862), Second Bull Run (28-30 August 1862), and South Mountain (Battle of South Mountain was fought on 14 September 1862), and being wounded by a cannonball. This cannonball is found in GLC04564.02. Writes of his recuperation in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he spent the rest of…

GLC04564.03

1863

Gottshall, Samuel G., 1841-1902

Diary

Title: [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] February he reports an insurrection taking place in which a regiment refused to do picket duty due to the location of their camp and the cold weather. Writes of another incidence that took place on 1 July where he was defending the baggage and supply train from Confederates, 2 miles from Hanover, Pennsylvania. Also discusses [Confederate…

GLC04564.04

23 September 1895

Van Brunt, Ralph, fl. 1865-1895

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles Chapman Grafton

Van Brunt recalls events of the Civil War Battle of Averasborough. Discusses the 16 March 1865 death of Captain James Ingersoll Grafton, Charles's brother. Discusses the battle in detail, mentioning Generals William T. Sherman, Joseph E. Johnston (spelled Johnson), and Hugh Judson Kilpatrick. Relates "We went into Camp at night at an Old Church, the grave yard of which offered the only high ground in one of the hardest rain storms I ever knew and lay down to sleep, among the graves very tired and wet to the bone. In two or three hours we were ordered to support the Cavalry... the enemy…

GLC08895.04

14 November 1777

Henry, Patrick, 1736-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Richard Henry Lee

Celebrates the American victory at Saratoga and discusses various operations concerning Virginia, including finances, legislation and military manouvers. Asks Lee's opinion regarding a potential foriegn loan. Written as Governor of Virginia. Signed twice by Henry, once with his initials.

GLC08973.01

1790-1791

Nourse, Joseph, 1754-1841

Manuscript document

Title: [Various documents related to Arthur St. Clair's 1791 Western expedition]

Copies of documents written by various persons related to Arthur St. Clair's failed 1791 Western expedition. Pages 1-5 contain the copy of a report written 10 January 1793 by Joseph Nourse, Register of the Treasury. Discusses the enlistment of levies and the debts and rations owed to officers who participated in the "March of the Army from Fort Washington into the Indian Country." Pages 6-7 contain letters from General Arthur St. Clair and Josiah Harmar to Henry Knox, Secretary of War. Page 6 contains a preface to the correspondence: "The report states the delay of furnishing the…

GLC02437.10357

21 May 1792

Fleming, George, 1748-1822

Manuscript document

Title: [Copies of documents related to Arthur St. Clair's 1791 Western expedition]

Pages one and two consist of a letter written by Fleming to Henry Knox 21 May from West Point. Defends his management of stores sent from West Point (a Congressional report recently cited mismanagement of the quartermaster and military stores departments as the main reason for the failure of St. Clair's Western expedition). Contains John Stagg's 14 January 1793 verification of Fleming's letter and an oath related to the same matter. Page 3 contains an "Abstract of the militia in the service of the United States on the frontiers of the State of Pennsylvania... May 1791" and an "Abstract of…

GLC02437.10358

2 May 1863

McParlin, Thomas A., 1825-1897

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: [Report of Service as Medical Director of the Army of Virginia during the summer of 1862]

The report sent to General William A. Hammond on 2 May 1863 (see GLC02649.02). Written mostly in a narrative form the report, with some charts, maps and other media included, provides a detailed and dramatic history of medical procedures and services during the Civil War in the summer of 1862. Discusses medical organization, logistics, supplies, depots, and hospitals. Provides lists of men injured by category (deserter, discharged, returned to duty, on furlough, remaining, died) and charts with types of injuries (of eye, of ear, dysentery, etc.). There is one map, apparently drawn by…

GLC02649.01

27 October 1864

Crane, Charles Henry, 1825-1883

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas McParlin

Major Crane, a surgeon and assistant to the Surgeon General, discusses financial matters with Dr. McParlin. Praises McParlin's work and notes that "The Secretary of War and the Surgeon General were much pleased with their visit." Indicates he will visit McParlin with a man named Abbott, and invites McParlin to his new home. Notes that "demonstrations have commenced on 'the left,' under Hancock, and I trust that, final and complete success may be speedily attained." Crane refers to Boydton Plank Road Engagement of Oct. 27, a Union attempt to take the South Side Railroad. Hancock was…

GLC02649.18

2 May 1863

McParlin, Thomas A., 1825-1897

Autograph letter signed

Title: to W.A. Hammond

Informs General Hammond that he has sent "a brief narrative of the chief events of interest, medical & surgical, during the campaign of the Army of VA in the summer of 1862" (see GLC02649.01). Apologizes for its sloppy, non-technical presentation and discusses some of its shortcomings. The letter contains several edits.

