October 20, 1781-December 19, 1781

Autograph manuscript

Title: [1781 military orderly book]

Mentions regiments from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Entries relate to daily orders, court martials, troop duties and movement, equipment and supplies, arms, and clothing. Assigns the officers for each day. Entry on 29 October 1781 discusses British General Charles Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown which occurred 19 October 1781. Entry on 9 November 1781 reports on a raid launched by British, Loyalist, and Indian forces in the Mohawk Valley, New York, led by Major John Ross, who was met by American Colonel Marinus Willett and defeated. This occurred 20-30…

GLC01450.015

1763-1783

Leland, Patrick, fl. 1763-1783

Document

Title: [Regimental petition of Patrick Leland]

Petition stating that Leland was discharged from Lord Blakeney's regiment and recommended to the British Royal Bounty of Chelsea, but was taken prisoner by the enemy. He was a prisoner in Port au Prince, Haiti for 7 months, and then was sent home by Governor Moore in Jamaica by ship. He did duty as a marine for 4 months. Requests his pay. Lord Blakeney possibly refers to Baron William Blakeney, lieutenant-governor and lieutenant-general of Minorca in 1747.

GLC01450.070

April 12, 1781

McMichael, Edward, fl. 1781

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Thomas] Ward

Letter written by McMichael as a Loyalist Captain in the British Army. As a lieutenant in the Continental Army he deserted from his post at Fort Schuyler in August 1776 to join the British. McMichael was taken prisoner out of a flag of truce at Elizabethtown, probably on April 9, 1781. Lieutenant Samuel Seely of the New Jersey militia was then sent behind British lines, probably to work out a prisoner exchange. McMichael then received the "disagreeable news" that Seely was detained by Ward on the armed sloop the "Neptune," which was in New York Harbor. Says Seely was doing work for him and…

GLC01450.089

June 16, 1780

Campbell, Patrick, fl. 1780

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Duncan Campbell

Informs that the bills for 700 pounds that he was so concerned about have been brought in from the rebels by a friend who was also a prisoner. States that being a prisoner has gotten the better of him but the Commander in Chief has intimated to him that he may be able to purchase a recently vacated commission of Major. He thanks his father for the money and says he has saved 400 pounds and expects to be able to pay him back in less than two years. Pat Campbell was a soldier in the British army.

GLC01450.102

30 April 1777

Loring, Joshua, 1744-1789

Document signed

Title: [Permit for prisoner exchange]

Co-signed by General Sir William Howe and his aide-de-camp N. Rose. Permit issued by Joshua Loring, British Commissioner of Prisoners, giving permission to William Taylor to facilitate an exchange of American prisoners Richard McKnight and Thomas Little for British prisoners Peter Campbell and Charles Harrison in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Note on verso says George Washington sanctions the exchange of prisoners.

GLC01412.28

March 14, 1783

Metcalf, John, fl. 1783

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Jonathan Metcalf

Letter written by John Metcalf, a captured Continental soldier on the prison ship Jersey in New York Harbor, to his father in Dedham, Massachusetts. Says he enjoys "tollerable good health" and was assisted by a Dr. Bacon of Salem, Massachusetts. Tells his father he has been there a month and sees no prospect for a quick release. Says conditions on the ship are "horrid beyond Description." During the first part of the winter he claimed 10, 15, or 20 prisoners died a day. Says health is better on the ship since there are fewer people on board.

GLC01412.01

22 November 1776

Weare, Meshech, 1713-1786

Document signed

Title: to the keeper of the goal in the county of Hillsborough

Weare signs as Chairman of the New Hampshire Committee of Safety. Prisoner transfer document to the keeper of the jail in Hillsborough County. Includes names of Tory prisoners from New York who were "violently disaffected with the Measures pursuing by the American States" that are being moved to New Hampshire. Also includes instructions to the keeper on what to do with the prisoners.

GLC01412.30

April 17, 1777

Boudinot, Elias, 1740-1821

Letter signed

Title: to Richard Caswell

Boudinot, as Commissary General of Prisoners, asks North Carolina Governor Caswell to send a return on expenses, disbursements, vouchers, and other statistics on prisoners in the state to balance accounts so that prisoner exchanges with General Sir William Howe can be facilitated.

