Collection Search

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes having spent the weekend in Austin, and also serving on the defense counsels for the court-martials.

GLC09120.231

to Estelle Spero

Diamond informs Estelle that he does not know when his company is to actually leave.

GLC09120.232

to Estelle Spero

Diamond describes life in the "home for the aged".

GLC09120.233

to Isora Skinkle

Informs his sister that he will not be coming home on a furlough. Inquires on how her Sabbath school picnic went in Washington. Writes that there was an expedition in Louisiana to seek out the rebels. Reports that his brigade did not go on the...

GLC03523.32.21

Instructions for visiting the hospital

Headquarters, Valley Forge. "The Commander in Chief being informed that many disorders and irregularities have taken place at the Hospitals and in some the sick are not tended with due care thinks it necessary that each Hospital should be visited by...

GLC09246

to Isora Sayles

Writes to his sister from camp Fort Hill, two miles from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Discusses charging on the enemy last Tuesday. Describes having to charge over a large hill and fallen timber and brush where they then laid low and fired on the enemy...

GLC03523.32.12

to Isora Sayles

Writes to his sister from a camp two miles from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Reports that they have stormed the enemy's works twice, once on the 19th of May and the other on the 22nd of May. Writes that his company did not lose any men in the last...

GLC03523.32.13

to Isora Sayles

Writes to his sister from the field. Reports that he has been in two fights so far and has not been injured yet. Discusses her upcoming wedding and how he would like to be there. Writes about there being very few girls and says that he has not...

GLC03523.32.14

to Isora Sayles

Requests that his sister tell their father to do what he thinks is best with the money that he sent home. Writes that he should be able to send more money after the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Speaks of a friend being well and as fat as a pig....

GLC03523.32.15

to Isora Sayles

Writes to his sister. Discusses how a man named Erving A. Porter died. Writes that Erving got up at 3:00 am as usual to get a drink and then went back to bed and never woke up again. His bunk mate found him lying still in the morning with his hand...

GLC03523.32.16

to Isora Sayles

Writes to his sister. Reports that they entered Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4th. Describes conquering and entering Vicksburg, Mississippi as being the most glorious fourth he ever had. Reports that 30 to 40 thousand men surrendered and were...

GLC03523.32.17

to Isora Sayles

Writes to his sister. Describes the beauty of Natchez, Mississippi. Notes that it is situated on a high bluff and that it is the main part of the town. Comments, "I thought that lake Providence louisanna [sic] was the gratest place for white...

GLC03523.32.18

to Isora Sayles

Writes to his sister. Comments on how happy he and the boys were to learn of General John Pemberton's surrender. Discusses various people and news from back home. Mentions that he is on duty every other day.

GLC03523.32.19

to Isora Sayles

Informs his sister that there is no reason why he should not share his letters from her with the other boys. Comments that the information given is sure to leak out somehow anyway and that it is only fair that he shares his letters because the men...

GLC03523.32.20

to Isora Skinkle

Thanks his sister for the package that she sent him. Inquires if she likes her new mother-in-law. Informs her that he will not be able to get a furlough this year and that he prefers it that way. Writes that he would prefer to wait until he can...

GLC03523.32.22

to Isora Skinkle

Informs his sister that they might be heading up the river to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Writes that it has been raining for the last couple of days and the rivers are finally rising. Says that the rivers have been so low that several steamers have...

GLC03523.32.23

to Isora Skinkle

Informs his sister that they will be spending the winter in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Complains about not receiving letters from people back home. Writes that he is afraid that he might have offended a friend named Mill in his last letter because she...

GLC03523.32.24

to Isora Skinkle

Reports that a man named Eugene Thomas, along with the rest of the men, might have been taken prisoner while traveling home on a furlough. Writes that he has also heard the story is not true. Informs his sister that he sent both her and his mother...

