25 March 1865

Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Ulysses S. Grant

Major General Meade writes to Lieutenant General Grant to report on a unsuccessful Confederate attacks on Fort Stedman, the repulse of the enemy, and subsequent movements of Union forces under Generals Parke, Wright, and Humphreys. Written a few weeks before Lee's surrender.

GLC03549

April 26, 1864

Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant, 1818-1893

Letter signed

Title: to Braxton Bragg

Beauregard, commanding the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia, writes to Bragg, Confederate Commander in Chief at Richmond, Virginia. Transmits anonymous communications (not included), indicating that General Ambrose Burnside's column intends to move against Petersburg, Virginia, via City Point and the James River. Writes "I have already under date of the 25th instant, advised you as to the scattered condition of the Troops in this Department, and fear they could not be assembled in time to offer a stout resistance to a determined and enterprising Enemy advancing from that…

GLC03550

7 March 1864

McPherson, James Birdseye, 1828-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William T. Sherman

Major General McPherson writes to Major General Sherman to report the success of an expedition to destroy Confederate railroads and equipment around Meridian, Mississippi. McPherson records the miles marched in this brief summary of operations under his command. Relates that a full report will follow.

GLC03551

12 April 1865

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

Manuscript document

Title: [Special Field Order no. 54]

Signed by Dodge, a Brigadier General as an official notice. Notifies the Union army that General Robert E. Lee has surrendered his entire army to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse. Ends with, "Glory to God . . A little more labor, a little more toil on our part, the great race is won and our Government stands regenerated after its four long years of bloody war."

GLC03553

1863-1865 ca.

Header Record

Title: Civil War - photographs including Gardner, Brady, Russell: Gettysburg, Antietam [word processed inventory available]

Photographs by Gardner (8 from Sketch Book and Incidents), George N. Barnard (3 from western campaigns: Chattanooga), Andrew J. Russell (1 Gen. Foster's Line) and 2 anonymous of Brattleboro, VT. There are also two unaccompanied text plates from Gardner's Incidents.

GLC03588

1861-1865 ca.

Photograph

Title: Album of 20 cartes de visite plus 6 of Lincoln and his cabinet

Cartes de visite by Brady, Anthony, Barr & Young, and J. Carbutt. Includes Lincoln's cabinet: Lincoln, Hannibal Hamlin, William H. Seward, Edwin Stanton, Salmon P. Chase, Edwin Bates, Gideon Welles, Montgomery Blair (Postmaster Gen.), Caleb B. Smith (Interior), Stephen A. Douglas, Edward Everett, Horace Greeley, Richard J. Ogelsby (Illinois Gov.), Gen. Joseph Hooker, Gen. George B. McClellan, Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, Gen. William S. Rosecrans, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Gen. John A. Logan, Gen. William T. Sherman. The album was assembled in the 1920s by Illinois rare book dealer Edward T.…

GLC03589

24 December 1866

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

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Edward Canby re: disputes in Texas convention on dividing Texas into 2 states

GLC03677

July 1863

Corbin, Elbert, 1836-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Emily Corbin [Incomplete]

Lists some of the men and their injuries, all of which came from the 1st Regiment, Light Artillery, N. Y. S. Volunteers (Pettit's Battery). Also lists supplies lost, repairs made, patching up a Lieutenant Sheldon, and being left there "in care of the Boys." Mentions that General Alexander Hays has taken command of their corps and would not keep volunteer officers on his staff. Discusses "dressing our Boys wounds then...assisting to cut out Balls and dress the wounded Rebels." Comments that he "can do up wounds from shot or shell or Bullits quite like an M.D." and further claims that…

GLC03685

10 August 1862

Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Eliakim P. Scammon

Discussing troop movement and requesting transportation for squad losing their team. Written at "Camp at Green Meadows."