GLC01412.41

12 March 1788

Martin, Peter, fl. 1778

Document signed

Title: [Receipt acknowledging funds]

Co-signed by John Delka. Martin and Delka were exchanged prisoners returning to South Carolina. Document is a receipt acknowledging Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress, had lent them sixty dollars for their trip home.

GLC01412.64.04

5 September 1780

Blake, Increase, fl. 1780

Autograph document signed

Title: Prisoners in Worcester Goal

List of five prisoners in the Worcester, Massachusetts, jail. Also mentions reasons for imprisonment: two for not paying ministerial taxes, one for desertion, one as a prisoner of war, and one for threatening the life of another person in Worcester.

GLC01412.64.14

1863-1864

Leslie, Joseph, fl. 1863-1864

Diary

Title: [Diary of Joseph Leslie 18th regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company D]

Several pages in the diary have names and regiments of different officers from New York, Ohio, Michigan, etc., who were prisoners with him. Includes several pages of Libby Prison expenses/accounting of what he paid for crackers, paper, tobacco, bread, onions, soap, and other items. There are nine pages of Union and Confederate generals who died or were killed in action with their place of death including, Chantilly, Antietam, Gettysburg, Wilsons Creek, Shiloh, Manassas, Vicksburg, Corinth, Perryville, etc. At the back are 12 pages of poetry and verse Leslie composed while in Libby…

GLC01185

May 27, 1782

Hazen, Moses, 1733-1803

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Benjamin Lincoln

Written by Hazen as commander of prisoners at Lancaster, Pennsylvania during the Huddy-Asgill Affair to Lincoln as Secretary of War. References letters of General Washington from May 4 and 18, 1782, which he received on May 25, 1782. Writes that lots were drawn and Captain Charles Asgill was chosen to be executed in retaliation for the hanging of Captain Joshua Huddy. Asgill was a seventeen-year old youth, "a most amiable character, an extensive fortune and great interest in the British Court and Army." Says the British officers are enraged at Sir Henry Clinton's conduct and that they want…

GLC01147

July 10, 1777

Livingston, William, 1723-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Samuel Hayes

Livingston, writing as the president of the New Jersey council of safety, sends Hayes a "List of disaffected Persons to be apprehended by Maj. Hay[e]s & his party, & to be sent to Morris Gaol [a jail]." The list appears on a separate page and contains the names of forty eight Tories.

GLC01150

July 26, 1836

Santa Anna, Antonio López de, 1794-1876

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Francisco Martinez

Letter written in Spanish while he was held captive in Texas. He asks that a letter be sent to his wife. Martinez was a Mexican consul in New Orleans. The letter was to be delivered through the Semano Brothers at the Consulate at Vera Cruz.

GLC01164

December 1861

Header Record

Title: Items related to the capture of three men in Apalachicola, Florida. [Decimalized .01-.02]

GLC01430.05

April 10, 1864

Lindsay, A.G., fl. 1860

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Gen. John G. Walker

Lindsay writes on behalf of General Richard Taylor. Reports on the Battle of Pleasant Hill. States that Confederate troops are now occupying Pleasant Hill and that Union forces have retreated. He lists prisoners taken, captured stores, and Confederate losses. Lindsay signed as Major and Acting Assistant Inspector General, District of Louisiana. Includes a collateral biographical note written at a later date.