GLC03523.32.25

to Isora Skinkle

Informs his sister that he will be sending some money. Reports that they do battalion drill everyday, dress parade afterwards, and that they have picket duty and camp guard duty. Writes about friends and family back home. Letter has an image and...

GLC03523.32.26

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister from camp. Reports that his new boots and stockings fit perfectly. Discusses how long a man named Knap will be able to stick it out in the services. Believes that Knap will have a hard time getting out of the service once he...

GLC03523.32.27

to William P. Sayles

Writes to his father from camp. Informs him that he sent ten dollars home. Complains about how long it has been since he has received any letters from the Silases family. Writes that a man named Knapp is a fool for trying to recruit all the...

GLC03523.32.28

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister from camp. Comments that she looked quite lean in her picture, but he has never been fatter. Reports that the lieutenant bet five dollars that the war will be over soon and that they will be able to go home by June and that...

GLC03523.32.29

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister from camp. Informs her that it rained and snowed on the last day of the year and that it has been cold. Describes having a "first rate" oyster dinner for Christmas. Notes that everything has been first rate since they have...

GLC03523.32.30

to Isora Skinkle

Informs his sister that he is no longer with his company, that he has been detached to guard ordnance stores. Writes that he prefers it over staying with the company. Comments that he is not surprised that it takes two stoves to keep her and her...

GLC03523.32.31

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his cousin. Informs her that his regiment is on picket duty. Reports that his colonel is the acting Brigade General and believes that if he tries hard enough, he will receive a star. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner...

GLC03523.32.32

to his cousin

Reports that he has not heard from Sumner (likely his cousin Sumner Sayles) since he was in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Notes that his regiment received orders to go on a scout this Saturday. Comments that scouting is the fun part about soldiering....

GLC03523.32.33

to his cousin

Reports that they just returned from a scout where they were looking for "old forest" (General Nathan Bedford Forrest). Comments that they were close but he ran like a "white rabbit." Describes following General Nathan Forrest for 80 miles down...

GLC03523.32.34

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister. Reports on the casualties they received during a recent battle. Discusses the various men that were either killed or wounded, including their colonel. Describes his colonel as being one of the best and that "some of the boys...

GLC03523.32.35

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister. Mentions that the men are feeling rowdy for this Fourth of July. Comments that they want to have a good time while they have a chance to. Discusses how bad he felt when heard about Oney's (possible family friend) wife killing...

GLC03523.32.36

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister. Inquires after the folks back home. Reports that his and another regiment might be put on provo duty. Comments that if they are put on provo duty they will be staying in place for a while. Speaks of friends and family.

GLC03523.32.37

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister from camp. Mentions a lady, Mill, from back home being sour and pities the man who marries her. Inquires after the farm. Wants to know if his father will have a hard time working the farm this year. Letter has an image and...

GLC03523.32.38

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister from camp. Informs her that he received the stamps that she sent him. Mentions seeing her husband's cousin and that he sends his best. Reports that they are preparing for another expedition. Writes that he and the boys in...

GLC03523.32.39

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to his sister from camp. Mentions that he sent $50 home. Writes that they are building breastworks in case General John Hood attacks them. Comments that the general will receive a warm reception if he attacks for they have a large force of...

GLC03523.32.40

to unknown

Writes to his brother. Informs him that he has married and expects many happy days. Discusses the farm and the upcoming spring work. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner.

GLC03523.32.41

to Isora Skinkle

Writes of a lady named Emma getting married. Discusses the importance of always remaining holy. Writes, "do not let your earthly lover draw your heart from the heavenly." Wishes her and her new family well. The letter has a watermark on the top...

GLC03523.32.42

to Isora Skinkle

Informs her of Emma's wedding. Discusses the wedding and all the festivities around the wedding. Describes her ordeal with typhoid fever. Writes that she was bed ridden for the first three years and so sick that every day everyone expected her to...

