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Collection Number: 00172

Collection Title: Confederate Papers, 1861-1865

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 275 items)
Abstract The collection includes miscellaneous papers from various sources divided into the following series: correspondence, 1861-1865; songs, poems, clippings, photographs; maps, diagrams, and drawings; Benjamin W. Austin's collection of Confederate autographs, photographs, and clippings; official papers (including printed forms, North Carolina and other muster rolls); scrapbooks; recollections; and other items.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Confederate Papers #172, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from various sources, see provenance statement under individual unit descriptions.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Tim Pyatt, April 1997

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2020

Collection contains some very fragile items needing conservation treatment. Pictures need to be housed separately, but are currently housed with the papers as listed.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes miscellaneous papers from various sources divided into the following series: correspondence, 1861-1865; songs, poems, clippings, photographs; maps, diagrams, and drawings; Benjamin W. Austin's collection of Confederate autographs, photographs, and clippings; official papers (including printed forms, North Carolina and other muster rolls); scrapbooks; recollections; and other items.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 1, 1861-1862.

About 50 items.

Received from various sources, including Terry Alford, Springfield, Mass. (May 1980); Schindler's (March 1962); Bert Neville (October 1957); David A. Williams, Rock Hill, S.C. (December 1960); and Alvin Lohr, Hagerstown, Md. (August 1960)

Miscellaneous Civil War era letters from Confederate soldiers from 1861-1862, including some copies and transcripts. Consists primarily of:

  • 4 February 1861 letter from Gov. James H. Lane, Charlotte, N.C., to Gov. John Letcher of Virginia, offering his military services to his native state of Virginia
  • 1 March 1862 letter to Mrs. B. J. Pack in Packsville, S.C., from her husband in Co. C, Hamptons Legion, picketing on the Potomac.
  • 9 August 1861 letter from Charles G. Johnsen, New Orleans discussing his brothers in Mississippi regiments
  • 23 August 1861 letter from John Brownlee, Abbeville District, S.C., to his son James in the Confederate Army in Virginia (typescript only)
  • 26 November 1861 letter by William Johnston of Charlotte to a railroad official concerning the development of a route from New Orleans to Richmond
  • 12 January 1862 letter from S. Harrell, Centreville, Va., to Martha
  • 20 February 1862 letter from LeRoy to Mother mentioning floods, Ladies Soldiers Relief Society, news from Tennessee, and members of the family
  • 17 March 1862 letter from [Capt. J. J. Neely] to his wife telling of the previous day's fighting at Island 10
  • 25 August 1862 letter of Mrs. W. A. Carter, Carter Hall, to Miss Sarah
  • 12 October 1862 letter describing the condition of a patient named Richard in a Lynchburg hospital

Folder 1

Unit 1

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 2, 1863-1865 and undated.

About 50 items.

Received from various sources including Mrs. Clara Bell, Windsor, N.C. (September 1979), Louis Ginsberg, Petersburg, Va. (May 1977), Frank M. Parker, Raleigh (January 1979), Cohasco, New York (May 1971, June 1976), William M. Butler, Elkin, N.C. (December 1970), and James Pittman, Raeford, N.C. (August 1966). Information on Joseph S. Gooch provided by Daniel Mahar in July 2005.

Miscellaneous Civil War era letters from Confederate soldiers from 1863-1865, including some copies and transcripts. Consists primarily of:

  • 26 March 1863 letter from Thomas Watson Cooper in Greenville, N.C., to his sister
  • 17 July 1863 letter from F. W. Bird near Wincester, Va., to his cousin
  • 26 April 1863 letter from Joseph White, Chafins Bluff, Va., to his cousin
  • 8 May 1863 letter from Col. Francis Marion Parker of the 30th N.C. Regiment to his wife
  • 29 May 1863 letter from Solomon Hege in Davidson, N.C., to his son, C. A. Hege
  • 13 July 1863 letter from R. F. Eppes in a camp near Richmond to his wife
  • 1? February 1864 letter from J. S. Gooch in a camp near Fort Fisher, N.C. to his uncle
  • Joseph S. Gooch (1842-1919) was the son of Dudley Snead Gooch and his first wife, Mary Janet Bennett. He was born in Granville County, N.C., but just before the Civil War, his father moved the family to Nash County, N.C., near Springhope. Dudley S. Gooch died in March 1863, and his estate was managed by his brother Amos Gooch (1802-1885), who was a wealthy farmer in Granville County, N.C. Amos was unmarried and lived with his unmarried sisters Hannah (1800-1890) and Nancy on the family farm located southwest of Oxford on the Tar River. Amos may be the "uncle" named in the letter. Joseph S. Gooch served as a private during the Civil War. He survived the war and returned to Granville County. In 1866, he married Sallie Wilder, daughter of Matthew and Martha Avery Wilder, who were neighbors in Nash County. He was a farmer, owned a country store in Wilton, raised a large family, and was active in the Banks Methodist Church, where he is buried.
  • 23 March 1864 letter from C. J. Elliott, Martin's Brigade, Wilmington, N.C., to Col. Wortham, 50th Regiment
  • 16 August 1864 letter from Dick? Johnston in a camp near Smithfield, Va., to his mother
  • 5 May, 6 September, 19 November 1864 letters from Isham Pittman to his wife describing his transfer to Richmond, from Elmira Prison in New York, and a letter from H. T. Pittman telling of Isham's burial to his wife

