12 September 1864

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

Autograph endorsement signed

Title: [Multiple endorsements on a letter to General William D. Whipple]

Endorsed 12 September by Sherman, who orders the recipient to report to Major General Howard (Oliver Otis Howard). Endorsed 28 August 1864 by General George Henry Thomas, who forwards the document to Sherman; endorsed and forwarded 25 August 1864 by General Jefferson Columbus Davis; endorsed and forwarded 24 August 1864 by General James D. Morgan; endorsed and forwarded 23 August 1864 by John Grant Mitchell, Colonel Commanding. Contains the endorsements of General Thomas E. G. Ransom and [Sam Lesaggart?], Assistant Adjutant General, regarding the relief of Lieutenant [Beens?]. Endorsed by…

GLC03688

February 22, 1862

Polk, Leonidas, 1806-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Ulysses S. Grant

Polk, Confederate Major General Commanding, writes to Union General Grant requesting that families of officers captured at Fort Donelson, including General Simon Buckner be allowed to visit. Mentions that the Confederate forces allowed the families of Union officers to visit after the Battle of Belmont.

GLC03690

19 June 1771

Lee, Richard Henry, 1732-1794

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William Lee

Signed with initials "RHL". Describes the Regulator movement in North Carolina, a rebellion by backcountry farmers against lawyers, whose high legal fees and manipulation of debt laws were hurting them. North Carolina Governor William Tryon, although he claimed to agree with the insurgents, resorted to suppression by force: he "fell upon the unsuspecting multitudes and made great slaughter with cannons." The royal governor needed more than a thousand troops to defeat the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771.

GLC03719

12 May 1780

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Philip Mazzei] re: Virginia loan in Europe & British blockade of Charleston

Written as Gov. of Virginia. Jefferson alludes at the end to his hopes that Gen. Benjamin Lincoln would hold Charleston, but his hopes were dashed in the event.

GLC03735

5 April 1865

Header Record

Title: Letter and printed document related to the fall of Richmond during the Civil War [Decimalized .01-.02]

See descriptions in GLC03744.01-02

GLC03744

1861-1864

McPherson, James Birdseye, 1828-1864

Diary

Title: [James B. McPherson diary describing early Union successes in the western theatre.]

Notebook with McPherson's diary discussing the western theatre under Grant, with some 1861 diary entries relating to Fort Donelson, diagrams on making pickets, lists of artillery at different forts, and a hand-drawn map of Chickasaw (from 1864). Written from various locations.

GLC03746.01

28 June 1863

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert E. Lee

Reviews confederate military position on the eve on Gettysburg. Discusses General U.S. Grant's entrenchment at the Mississippi and attempt to take Vicksburg from General Joseph Johnston. Mentions the need to reinforce Johnston with troops from Generals P.T. Beauregard and Braxton Bragg, who also face attack. Also discusses rumors of an attack on Richmond, and preparations to defend the city. Because of the potential attack, Davis cannot send Lee many reinforcements. Mentions unverified reports that General W.F. Lee has been captured. Davis concludes by expressing regret that he does not…

GLC03778

1863-1888

Caulkins, Clarence, fl. 1863-1865

Header Record

Title: [Collection of letters belonging to Clarence Calkins, 1863-1888][Decimalized .01-.46]

Collection of letters belonging to Clarence Calkins dated 1863-1888. Correspondence is primarily sent between Clarence to his family members; Samuel J. Calkins, his father; Nettie and Nellie his sisters; and his brother Oscar Calkins. Contents pertains to Petersburg, and prisoners of war at Libby and Danville where Clarence Calkins was likely held. Also included are freemasons ephemera.