GLC03523.32.43

to Isora Skinkle

Informs her that he is working by the month earning $18 a month for eight months. Reports that they are having fine weather and that the crops are looking well. City is listed as Otsego, but no state is noted. Could be Minnesota or Michigan.

GLC03523.32.44

to Isora Skinkle

Writes to her cousin. Informs her that they now have another baby. Reports on the rest of the family and friends. Request that she keeps her informed about all the happenings in Richmond, Illinois. City is listed as Otsego, but no state is noted...

GLC03523.32.45

to Libby Kessler

Reminisces of their childhood in the schoolroom. Discusses her school and teacher. Letter has an embossed seal in the upper corner.

GLC03523.52.01

to Libby Kessler

Informs her she did not receive her letter in time to meet her. Inquires if she will be attending the excursion next week. Mentions she would like to room together if they attend school. Letter has an embossed seal in the upper corner.

GLC03523.52.02

to the President

Would like to pay his respects and ask when the president can see him. On Arlington Hotel stationary. Possibly to Benjamin Harrison who was U.S. President at the time.

GLC05603.01.31

to Colonel Shank

Corrects a date for an event.

GLC05603.01.32

to the South Carolina House of Representatives

Writes about raising the 1st South Carolina Infantry. "I have called a regt. into active service... some of the companies of this regt. are now in positions on Sullivan's Island in the rear of Fort Moultrie, and other companies are rapidly arriving...

GLC09194

to Governor Francis W. Pickens

South Carolina senate confirmation for cavalry officers William De Saussure and Nathan G. Evans.

GLC09195

to Governor Francis W. Pickens

Two Virginians offer to fight in the army of South Carolina, which had already seceded, "to show to the Rest that we are sincere in what we say and in the cause of... the Southern confederacy." With an autograph endorsement by Pickens.

GLC09196

to the House of Representatives

Informs the legislature of J. W. Hayne's confidential mission to negotiate with Buchanan over the right to reinforce Fort Sumter. "The letter of the President...asserts in plain terms, his right to send reinforcements, and I cannot disconnect this...

GLC09197

to L. P. Walker

South Carolina Army units to be received into the Provisional Confederate Army. The "Convention...shall adopt the necessary ordinance for their transfer to the Confederate States. They will...be fully prepared & equiped to serve the country at any...

GLC09198

to Governor Francis W. Pickens

A Boston entrepreneur suggests that machinery for knitting hosiery be adapted to cotton thread. "All of the labor except a man to manage the carding machines, could be better done by female slaves than any other. There is a cotton factory in your...

GLC09199

to Governor Francis W. Pickens

General Beauregard supports Colonel R. W. Habersham's submitted plan for enlisting planters' help to provide grain and hay for army livestock. "I think the above suggestions of Col. Habersham of so much importance, that I have the honor to enclose...

GLC09200

to Colonel Richard H. Anderson

Detailed instructions on how he expects Colonel Anderson to command the defense of the Charleston harbor. "If any great emergency should arise, I am determined to hold this fortress at all hazzards, as it is the key of the harbor, and is essential...

GLC09201

to Captain Stephen Dill Lee

Writes about sending troops to Virginia. "Capt. Walker has a company of about seventy-five men who are prepared as he says to be mustered into service...to fill up the vacancies in the 7th Regt...you are authorized to furnish them with the ordinary...

GLC09202

to Governor Francis W. Pickens

Informs Governor Pickens that his constituents believe too many troops have been sent to Virginia, leaving the seacoast vulnerable. Senator Alston says "something ought to be done for our own Sea Board for they do not think that the troubles of...

GLC09203

to Governor Francis W. Pickens

Suggests furnishing privateers with captured guns. "Frequent applications are made at the Ordnance Office by persons wishing to fit out privateers, for guns to arm their vessels...this is one of the most economical and effectual modes of carrying on...

GLC09204

to Governor Francis W. Pickens

Detailed report from the secretary treasurer of South Carolina on finances, supplies, audits, etc. "...only Eighty three thousand dollars of accounts have been audited since I left Richmond. This delay is criminal..." With autograph endorsement...