GLC03687

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

22 May 1863

Townsend, E. D. (Edward Davis), 1817-1893

Printed document signed

Title: [General Orders No. 143 regarding the organization of African American troops]

Establishes a bureau for organizing and recruiting African American troops. Issued by Townsend as Assistant Adjutant General based upon the orders of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Excerpts include: "III. Boards will be convened at such posts as may be decided upon by the War Department to examine applicants for commissions to command colored troops, who, on application to the Adjutant General, may receive authority to present themselves to the board for examination. IV. No persons shall be allowed to recruit for colored troops except specially authorized by the War Department; and no…

GLC03721.01

26 May 1863

Townsend, E. D. (Edward Davis), 1817-1893

Document signed

Title: General Order #147 re: reversing dismissal, remitting death sentence of Private

Reversing a decision against Lt. John C. Walsh, 28th Reg. NY Vols.

GLC03721.02

25 June 1863

Townsend, E. D. (Edward Davis), 1817-1893

Document signed

Title: General orders no. 190

Order stating that "All men enlisting in the Regular Army for five years' service...shall receive a premium, advance pay, and bounty, of $402."

GLC03721.03

25 June 1863

Townsend, E. D. (Edward Davis), 1817-1893

Document signed

Title: General orders, no. 191

An order regarding the recruitment, enlistment , pay, and service of veteran volunteers.

GLC03721.04

28 May 1863

Townsend, E. D. (Edward Davis), 1817-1893

Document signed

Title: General Orders no.152

Appointing R. M. Scott as secretary to General in chief.

GLC03721.05

5 December 1864

Halleck, H.W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872

Letter signed

Title: to Joseph Barnes

Addressed to the Surgeon General and marked as "Confidential Circular" at top. Instructs that the Secretary of War [Edwin M. Stanton] directs that all supplies for General William T. Sherman's army be sent to Hilton Head, South Carolina immediately.

GLC03749

12 July 1865

Lee, Stephen D., 1833-1908

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Oliver O. Howard

Howard was head of the Freedmen's Bureau. Asking for Howard's assistance in his pardon application. "I write this truly trusting the war has not changed your feelings towards me personally..."

GLC03722.01

22 August 1865

Lee, Stephen D., 1833-1908

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Oliver O. Howard

Howard was head of the Freedmen's Bureau. Lee reponds to Howard's letter (not present) of 26 July 1865 in which Howard declined to take an interest in his pardon application. He describes his motives in fighting for the Confederacy and refers to the South's failure.

GLC03722.02

20 February 1862

Halleck, H.W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Scott

Reports on capture of Clarksville, Curtis' defeat of Price, desire for stores and steamboats, and the need for Buell to move urgently. States "have taken Clarksville," Tennessee, as well as "large supplies." General Samuel Curtis "has again defeated" General Sterling Price. Asks if Buell is moving on Clarksville, by which he probably means Nashville, since Clarksville has just been captured and Nashville is the next major Union objective. Says "If he will not move, I shall try to carry out my plans without him. Hesitation & delay are losing us the golden opportunity. Can't you…

GLC03736

28-29 March 1865

Autograph letter

Title: to Parents re: soldier's letter recounting details of Sherman's march

Unsigned letter, describing Sherman's march from Savannah, through Georgia and the Carolinas from 1/29/1865.

GLC03741

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

1 January 1853

McPherson, James Birdseye, 1828-1864

Book signed

Title: A Treatise on field fortification

A copy of Dennis H. Mahan's "A Treatise on Field Fortification" signed by James B. McPherson. The full title of the book is"A treatise on field fortification : containing instructions on the methods of laying out, constructing, defending, and attacking intrenchments, with the general outlines also of the arrangement, the attack and defence of permanent fortifications." McPherson signs just before the title page, and also writes the date. The book contains twelve fold-out lithographic plates. It was printed in 1852 in New York by John Wiley. Original binders stored separately.

GLC03746.02

1859-1864

McPherson, James Birdseye, 1828-1864

Header Record

Title: Invitations for James B. McPherson [Decimalized .01-.10]

Collections of ten items belonging to James B. McPherson, including nine invitations and one poem with an attached sketch.

GLC03746.03