Folder 2

Unit 2

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 3, Addition, Undated.

7 items.

Source unknown for most items, one item received from John W. Dunlap, Chapel Hill (1979), and one item transferred from the Bruce Cotten Papers #2073.

Songs, poems clippings, and pictures. Includes a History of the Bath (Va.) Squadron or Recollections of Thirty Years Ago, undated, reprinted from the Bath News; a list of Confederate soldiers from Pitt County, N.C.; inscription on the monument to the Confederate dead, Columbia, S.C. (typescript); words for "Dixie" (typescript); photograph of a sketch of the naval attack at Plymouth, N.C. (31 October 1864); and views of Lexington, Va., and Washington and Lee University.

Folder 3

Unit 3

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 4, Addition, circa 1861-1865.

19 items.

Most items are source unknown; one item purchased from Robert K. Black, Upper Montclair, N.J. (March 1970).

Miscellaneous Confederate battle maps and drawings. Includes eleven Civil War drawings and battle diagrams from Northern Virginia, Pennsylvania, and an unidentified prison. Other items include two diagrams of the Savannah, Ga., area by O. W. Lowe, 1st Regiment, 1st Brigade, State Troops of Georgia together with the New York Tribune for 19 April 1862 which describes the fall of Pulaski and the siege of Fort Jackson.

Folder 4

Unit 4

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 5, Addition, circa 1861-1865.

10 items.

From a scrapbook compiled by Ben W. Austin of Dallas, Texas (circa 1890); source unknown.

Autographs, Confederate forms, pictures, and biographical sketches of Confederates, including G. W. Custis Lee, Stephen D. Lee, and William S. Pendleton.

Folder 5

Unit 5

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 6, Addition, circa 1861-1865.

9 items.

Unknown; some blank forms sold November 1993.

Blank Confederate forms, including two photocopies of copper plates used to print commission forms. Others forms include receipts, requisitions, and a quartermaster register form.

Folder 6

Unit 6

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 7, Addition, 1861-1864.

6 items.

Received from various sources, including The Book Mart, Asheville, N.C. (September 1966), Schindler's, Charleston, S.C. (November 1962), Mrs. Clarence H. Pratt, Wilmington, N.C. (February 1958), Winston Broadfoot (September 1957), and unknown purchase (February 1944).

Miscellaneous muster rolls from North Carolina:

  • 36th Regiment, N.C. Artillery, Capt. Daniel Munn, Company B, 1864 (OP-172-4)
  • 2nd N.C. Infantry, Capt. John Howard. Company B, 1862 (OP-172/5a-b)
  • 33rd N.C. Regiment, William T. Parker, Company 36 (Gates County), 14 December 1861 (OP-172/3)

South Carolina:

  • 2nd S.C. Cavalry, Capt. J. W. Gary, Company G (names H-W), 31 December 1864 (OP-172-1)

Virginia:

  • 40th Virginia Infantry, Capt. William Henderson, Company B, 1864 (OP-172-2)

XOPF-172/1

Unit 7

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 8, Addition, 1862-1865.

15 items.

Received from various sources, including Raynor Hubbell of Griffin, Ga. (November 1960) and Winston Broadfoot (September 1957).