GLC03766

3 May 1780

Dundas, Ralph, 1732-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Dundas

Dundas, Captain of H. M. S. Bonetta, informs his brother James he is still alive despite "having suffered more Hardships from the 4 of Oct last than in all the rest of my Lifetime put together." Relates that he sailed into New Providence, Bahamas, after encountering continual storms during the passage. Recounts that he allowed his men to recover and refit the ship before they sailed for Charleston. Informs James of the surrender of Charleston, which he claims took place 2 May. Relates that Captain Elphingstone will transmit a newspaper to England reporting the battle and surrender.…

GLC03676.01

1863-1864

Moore, Isaac H., fl. 1863-1864

Diary

Title: [Diary of Isaac H. Moore, B company, 138th regiment, Pennsylvania, infantry]

Autograph manuscript signed of Isaac H. Moore, a sergeant in 138th regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 6th Corps. Diary is written largely in pen. Discusses the campaign of the Army of the Potomac from May to August 1864, as well as Sheridan's Valley campaign of August to October of 1864. Also contains accounts of clothing bills from September 1863-February 1865, a list of camps and places of rendezvous for 1862-65, and a list of casualties in B Company from November 1863 to July 1864.

GLC03131.03

1862-1865

Richie, Joseph, 1862-1865

Diary

Title: [History of 157th regiment Pennsylvania volunteers]

Autograph manuscript. Noted as a copy and signed "Thomas E. Carter" on page one. Not really a diary, although first three pages contain information that Richie received the book on 5 September 1864, the day Private Joseph Richie Co. C, 157th Pennsylvania Volunteers was appointed "Acting Quartermaster Sergeant of this Battalion" and next two pages may have real diary entries. The substance of the book is a seventeen page "History of the 157th Penna Vols." The history begins on 5 October 1862 and continues to 3 July 1865. Describes the methods of recruitment used, movements of the…

GLC03131.13

1847-1912

Wells, Hiram C., fl. 1825-1900

Manuscript

Title: [Collection of Hiram C. Wells]

The collection includes his 1863 diary, military papers and personal and legal papers (mostly pre and post-war). Gives good view of life in cavalry with skirmishes, scouts, etc. Regiment took part in siege of Knoxville. Wells was later captured, imprisoned at Andersonville, and on the Sultana when it exploded, subjects covered in manuscript written in 1880s (includes typed transcript). The diary is approximately 106 pages and spans over the year 1863.

GLC03131.15

1859-1907

Clegg, William, fl. 1859-1907

Header Record

Title: [Collection of William Clegg, I company, 2nd regiment, Louisiana, infantry] [decimalized]

Collection includes nine letters, one newspaper clipping with ribbon, one diary, one ledger, and one photograph. Four envelopes are included. Letters are written from various people and include recommendations for Clegg, reflections of the War, and various other topics. Diary mostly consists of entries on camp life, marching, and some fighting.

GLC03133

February 22, 1865

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Edwin M. Stanton

Marked Cipher at top and copy on verso. Grant writes to the Secretary of War that he had a 100 gun salute fired yesterday for the capture of Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, and has sent out Stanton's order to have it repeated.

GLC03923

1758-1788

Mauger, Joshua, 1725-1788

Header Record

Title: Archive of correspondence re: Nova Scotia politics and mercantile affairs [partially decimalized]

Also mentions the Stamp Act, Bunker Hill and early Revolutionary War. Joshua Mauger Collection. [various places]: 343 items, 1619-1789 (bulk: 1763-1785). The greater part of the collection consists of 249 letters to Mauger, dealing primarily with his business interests in Nova Scotia and England. It also includes 4 letterbooks, letter copies written by Mauger while living in Halifax and England, and financial papers such as accounts, bonds and indentures owed to Mauger. Joshua Mauger (1725-1788) was a merchant who built his fortune through trade and alcohol distilling in British Nova…

GLC03902

13 June 1861

Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893

Letter signed

Title: to Elizabeth Winthrop

Following the 10 June 1861 Battle of Big Bethel, General Butler writes a letter of sympathy to Winthrop, informing her of the death of Major Theodore Winthrop, her son. States "After Major Winthrop had delivered the order with which he was charged to the Commander of the Regiment, he took his rifle and while his guide held his horse in the woods in the rear with too daring bravery went to the front; while there stepping upon a log to get a fell view of the foe, he received the fatal shot ..." Informs Mrs. Winthrop that because Theodore was so close to enemy lines, Union troops could not…

GLC03915.01

December 1866

Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905

Autograph manuscript

Title: [draft account of cavalry operations of Army of Northern Virginia]

Draft account of cavalry operations sent to Robert E. Lee, detailing actions of Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division during May through June 1864, from Grant's crossing of the Rapidan River through the death of General J.E.B. Stuart. Details movement of his forces, battles fought, and general events during the time period. Laments the death General Stuart. Also discusses Union African American troops, whom he accuses of committing "outrages."