GLC09205

to the South Carolina Legislature

"The public mind has in some degree over-estimated the essential importance of our cotton to England & France - in supposing that if deprived of it they would be forced to interfere in this contest with our enemies. They will be governed solely by...

GLC09206.01

[Letter fragment]

"...Why these appointments should cause such excitement amongst the junior officers in Fort Sumter I am at loss to understand."

GLC09206.02

to Christopher G. Memminger

Criticizes General Ripley's failure to report troops sent from South Carolina and requesting arms. "[Ripley's] proper place is in Fort Sumter & Moultrie & to command the batteries - and he is suited to nothing else...when I had Beauregard there...

GLC09207

[Confederate Goverment document]

Document containing clerical copies of correspondence over conscription in South Carolina written by Jefferson Davis; Governor Francis W. Pickens and the Executive Council; James Chestnut, Jr.; and G. W. Randolph. "Four Regiments to be accepted for...

GLC09208

to General Pierre G. T. Beauregard

Defends his decision to suspend an earlier state militia reserve call-up, saying that the untrained militia are inefficient and would be more valuable planting crops at home. Supports his opinion with extracts from telegrams sent to General...

GLC09209

to Governor Milledge L. Bonham

Replies to Bonham's defense of 9 March 1863. "I was fully alive to the sacrifices and hardships which a call on your militia must entail, ...but at the same time, I have regarded the alternative consequences that might be involved without the...

GLC09210

to Governor Milledge L. Bonham

Requests specific information on troops in South Carolina state militia service who are "subject to military duty under the Conscripts Acts," to counter assertions of preferential treatment published in other states' newspapers. With newspaper...

GLC09211

to Thomas Bragg

Replies to Bragg's "interrogatories." "With the view to counteract the unfounded assumption that this State has hitherto failed to furnish to the common service her full quota of troops, I beg to add that it appears...this State had contributed to...

GLC09212

to Major D. B. Harris

Unfulfilled requisitions to the South Carolina government for slaves "leaves the Capt almost entirely without laborers and consequently without the means of carrying on satisfactorily the work expected to be done" for coastal defense. With autograph...

GLC09213

to General Pierre G. T. Beauregard

Responds to complaints that the impressed slaves are idle. "Requisitions have from time to time been made upon the State authorities for slave labor, not for the purpose of harassing the planters or interfering in their business, but, for the...

GLC09214

to Major D. B. Harris

Explains "the seven or eight negroes he [Senator Mazyck] speaks of were idle a few days, they were detailed for contingencies in the city,...and variously employed on small jobs." With autograph endorsement signed by Harris.

GLC09215.01

to Governor Bonham

About complaints that the impressed slaves are idle. "Nothing is known of this matter at these Hd Quarters."

GLC09215.02

to General Pierre G. T. Beauregard

Replies to Beauregard's forwarded report by William Echols of 20 April 1863. "I have directed Col. Shannon to call on two Divisions...for the month of May, which I hope will enable the Engineer to complete the works, as the cultivation of the...

GLC09216

to Major D. B. Harris

Details the lack of slave laborers supplied during March and April. General Beauregard forwards the report to Governor Bonham with comment. "It is probable that sooner or later a still more determined attack on Charleston will be made & it is of...

GLC09217

To General Johnson Hagood

Bonham's secretary asks General Hagood to investigate "a lad of 14 years of age...having run away from his mother, and joined Co. 'G' Nelson's Battalion" and to refuse the boy's enlistment if he is that young.

GLC09218

[Emergency proclamation]

Emergency proclamation empowering agents to seize slaves for military labor. "I must rely on my Countrymen...in the speedy discharge of this duty. Planters may be assured, that the true way to serve their own interests is to do what they can to...

GLC09219

to Governor Bonham

Forwards clerical copy of Major William Echols's report of 16 April 1863 to Major D.B. Haris, "List of Negroes received month Jul 1863."

