Author Archives: scrisp

5 May 1863: “We met the yank’s 8 miles above Fredericksberg, and had a morning fight … in which we killed a great many yankees with but slight loss on our side.”

Item Description: Letter, 5 May 1863, from JD Joyner to his mother, Julia Joyner, recounting events surrounding the battle of Chancellorsville. Members of the Joyner family were planters and professionals from Franklin County, North Carolina. While William Joyner worked at the Department of … Continue reading

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27 April 1863: Drawing of the U.S.S. Steamer Allison, by Herbert E. Valentine

Item description: Drawing, dated 27 April 1863, of the U.S.S. Monitor, 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 in eastern Virginia, North … Continue reading

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13 April 1863: “It was a hard blow, having marched near 100 miles & tired & now march all night a swampy road was indeed a hard blow. If ever there was a time when I felt like not going this was the time…”

Item Description: Diary entry, 13 April 1863, written by Thomas Lewis Ware, presumably of Washington, Ga., while he was a member of the 15th Georgia Infantry Regiment, Confederate States of America, serving in Virginia and in the Gettysburg campaign, during which he … Continue reading

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6 April 1863: “I do not think it would be agreeable to military etiquette to call on a Col’s. wife and therefore, though I much desire her acquaintance, I think I must defer the pleasure until freed from my uniform.”

Item Description: Letter, 6 April 1863, from a Union solder named Carl, written in camp, New Bern, N.C., discussing the Confederate blockade of the river and the Union occupation of the town. The letter also mentions the free time the soldier had … Continue reading

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24 March 1863: “To-day the lines have been open, and the women of the suburbs have been thronging into town to buy a little sugar, coffee, snuff, &c., especially snuff.”

Item description: Published letter, dated 24 March 1863, written by Corporal Zenas T. Haines, Company D, 44th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. The letter is an excerpt from Haines’ account, Letters from the Forty-Fourth Regiment M.V.M.: A Record of the Experience of a Nine … Continue reading

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17 February 1863: “To arms, fellow citizens, come to share with us our dangers, our brilliant success, or our glorious death.”

Item Description: Letter, 17 February 1863, to the authorities and citizens of Savannah, GA, and Charleston, SC, warning of an impending attack on both cities, and Special Orders No. 44, issued to Brigadier General Thomas Lanier Clingman, advising his brigade to prepare … Continue reading

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20 December 1862: “…you never sean men go so fast in your life…”

Item Description: Letter, 20th December 1862, from George W. Harris, a sailor on the U.S.S. Richmond in the vicinity of New Orleans, LA, to his aunt in Philadelphia, PA. Item Citation: From the George W. Harris Letters #3657-z, Southern Historical Collection, … Continue reading

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11 December 1862: “My family…have been…but temporarily provided for; and, unless I can give them my personal attention, they will necessarily be subjected to suffering and great inconvenience.

Item Description: Letter, dated 11 December 1862, to Thomas L. Clingman from Captain Charles C. Clark, 31st North Carolina Infantry, requesting a leave of absence that is eventually denied. Thomas Clingman served terms in both the United State House and Senate … Continue reading

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7 December 1862: “such military necessities as they are egregiously called will crush that spirit upon which the foundation of all republics are built- namely good will”

Item Description: Letter, 7 December 1862, from Arnoldus Brumby to his sister, Sarah Catherine (Kate) Brumby Simpson. Arnoldus studied medicine and became a physician in Holmes County, Mississippi. The letter mentions their brother Robert, who died in the war in 1864, and … Continue reading

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7 October 1862: “we all landed safe but one man… he was drunk & fell out of the cars and broke his leg.”

Item description: Letter, dated 7 October 1862, from soldier A.M. Kee, Richmond, V.A., to Andrew Baxter Springs (1819-1886), Springfield Plantation, York District, S.C. The Springs family were stockholders and directors of various banks, railroads, and manufacturing firms. Item citation: In … Continue reading

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