Manuscripts Department
           Library of the University of North Carolina
                         at Chapel Hill

                 SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

                             #3685-z
                   ROBERT STUART FINLEY PAPERS
                            Inventory

Abstract:      Primarily Civil War letters from Robert Stuart
           Finley (1838-1868) to his fiancee, Mary A. Cabeen, and
           miscellaneous military and other papers.  Finley was a
           member of the 30th Illinois Infantry, serving in
           Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and
           Georgia.  The letters give full descriptions of his
           activities and surroundings.  Places mentioned include
           Fort Donelson and Jackson, Tenn.; Camp Logan, La.;
           Vicksburg, Miss.; Athens, Atlanta, Big Shanty, and
           East Point, Ga.; Huntsville, Ala.; and Pocotaligo and
           Beaufort, S.C.  Finley participated in the Atlanta
           Campaign and in Sherman's March through the Carolinas.

           Also included are two letters concerning Richard H.
           Cabeen (d. 1864), one telling of military actions near
           Dalton, Ga., and the other informing his father of his
           death.  Postwar items include papers relating to
           Finley's military service, his marriage license, and
           biographical information about him.

Online Catalog Terms:
   Alabama--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
   Atlanta Campaign, 1864.
   Cabeen, Richard H., d. 1864.
   Finley, Robert Stuart, 1838-1868.
   Georgia--History--Civil War, 1861-865.
   Louisiana--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
   Mississippi--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
   Sherman's March through the Carolinas.
   Soldiers--United States--Correspondence--History--Civil War,
       1861-1865.
   Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
   United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 30th (1861-
       1865).
   United States. Army--Military life--History--Civil War, 1861-
       1865.

Size:  29 items (1 folder).

Provenance:    Purchased from Isabel Rodgers of San Jose, Cal.,
               in May and June 1964.

Access:        No restrictions.

Processing Note:   This collection was processed with support
                   from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.  

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

   Robert Stuart Finley (1838-1868), native of Ohio, moved to
Mercer County, Ill., in 1854.  He taught at Washington, Iowa, and
North Diberty, Iowa, and graduated from Monmouth College.  He
also studied at the Theological Seminary of Monmouth before the
Civil War.

   Finley served in the 30th Illinois Infantry, 1861-1865, as
quartermaster sergeant and was promoted to first lieutenant on 25
April 1865.  He was graduated in theology in 1867, married Mary
A. Cabeen on 11 April 1867, and died 26 January 1868, leaving his
widow and an infant a few days old.

                           DESCRIPTION

   These papers include sixteen letters written by Finley during
the Civil War, and two Cabeen family Civil War letters; seven
papers relating to Finley's enlistment, rank, and discharge;
marriage certificate, 1867; and a biographical sketch of Finley
and two letters, 1911.

   The sixteen letters written by Finley between March 1862 and
March 1865 to Mary Cabeen, Mercer County, Ill., contain full
descriptions of events and scenes witnessed by him, including
battles, battlegrounds, southern towns and surrounding
neighborhoods, and activities of the soldiers in camp.  The
letters detail camp life--illnesses and deaths of his colleagues;
food, supplies, and weather; the importance of receiving mail;
and his thoughts on the war in general and the state of politics
and religion.  Each letter gives some information about his
present situation and some account of recent movements and
events.  Finley wrote from Fort Donelson and Jackson, Tenn.;
Yocona River and Vicksburg, Miss.; Camp Logan, La.; Athens,
Gaylesville, and Huntsville, Ala.; Big Shanty and East Point,
Ga.; Pocotaligo, S.C.; and Goldsboro, N.C.

   Also included are a letter from Richard H. Cabeen to his
father, Richard Cabeen, telling of marching and camping in the
woods about ten miles from Dalton, Ga., and a letter to Richard
Cabeen announcing Richard H. Cabeen's death in a battle near
Resaca, Ga.