Miscellaneous official Confederate papers, including:

  • 25 January 1862, C.S.A. Ship enrollments, Savannah, Ga. (two)
  • 19 April 1862, Countersign and signal schedule, "Confidential"
  • 24 July 1862, letter from John Tolley [sugar speculator] to a General, with transcript
  • 31 July 1862, ship contract, Savannah, Ga.
  • 27 August 1862, Special Orders, Hampton Brigade, Stuarts Division Cavalry
  • 11 September (two) and 17 September 1862 (one), enlistment orders for the C.S.A. Navy
  • 17 September 1862, discharge
  • 17 February and 1 May 1863, enlistment orders for the C.S.A. Navy
  • 25 July 1864, clothing receipt, Chas. H. L. Jeffries, Co. I, 40th Virginia
  • 3 August 1864, receipt, Treasury Department, C.S.A.
  • 20 September 1864, request for pay
  • 2 April 1865, Officer of the Day report (photocopy)

Folder 8

Unit 8

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 9, Addition, 1861-1865.

22 items

Transfers from the David L. Swain papers, #706; the North Carolina Collection; and other various sources.

Official North Carolina papers pertaining to the Confederate States of America, including:

  • 5 October 1861, ADs, General Order No. 2
  • 10 June 1861, ALs, Office of the Navy agent, New Bern, N.C.
  • 29 June 1861, ALs, Office of the Navy agent, New Bern, N.C.
  • 12 January 1862, ALs, 28th Regiment Camp, Wilmington, N.C.
  • 4 February 1862, ADs, 33rd Regiment of N.C.
  • 16 February 1862, ADs, A. D. Benson court martial
  • 17 April 1862, ADs, E. Burke Haywood, surgeon, Raleigh, N.C.
  • 28 July 1863, AD, Rev. David Farley, Chaplain, 27th N.C. Infantry
  • 19 March 1864, ALs, Office of the N.C. Railroad Co.
  • 18 April 1864, ADs, Thomas Pinckney, Assistant Attorney General, Richmond
  • 4 May 1864, receipt for provisions, C.S.A.
  • 18 July 1864, telegram to Col Brent, Goldsboro, N.C.
  • 26 August 1864, receipt, C.S.A.
  • 16 September 1864, Alexander C. McAlister note
  • 29 October 1864, application, 28th N.C. Regiment
  • 5 December 1864, receipt, Halifax, N.C.
  • 25 December [1864?], receipt, Alamance Armory
  • 11 January 1865, ALs, to Lt. Wm. Harris, Office of Adjutant General, N.C.
  • March 1865, Soldier's Furlough, 28th N.C. Regiment
  • 12 March 1865, receipt, Provost Marshal's Office
  • 19 March 1865, telegram to Col. Oley, Raleigh, N.C.
  • 30 June 1865, receipt, Alamance County, N.C.

Folder 9

Unit 9

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 10, Addition of January 1979, 1861-1864.

7 items

Purchased from Cohasco, Inc.

Seven letters, 22 July 1861-24 August 1864 written by Mary Ann Albinson, a southern woman with Union sympathies, to Mrs. Lyford. Albinson has relatives in both the North and South and her letters record the problems she encounters as a Union sympathizer, and the life and attitudes in wartime Baltimore.

Folder 10

Unit 10

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 11, Addition of February 1980, Undated.

1 item.

Received from Elizabeth Holsten, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Typed transcription of the Civil War reminiscences of Confederate Lieutenant Frederick C. Foard (UNC 1859-1860), aide to Brigadier General Rufus Barringer of the Gordon-Barringer brigade. Described are Foard's capture by Federal troops in June 1864, his escape en route to Fort Delaware, and his subsequent journey back to Confederate lines through parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.

Folder 11

Unit 11

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 12, Addition of May 1944, 1859-1864.

About 50 items.

Unknown.

Unbound scrapbook composed primarily of N.C. newspaper clippings of poems and war accounts. With some handwritten notes.

Folder 12

Unit 12

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 13, Addition of December 1982, Undated.

1 item (photocopy).

Received from George T. Blackburn, II of Henderson, N.C. (December 1982).

Some Unpublished Incidents Connected with our late Civil War by Rev. J. B. Solomon, photocopy of an original manuscript.

Folder 13

Unit 13

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 14, Addition of January 1983, 1864-1865, 1938.

1 item (photocopy).

Received from H. C. Sweeny of Durham, N.C., January 1983.

Photocopied typescript of Company F, 2nd Battalion, S.C. State Troops roster (1864-1865), and a photocopy of a 1930 news clipping about Robert H. Sweeny, a former member of the unit.

Folder 14

Unit 14

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 15, Addition of March 1983, 1862-1863.

2 items.

Received from Manassass Museum of Virginia, March 1983.

These letters are the property of the Manassass Museum and may not be reprinted with the express written consent of the museum.

