Inventory of the Jeremy Francis Gilmer Papers, 1839-1894

Collection Number 276

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

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Creator

Gilmer, Jeremy Francis, 1818-1883.

Title

Jeremy Francis Gilmer Papers, 1839-1894

Call Number

276

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: About 1,550

Linear Feet: 2.5

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Alternate Form of Material

Digitized versions of 162 maps and drawings from Series 5 of the Jeremy Francis Gilmer Papers

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mary Haskell Minis before 1940; addition of 7 May 1843 letter from Conway Barker of La Marque, Tex., May 1969; addition of 1846 Santa Fe map (facsimile) from John W. Reps of Ithaca, N.Y., May 1974; addition of 5 September 1853 letter from Julia Sweet Newman of Battle, Mich., February 1989; addition of 1864 telegraph from B & L Rootenberg, November 2006.

Processing Information

Processed by: Tim Pyatt, Lynn Pritcher, October 1996, June 1997

Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, May 2005

Updated by Margaret Dickson because of addition, July 2007

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Jeremy Francis Gilmer Papers #276, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

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

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Alabama--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

Alexander family.

Coast defenses--United States--History--19th century.

Confederate States of America--Maps.

Confederate States of America. Army--Officers.

Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Photographs.

Confederate States of America. Army--Order-books.

Confederate States of America. Army--Records and correspondence.

Confederate States of America. Engineer Bureau.

Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

Florida--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Georgia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Georgia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

Gilmer, Jeremy Francis, 1818-1883.

Gilmer, Louisa Fredericka Alexander, 1824-1895.

Gilmer, Louisa Porter, b. 1852.

Lawton family.

Louisiana--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

Military engineering--Confederate States of America.

Military engineering--United States--History--19th century.

Mississippi--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

Porter family.

South Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Southern States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Southern States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

United States. Army. Corps of Engineers.

United States. Army--Officers--Diaries.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Maps.

Biographical/Historical Note

Jeremy Francis Gilmer was born in Guilford County, N.C., on 23 February 1818. He entered the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant of Engineers in July 1839 after graduating from the United States Military Academy. He continued as an United States Army Engineer, constructing fortifications and conducting surveys until 1861, when he resigned in support of the southern cause. In September 1861, Gilmer was appointed Major of Engineers in the Confederate States of America Army and served as Chief Engineer of the staff of General A. S. Johnston until the general's death at the battle of Shiloh on 6 April 1862, where Gilmer was also severely wounded.

After his recovery, Gilmer served for a short time with the Army of Northern Virginia. On 9 August 1862, he was assigned to the Office of Chief of Engineer Bureau in Richmond, Va., and promoted to the rank of Colonel of Engineers. Promoted to Major General on 20 August 1863, Gilmer was ordered to Charleston, S.C., to direct the defense of the city. He returned to Richmond in June 1864, where he directed the Engineer Bureau until the end of the War. In the fall of 1865, Gilmer was elected a director of the Georgia Central Railroad and later served as president pro tem. In 1866, he was elected president of the Savannah Gas-Light Company, an office he held along with director, Georgia Central Railroad, until his death on 1 December 1883.

Collection Overview

Personal and military papers of military engineer Jeremy Francis Gilmer of Guilford County, N.C., include a series of official army papers, 1851-1859, relating to the construction of fortifications on the Georgia and Florida coast; a diary, 1841-1842, at Fort Schuyler, N.Y.; letters, 1861-1864, from Gilmer to his wife Louisa Fredericka Alexander Gilmer, and other Civil War papers; a Confederate order book, 1863-1864, at headquarters, military district of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina; family correspondence with Lawton, Alexander, and Porter relatives in Georgia, including letters received by wife and daughter Louisa Porter Gilmer; and 158 Civil War maps, including both manuscript maps and printed maps with manuscript annotations and engineers' drawings of military construction.

Arrangement of Collection

Series 1. Antebellum Personal Papers
Series 2. Antebellum Military Papers
Series 3. Civil War Papers
Series 4. Post-War Papers
Series 5. Maps and Plans
Series 6. Clippings
Series 7. Pictures

Items Separated

Oversize papers (OP-276/Folders 1-6)
Oversize maps (OP-276/Folders 7-24)
Pictures (P-276/1-14)

Detailed Description of the Collection

Digitized versions of 162 maps and drawings from Series 5 of the Jeremy Francis Gilmer Papers