GLC03917

1897-1916

Mosby, John S., 1833-1916

Header Record

Title: to Sam Chapman re: letters on slavery, the war, Lincoln, Grant, Lee, Stuart [decimalized]

A collection of letters from John Singleton Mosby, of Warrenton, Virginia, to Samuel Chapman of Covington, Virginia, most written on stationery of the Department of Justice. (Other recipients are noted in the inventory.) The letters discuss the Civil War, Reconstruction and American attempts to reevaluate the war, its causes and actors. Many of these letters are written while Mosby served as an Assistant Attorney for the Department of Justice (1904-1910). Mosby's letters demonstrate his conciliatory attitude towards the North. He supported President Grant's legacy of reconstruction, and…

GLC03921

January 17, 1862

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Autograph endorsement signed

Title: [Grant endorsement on exchange of prisoners taken at Battle of Belmont]

Union Brigadier General Grant reports on Federal prisoners taken at Belmont on 7 November 1861. "Nothing special has been heard from Federal prisoners for some time. I believe they are yet in Memphis." Endorsement written on the verso of a 17 January 1862 letter from Nathaniel B. Baker to Major General Henry Halleck requesting information about the exchange of prisoners taken by the Confederates at the battle of Belmont. Asks specifically about Captain Crabb of the Iowa 7th Infantry or any other Iowa soldier or officer. Written on State of Iowa, Adjutant General's Office stationery.…

GLC04003

29 April 1885

Johnson, Badley T., 1829-1903

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Campbell Brown

Doubts that Beauregard ever had a "lost order" at First Manassas. Believes that there was never a missing battle plan, as some have asserted.

GLC04015

22 April 1865

Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905

Manuscript document signed

Title: to Walter Taylor

Submits a report of the operations of his command, the Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia from 28 March to 9 April 1865, the days leading up to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Detailed account of troop movements, skirmishes with Union forces, and the number of captured, wounded, and killed. Reports being joined by the divisions of Generals William Henry Fitz Lee and Thomas L. Rosser. Indicates that they attacked Sheridan's cavalry at Five Forks. Describes events leading up to the army withdrawing from Petersburg. Praises commanding generals W. H. F. Lee, Rosser, Thomas T. Munford,…

GLC04019

circa 1880

Kell, John McIntosh, 1823-1900

Autograph manuscript

Title: [Account of battle between C.S.S. Alabama and U.S.S. Kearsarge]

Writes about the battle between the C.S.S. Alabama and U.S.S. Kearsarge, which "took place in the English Channel, about seven miles distant from the port of Cherbourg, France on the 19th day of June 1864." On first and second pages, gives details about the building of the Alabama and its capabilities as "a complete Steamer & Sailing ship" with eight guns. On the third page, describes the Alabama's captain, "the Gallant Semmes, Brainy in intellect, Wiry in build & indefatigable in work." Lists the rest of the crew. From the fifth to the eighth page, describes the action…

GLC04022

11 April 1864

Taylor, Richard, 1826-1879

Manuscript letter

Title: [Soldiers of the Army of Western Louisiana!]

Congratulatory special order to his troops after two victorious battles. Praises his men extensively for their valor at the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana on 8 April, and Pleasant Hill, Louisiana on 9 April. Lists prisoners taken and equipment captured. Rallies the men to stay strong as there is still more work to be done.

GLC04024

January 1863

Map

Title: [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. Harding's quarters, the commissary, magazine, post office, jail, and hospital. Made sometimes around the Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1863.

GLC04042.01

28 May 1782

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Arthur Lee

Reports on intelligence received from the arrival of USS Alliance and a French cutter ship, commenting on British attempts to weaken the American-French alliance. Discusses the diplomatic efforts of John Adams, Francis Dana, Robert Livingston, and John Jay in Europe. Mentions the capitulation of Yorktown and the good acquired. Comments on conflicting reports of activities in the West Indies. Ventures the opinion that "every triumph of enemy on the ocean is rather a new argument to all of Europe in favor of our independence." Closes with comments about the need for greater representation…

GLC03930