Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

#1008
JAMES W. ALBRIGHT BOOKS
Inventory

Abstract:          James W. Albright, Confederate ordnance
           officer and newspaper publisher in Greensboro and
           Asheville, N. C.
                   Diary and reminiscences of Albright, the
           former of service in the Confederate Army in Virginia,
           1862-1865, the latter containing an autobiography,
           family history, clippings, and poetry.  Albright was
           an ordnance officer with the 12th Virginia Artillery
           Battalion.  He saw action during the Peninsula
           Campaign, 1862; near Petersburg, Va., 1863; and in
           Wilmington, N. C., in 1864.  By late 1864, he was once
           again near Petersburg and was captured during the
           Confederate retreat in April 1865.  The diary gives
           minute details of camp life and military activities.
           The reminiscences include a history of the Albright
           family, which was apparently of German origin.  His
           memoirs of his childhood contain notes on political,
           social, religious, and business life in Greensboro,
           N.C.

Online Catalog Terms:
       Albright family.
       Albright, James W., 1835-1913.
       Confederate States of America.  Army—Military life.
       Confederate States of America.  Army—Officers—Diaries.
       Confederate States of America.  Army—Virginia Artillery, 12th.
       Diaries—Confederate States of America.
       German Americans—North Carolina—History.
       Greensboro (N. C.)—History—19th century.
       North Carolina—Genealogy.
       North Carolina—History—Civil War, 1861-1865.
       Peninsula Campaign, 1862.
       Petersburg (Va.)—History—Civil War, 1861-1865.
       United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865—Personal
         narratives, Confederate.
       Virginia—History—Civil War, 1861-1865.
       Wilmington (N. C.)—History—Civil War, 1861-1865.

Size:          4 volumes.

Date Span:     1748-1913.

Provenance:    Received from Mrs. E. C. Chambers of Asheville, N.C.,
               in 1945.

Access:        No restrictions.

Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
           their descendants, as stipulated by United States
           copyright law.

Table of Contents:
   Biographical Note
   Description

                       BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

   Born in 1835, James W. Albright spent his early years in
Greensboro and Mount Airy, N. C, where he worked in the newspaper
and publishing business.  In 1856, he married Celestia Crowson,
who died in 1861, leaving one son.  Albright married Mattie S.
Purvis of Isle of Wight Co., Va., in 1865.  Their daughter Clara
(Mrs. E. C. Chambers) is the donor of these books.  Albirght
enlisted in the army in 1862, and served as an ordnance sergeant
with the 12th Virginia Artillery Battalion.  After the war, he
returned to Greensboro, but in 1892, moved to Asheville,
N.C., where he resumed his newspaper work.

                           DESCRIPTION

   Four volumes including typescripts of each.  The first two
apparently kept during Albright’s war service, and the last two
compiled at a later date.  The diaries and reminiscences are
written in great detail, giving particulars as to daily life in
the army, companions, living arrangements, etc.  His memoirs of
childhood contain notes on political, social, religious and
business life in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Newspaper clippings
and other material add to the details.

Folder 1.      Volume 1.       Diary, Apr.-Dec. 1864.

Folder 2.      Volume 2.       Diary, Jan.-Apr. 1865.

Folder 3.      Volume 3.       Reminiscences (Vol. 1).

Folder 4.      Volume 4.       Reminiscences (Vol. 2).