GLC09220

to Governor Bonham

Summarizes the history of the policy resolutions to defend Charleston. "...at any cost of life or property...they would prefer a repulse of the enemy, with the entire city in ruins, to an evacuation or surrender on any terms whatever." Quotes...

GLC09221

to Governor Bonham

Answers another compaint about idle "negores," he requests Governor Bonhma to "require all reports and rumours officially communicated to you, should be made in writing, in order that you may refer the communication to me when of sufficient...

GLC09222

to Governor Bonham

Responds to resolutions passed by the South Carolina General Assembly, which feels burdened by the Confederate government's taxation and impressment of slaves for military labor. "[I]t has been the studious effort of the Department to temper its...

GLC09223

to James Seddon

Copying an urgent telegram from General Beauregard. "If two thousand (2000) or three thousand (3000) small arms called for by my Chief of Ordnance from Col. Gorgas be not furnished I must disband several six months regiments lately called out."...

GLC09224

List of General and Field Officers in the Provisional Army from the State of South Carolina who have died whilst in Service.

Compiled through June 1864. Forwarded by Melton to the adjutant and inspector general of South Carolina. Among those listed are brigadier generals Bernard Bee, who gave "Stonewall" Jackson his nickname; Maxcy Gregg; and Micah Jenkins. Autograph...

GLC09225

to Governor Bonham

General James Longstreet, wounded in a friendly fire incident at the Battle of the Wilderness, mourns the death of Brigadier General Micah Genkins, killed by the same volley. "He has left to the youth of your state a noble legacy in his dauntless...

GLC09226

to Colonel R.B. Johnson

Governor Bonham's secretary asks the state agent to turn over for prosectuion "the names of the Sheriffs who have made default in executing the law in relation to procuring Slave Labor - together wiht the names of witnesses &c.... in all such cases...

GLC09227

to Brigadier General M.L. Bonham

Account of the victory at First Bull Run by a colonel in the 8th South Carolina Infantry. "The enemy now fled in the utmost confusion throwing away everything which at all impeded his flight...my Sergant Major...took as a prisoner Mr. Ely a member...

GLC09228

Training Negro troops

Mounted albumen print of the members of the Louisiana Native Guard learning to read at Port Hudson, Louisiana, at a school set up for the soldiers and freedmen. The guard was one of the first all-black units in the Civil War, formed by Benjamin...

GLC09229

to L. Pierce Jr.

Retained copy of letter to the U.S. Consul at Matamoras, declining to intervene in the ongoing Civil War in Mexico. "The federal government of Mexico is on terms of intimate friendship with ours... if your danger is iminent you should remove herer...

GLC09230

to his sister

Unidentified soldier of the 16th New Hampshire Volunteers in Mansfield, Louisiana, describes a prayer meeting at a black church, visits to New Orleans, and army life. "We are thinking that the Conscription Act will go rather hard with some of the...

GLC09231

The Anti-Slavery Record, Vol. 1

Six issues of The Anti-Slavery Record published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, each bearing a dramatic woodcut illustrating the horrors visited upon slaves. 12 pages each.
Includes: No. 6 - June, No. 7 - July, No. 9 - September (2nd edition)...

GLC09232

The Great Orations and Senatorial Speech of Daniel Webster

Collection of 16 antebellum pamphlets, including several scarce and rare items, touching on the major political topics in post-Jacksonian politics, mainly the future of slavery. Partial contents: "The Great Orations and Senatorial Speech of Daniel...

GLC09233

[California Gold Rush archive][Decimalized .01- .25]

Documents the activities of Thompson Baxter of Quincey, Massachusetts, and his store in Stockton, California. Includes letters to and from his wife, printed cartoon panel ("This is a true Picture of Callifornia I have seen it And experienced it...