GLC01405

1776

Stearns, Samuel, 1741-1809

Autograph manuscript

Title: The North-American's Almanack, and Gentleman's and Lady's Diary

Printed by I. Thomas of Worchester, B. Edes of Watertown, and another printer (name lost to text loss) in Cambridge. With interleaved and bound-in diary of Reverend Joseph Lee of Concord containing accounts of his daily life. Most important entries deal with troop movements around Crown Point and Ticonderoga. The printed portion includes advice on health of soldiers and descriptions of a Tory and a Whig. Lee was tried by his fellow citizens as a Tory in April 1775 and confined to his farm until June 1776. During his confinement he was ignored by the rest of Concord and shot at by passing…

GLC01846

December 9, 1864

Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878

Letter signed

Title: to Lester A. Beardslee

Written by Secretary of the Navy Welles to Lieutenant Commander Beardslee of the USS "Wachusett." References Beardslee's letter of 4 December, which contained information on the effects of Commander Morris, late of the captured steamer CSS "Florida." The items were scattered about the cabin of the ship. Welles makes reference to several good will gestures Morris made before he was captured and gives permission for the items to be returned. Orders Beardslee to give the items to the paymaster of the yard. Beardslee was involved in the capture of the "Florida," under the command of Commander…

GLC01920.04

1864

Sears, Edward H., fl. 1861-1886

Autograph album

Title: [Libby prison autograph album with sketches of Union prisoners of war]

Signed by U. S. Navy Lieutenant Sears "with his mark". Hand drawn titlepage and watercolor drawings of Libby Prison and Castle Thunder. Also contains a sketch of a prisoner of war titled "Prison scene" with the quote, "Gentlemen, I wish to God I was exchanged." Signed by "F. Millward. del." Includes signatures of many Union officers confined as P.O.W.s at Castle Thunder and Libby Prison, Richmond. Among the autographs are those of Union generals Neal Dow, Eliakim Scammon and Henry Walton Wessells. Also signing are future brevet generals Robert S. Northcott, Stephen Moffitt, William G. Ely…

GLC01885

December 7, 1863

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

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Eli Long

Sherman writes to Colonel Long (later General) ordering him to mount his cavalry to raid and capture a Confederate train that passed into the mountains toward Georgia. Advises him to, "Take all the horses, mules and animals that you can from citizens and make all captives of prisoners and enemies property that you can." Instructs him to cause as much confusion and alarm as possible. States that he (Sherman) will hold a force at Telico Plains at Columbus until Long returns and will try to have supplies waiting. Encourages Long by saying, "You have already done good and hard service. Do this at…

GLC01887

February 11, 1865

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William Hoffman

Scott writes to Hoffman expressing gratitude for Lincoln's approval of parole. Hoffman was Commissary General of Prisoners. Scott also thanks him and asks that a letter be forwarded to his nephew. The younger Scott came from Bellfield, VA.

GLC01889.02

February 13, 1865

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William Hoffman

Scott writes to Hoffman requesting safe passage for Scott's nephew.

GLC01889.03

February 16, 1865

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William Hoffman

Scott writes to Hoffman thanking him for his help. Scott also remarks of Lincoln's help that "[n]othing could have been more delicate & kind."

GLC01889.04

7 November 1863

Long, Eli, 1837-1903

Autograph letter signed

Title: [Statement of the military service of Colonel Long]

Written when Long commanded the 2nd brigade, 2nd division of Cavalry, Army of the Cumberland. Documents Long's service, beginning with his graduation from the Kentucky Military Institute in 1855. Notes his pre-war service, and a post at Fort Riley, Kansas. Remarks, "In my service in the west I think I can safely say that I did as hard duty and as much of it as any Officer of my Regiment." Went to Kentucky for service in February 1862. Mentions Generals Buell, Rosecrans, Stanley, and Crook, among others. Cites the battles of Corinth, Perryville, Chaplin Hill, and Murfreesboro. Writes, "…

GLC01901

31 October 1864

Beardslee, Lester Anthony, 1836-1903

Letter

Title: to Napoleon Collins

Copy of letter written by Lieutenant Commander Beardslee to Commander Collins. Beardslee's signature is in a clerical hand. Is disappointed to learn that Collins thinks poorly of his conduct while in charge of the captured Confederate ship "Florida." The ship was captured on 7 October 1864 and was steaming north. Says he has given the ship undivided attention since the arrival of the "Florida" in Bahia, Brazil. Says they are undermanned because of the many prisoners on board. Says he has been on such vigilance that he has not even taken off his clothes, except to bathe. Collins was angry that…

GLC01920.02