Typescript copies of two letters from Capt. Cornelius Morris, while he served with Company K, 11th N.C. Infantry, to his wife. These letters are written from camps near Wilmington and Greenville, N.C., before the regiment transferred to the Virginia theater.

Folder 15

Unit 15

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 16, Addition of October 1984, 1864.

2 items.

Received from Ann Withers Bair of Elizabeth City, N.C., October 1984.

Letter dated 19 January 1864 from Henry St. George Offutt, Chief of the Contract Bureau of the Confederate Postal Department, Richmond, Va., to Thomas A. Ratliff in Wentworth, Rockingham County, N.C., concerning mail routes between Danville, Va., and Greensboro, N.C., and a photocopy of a letter from the donor.

Folder 16

Unit 16

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 17, Addition, 1862-1863.

1 item.

Unknown

Photocopy of a printed edition of the diary of Aaron T. Hess (1840-1922) covering the period from 1862 to 1863, while Hess served with the Wise Artillery, Confederate States Army.

Folder 17

Unit 17

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 18, Addition, 1861-1865.

11 items.

Unknown.

Collection of photographs of maps showing key cities, towns, rail lines, and engagements mostly concerned with the Virginia Theater.

Folder 18

Unit 18

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 19, Addition of October 1986 (Acc. 86145), 1864 and undated.

2 items.

Received from Cohasco, Inc.

Two letters from J. D. Miller in Prison 3, Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, to his uncle Edwin G. Booth in Philadelphia. One letter is dated 6 October 1864 and the other is undated.

Folder 19

Unit 19

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 20, Addition (86175), 1863.

2 items.

Unknown.

Letter, 21 June 1863, from soldier Neill Baker at a camp near Greenville, N.C., to his wife in Fayetteville. With transcript.

Folder 20

Unit 20

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 21, Addition of January 1983 (Acc. 83084), 1864.

1 item.

Received from Patti M. McIntyre.

Letter, 24 December 1864, from a soldier named John at the Headquarters of Company K, 2nd North Carolina Cavalry, to his sister, in which he describes harsh weather conditions and his general ill health.

Folder 21

Unit 21

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 22, Addition of December 1984 (Acc. 85013), Undated.

1 item.

Received from Winston Broadfoot of Chapel Hill.

Seven pages of description by a cadet [John Kershaw?] at the South Carolina Military Academy of his was experiences in 1864.

Folder 22

Unit 22

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 23, Addition of June 1988 (Acc. 88062), 1861-1864.

5 items.

Received from James O. Casey, Clemson, S.C., and Mrs. Jack Fisher, Greenville, Tex.

  • Letter, 22 December 1861, from soldier Rowland Marion Casey (1823-1893) at Sullivan's Island (Charleston, S.C.) to his wife, Rhoda Gillespie Casey (1830-1889), mentioning that the "Yankee fleete" that was in sight had since gone.
  • Letter, 1 January 1863, from Rowland Casey at a camp near Port Royal, Va., to his wife, Rhoda, suggesting that she and their sons be vaccinated against smallpox.
  • Letter, 30 May 1863, from Casey at Camp Gregg, Va., to his wife thanking her for the pins, poetry, and lock of hair she sent.
  • Letter, 13 October 1863, from Rhoda Casey in Pendleton, S.C., to her husband noting a wagon accident and other news.
  • Letter, 24 January 1864, from Casey at Orange Court House, Va., to Rhoda mentioning a move to other winter quarters.

Folder 23

Unit 23

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 24, Addition of August 1992 (Acc. 92132), circa 1888.

1 item.

Transfer from the Rare Book Collection.

Historical notes on the Great Seal of the Confederate States of America.

Folder 24

Unit 24

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 25, Addition of November 1992 (Acc. 92168), 1864.

3 items.

Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum, Valley Stream, N.Y.

Two letters, 1864, of Corporal Richard Butler of Company A, 1st North Carolina Artillery Regiment camped near Wilmington, N.C., about camp life, and photocopies of company muster rolls.

Folder 25

Unit 25

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unit 26, Addition of December 1996 (Acc. 96195), 1862.

2 items.

Received from William Y. Richard, Jr., of Chapel Hill, N.C.

Two items, a receipt dated 20 January 1862 addressed to William F. Loften of Union Mills, N.C., from the Adams Express Company, and a note dated 28 April 1862 from the Confederate States of America Subsistence Department in Richmond, Va.

Folder 26

Unit 26

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

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