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Campbell, James M., fl. 1861 [Diary of James M. Campbell, B company 5th regiment, Virginia, infantry]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03132 Author/Creator: Campbell, James M., fl. 1861 Place Written: Various Places Type: Diary Date: 1861 Pagination: 1 diary Order a Copy

Diary in pencil except for 9-10 and 25-27 of August 1861. Campbell was in the "Rockbridge Rifles." He lived in Lexington, Virginia. Contains entries for most days from 1 January to 14 April 1861, and from 18 July to the end of the year. Many of the intervening pages, however, are not blank, for "the entries Made from 18th of April up to this 17th of August are Made from Memory I believe them to be Very Near true." Included among the entries drawn from memory are the accounts of his joining and first days in the Rockbridge Rifles (18-24 April), list of men in Rockbridge Rifles (27 May - 2 June), Stonewall Jackson's Farewell to his Brigade on 4 November 1861 (transcribes Jackson's speech on pages for 6-11 June 1861), and miscellaneous reflections and notes. Daily entries begin on 18 July, (a date at odds with Campbell's statement quoted above). It is likely that he meant July instead of August. Campbell mentions visiting "Miss [Norvell?] Caskie" in early 1861, before volunteering. (See the Caskie collection, GLC01433-1449). Collection also includes a book on the history of the 5th Virginia published in 1988.

Campbell, James M., fl. 1861

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