Author Archives: dwaugh

4 May 1863: ” [Commencement] came off without much excitement, eight graduates; the number in peace time was between eighty & ninety.”

Item description:  Letter, May 4, 1863 from John Steele Henderson to his mother.  Henderson describes the significant loss of UNC’s student body due to the war.  While he shares his experience speaking at Commencement, Henderson express more concern with securing a pair of shoes. … Continue reading

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21 February 1863: “Drawing of ‘Gen. Ledlie’s H.Q., St. Helena Island S.C.’”

Item description: Drawing, dated 21 February 1863, of “Gen. Ledlie’s H.Q., St. Helena Island S.C.,” drawn by Herbert E. Valentine, a private in Company F of the 23rd Massachusetts Volunteers, who served in the United States Army between 1861 and 1864 … Continue reading

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9 January 1863: “I havent opened my snack yet”

Item description: Letter, dated 9 January 1863, from Robert W. Parker, describing rejoining the Army of the Northern Virginia in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Parker was born in 1838 in Pittsylvania County, Va. His father, Ammon H. Parker, and mother, Frances Goggin Parker, eventually … Continue reading

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2 January 1863: “…the ladies were under a guard of Federal Soldiers haing spent the night in Jail and part of the time in a Criminals Cell!!

Item Description: Rev. Overton Bernard recounts the changing social conditions brought about by Union occupation and notions of emancipation. A white slave owner’s son, wife, and his wife’s friends were briefly imprisoned after an enslaved or servant woman was slapped for her … Continue reading

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1 January 1863: “Today is the period fixed for Mr. Lincoln’s unwise and unconstitutional emancipation proclamation…Thousands of the Poor deluded Negroes have left their homes…”

Item Description: Rev. Overton Bernard depicts the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation on the enslaved African Americans. Item citation: From folder 2 of the Overton and Jesse Bernard Diaries #62-z,  Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Item transcription: … Continue reading

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31 December 1862: “The Yankees getting decidedly the worst of it, our division was not engaged, it is stationed on the Lebanon Pike near the center of the lines…”

Item description: Letter, 31 December 1862, from Thomas W. Patton, lieutenant in Company C of the 60th Regiment North Carolina Troops, to his mother, Henrietta Kerr Patton. Item citation: From the James W. Patton Papers #1739, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North … Continue reading

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28 August 1862: “Very soon after I left last January nearly all the students left and went to war; some were called out by the draft some were taken by the Conscription law and some went voluntarily, So nearly all left…”

Item description: In this letter of 28 August 1862, Preston H. Sessoms writes from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., to his sister Bettie. Sessoms tells his sister that only 50 students are enrolled, and board is expensive. … Continue reading

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8 August 1862: “Twenty-five dollars reward will be paid for her apprehension, and Twenty-five for the detection of any person harboring her.”

Item description: “Rewards,” selected newspaper advertisements published in the 8 August 1862 issue of the Wilmington (N.C.) Daily Journal. Item citation: Selected advertisements,The Daily Journal (Wilmington, N.C.), 8 August 1862.  North Carolina Collection call number: C071 Z.  Wilson Library, University … Continue reading

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4 August 1862: “This morning early, I rode out to Genl. Lee’s Head Quarters and reported for duty.”

Item description: Letter, 4 August 1862, from Jeremy Francis Gilmer to his wife Louisa Fredericka Alexander Gilmer. More about Jeremy Francis Gilmer: Jeremy Francis Gilmer was born in Guilford County, N.C., on 23 February 1818. He entered the United States … Continue reading

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5 May 1862: “…to be evacuated by the Confederate troops!!”

Item Description: Rev. Overton Bernard states the rumors of a Confederate evacuation of Norfolk, Virginia, which would occur in less than a week from his diary entry. Image: Item Citation: From folder 2 of the Overton and Jesse Bernard Diaries #62-z,  Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, … Continue reading

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