GLC02649.02

10 August 1862

McParlin, Thomas A., 1825-1897

Manuscript letter

Title: to A.L. Cox

Writes to Dr. Cox, the Brigade Surgeon in charge of hospitals, to order him to arrange for the wounded soldiers from Culpepper to be sent "by Rail Road immediately" to Alexandria, Virginia by authorization of Genl. Pope. An autograph note signed by McParlin on the bottom discusses the necessary paperwork and permissions being arranged. Written from the Headquarters of the Army of Virginia, "In the field beyond Culpepper." The Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862, resulted in over 1700 Federal casualties. GLC02649.10 is a draft in McParlin's hand.

GLC02649.07

11 August 1862

Clary, Robert E., 1805-1890

Letter

Title: to Thomas McParlin

Responds to McParlin's request to have wounded soldiers removed from Culpepper to Alexandria, Virginia (see GLC02649.07). Indicates that "Your note of yesterday relative to transportation for wounded did not reach me till after nine o'clock this morning. Orders have been given for forwarding the wounded and sick," for which he ordered thirty rail cars. Adds that twelve ambulances were received. With McParlin's signed endorsement that this is a "true copy."

GLC02649.08

10 August 1862

McParlin, Thomas A., 1825-1897

Autograph letter signed

Title: to A.L. Cox

Writes to Dr. Cox, the Brigade Surgeon in charge of hospitals, to order him to arrange for the wounded soldiers from Culpepper to be sent to Alexandria, Virginia. Written from the Headquarters of the Army of Virginia, "In the field beyond Culpepper." Written from the field following the August 9 Battle of Cedar Mountain. Original pencil draft of GLC02649.07.

GLC02649.10

1863

McParlin, Thomas A., 1825-1897

Autograph manuscript

Title: [Contemporary transcription of the Gettysburg Address]

Written on stationery of the Murray Hill Hotel in New York.

GLC02649.23

16 April 1866

Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas McParlin

Major General Meade informs McParlin that he has complied with his request for a recommendation (see GLC02649.30): "I think if any medical officers are entitled to the Brevet of Brig Genl it [is] these who like yourself stuck it out in the field and although whilst in the field I thought two brevets a fair proportion for my staff officers - I did not dream that these out of the field were going to get more and I consider it my duty to modify my recommendations as I have in your own case...I often think of our last campaign and how skillfully you treated me. I shall never forget the…

GLC02649.29

16 April 1866

Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles Hale Morgan

Major General Meade strongly recommends Dr. Thomas A. McParlin to Colonel Morgan for advancement in rank. Discusses details about military actions in the Civil War, and McParlin's role in them as an Army Surgeon and Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac. Notes that the campaign had more battles and heavier casualties (over 50,000) many any similar period during the war. Meade writes, "Surgeon McParlin reported to me as Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac in Jany. 1864, and continued to serve in that position till the army was disbanded in June 1865...the campaign from the…

GLC02649.30

22 April 1866

Pope, John, 1822-1892

Letter

Title: to Andrew Jackson Smith

Pope recommends to Major General Smith that McParlin be brevetted to the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel for his service on 29-30 August 1862 (Second Battle of Manassas) and Brigadier General for his service as Medical Director of the Army of Virginia since 1 September 1862. Recounts McParlin's service as a surgeon during combat and his expert handling of patients. In part: "He [McParlin] was present at the front in every engagement and it is not too much to say that from first to last he not only performed his duties with ability - and fidelity, but that his whole conduct was…

GLC02649.31

3 May 1866

Pope, John, 1822-1892

Letter

Title: to Andrew Jackson Smith

A copy of GLC02649.31 (so marked), but with a different place of address and date. Pope recommends to Major General Smith that McParlin be brevetted to the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel for his service on 29-30 August 1862 (Second Battle of Manassas) and Brigadier General for his service as Medical Director of the Army of Virginia since 1 September 1862. Recounts McParlin's service as a surgeon during combat and his expert handling of patients. In part: "He [McParlin] was present at the front in every engagement and it is not too much to say that from first to last he not only…

GLC02649.32