GLC09234

A Plan for the Abolition of Slavery

"A Plan for the Abolition of Slavery," imploring non-slaveholding whites in the South to combine with slaves to overthrow plantation owners. "Your numbers, combined with those of the Slaves, will give you all power. You have but to use it, and the...

GLC09235

[Slave sale broadside]

"Administrator's Sale! …at public auction, to the highest and best bidder…a likely young Negro Woman, Named Mary, and her child.…J. M. M'Cutchen, Administrator." Posted in Boonville, Missouri-rare slave sale broadsides from west of the Mississippi.

GLC09236

[South Carolina's 1860 Act of Secession]

Lithographic facsimile of South Carolina's 1860 Act of Secession. On March 3, 1865, a detachment of the 102 U.S. Colored Troops captured what they believed to be the original manuscript of South Carolina's Secession ordinance. (In fact, they had...

GLC09237

to Charles T. Congdon

To Charles T. Congdon of the New York Tribune. Douglass thanks Congdon for his recently published reminiscences of Charles Sumner. "It was not merely the seed time of a great harvest, but the hard time when old and knarly oaks were to be hewed down...

GLC09238

to Thomas Adams

Richardson, a medical officer, to Thomas Adams in Albany, a lengthy and detailed description of the Indians and the English armies as he travels up the Hudson through New York. "I accidentally met with Brigadier General Gage…who was traveling the...

GLC09239

to J. A. J. Creswell

As president, regarding his daughter's White House wedding. "In directing invitations for the Cabinet to attend the marriage of our daughter tomorrow, Mrs. Grant is not certain whether one was sent to Miss McIntyre or not. If none was sent it was an...

GLC09240

[Abraham Lincoln speech delivered July 17, 1858]

Speech delivered on July 17, 1858 in Springfield, IL, as a prelude to the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Contains Lincoln's stands on key national issues including the Dred Scott decision and the Lecompton Constitution. "My declarations upon...Negro...

GLC09241

to Charles Thomson

Draft letter to Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, declining appointment [as one of three commissioners to lay out site for Federal capital] "Reduced to the painful necessity of a sedentary life by chronic disorders,… In this situation Congress...

GLC09242

to Mr. Brigham

Writes about his recent inspections of new Western military outposts, "thank you for your letter of the 12th with map of Fort Sheridan. I saw the new Posts at Forts Riley, Logan, and Leavenworth all good and a large improvement on the old putting...

GLC09243

Muster roll of Mounted Rifles at Fort Ewell, Texas

Muster roll of the Mounted Rifles at Fort Ewell, Texas, signed by Lt. "Grumble" Jones, later Confederate general and cavalry commander.

GLC09244

[Address at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art]

Address at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, mapping the path to Union victory. Powerful congressman in the New York Democratic Party, with ties to senior Union political and military leadership, assesses the war: "We cannot...

GLC09245

[General Hooker's staff in mock battle]

Albumen print of Alexander Gardner photograph showing General Hooker's staff in mock battle. With notes by Capt. Benjamin H. Ticknor, 45th Mass. Infantry and 2nd Mass. Heavy Artillery, identifying "Mock fight over the body of A. R. Waud, artist" and...

GLC09247

to Daniel H. Hill

To Daniel H. Hill re plans to send Hood's cavalry in pursuit of Union troops retreating from Chancellorsville, asking citizens to delay the enemy's movements: "We have reports from scouts and persons from Maryland that Hunter's and Fosters Armies are...

GLC09248

to James Longstreet

To James Longstreet, ordering preparations to engage Union army when it crosses the Rappahannock, noting strategy of mobility to counter the union's greater numbers: "It is also reported that it is Genl. Hooker's intention to cross the river &...

GLC09249

[Recommendation for Thomas H. G. Poulson]

Recommending a private in the 46th Regiment, Va. Vols., who was "captured at Roanoke Island as [sic] is now on parole. He is poor and needs & desires employment." This letter is adhered to a letter dated 2 August 1862 from Thomas H. G. Poulson to...

GLC09250