Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Phoenix, John W., fl. 1864-1865 Diary of John W. Phoenix

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03956.01 Author/Creator: Phoenix, John W., fl. 1864-1865 Place Written: Pine Bluff, Arkansas Type: Diary Date: 12 November 1864-4 December 1865 Pagination: 1 v. : 25 p. : Height: 20 cm, Width: 12.5 cm Order a Copy

Written from camp at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Describes picket duty, foraging, and rations. Mentions cooking and what the soldiers had for dinner frequently. Discusses how the soldiers want to shoot at pigeons flying over camp but are not allowed to fire guns. Entries on 19-20 November discuss the death and burial of a lieutenant colonel from the 106th Illinois regiment. Informs of boats bringing supplies, recruits, and prisoners of war by way of the river. 29 November he relays they have received orders to be ready to march for Little Rock any day. Records leaving on the 30th and describes the resounding send-off the town gives them. Also describes the march and observes many burned residences along the way. They arrive on 2 December and are met by General Frederick Salomon. On 3-4 December he describes their barracks and states they are building new ones in Little Rock.

Phoenix, John W., fl. 1864-1865
Salomon, Frederick, 1826-1897

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources