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The War For The Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, And Survived In Civil War Armies, Peter S. Carmichael

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

How did Civil War soldiers endure the brutal and unpredictable existence of army life during the conflict? This question is at the heart of Peter S. Carmichael's sweeping new study of men at war. Based on close examination of the letters and records left behind by individual soldiers from both the North and the South, Carmichael explores the totality of the Civil War experience--the marching, the fighting, the boredom, the idealism, the exhaustion, the punishments, and the frustrations of being away from families who often faced their own dire circumstances. Carmichael focuses not on what soldiers thought but rather how …

Dennis, John, B. 1832 - Letter To (Sc 3300), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3300. Letter, 2 January 1862, to John Dennis and his parents, Richland County, Ohio from John’s brother. In camp near Bardstown, Kentucky with the 64th Regiment, Company B, Ohio Volunteers, he praises Kentucky’s farms, crops and springs, and refers to two men of his acquaintance: William Clark, who is serving with the Confederate Army, and Charles Clark, who he met in Louisville, Kentucky and who boasted of his regiment’s superior skills and African American servants. The envelope bears a pro-Union image.

Weir Family Collection (Mss 651), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 651. Letters and papers of the Weir family of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and related members of the Rumsey and Miller families. Well-to-do merchants and farmers, the Weirs were leading supporters of the Union during the Civil War, providing advocacy, financial support, and military service. Includes full-text scans of a letter from the brother of steamboat pioneer James Rumsey defending his legacy as an innovator; James Weir's journal; James Weir's will; the annotated recollections of Edward Weir, Sr.; and two letters from former Weir slaves recolonized in Liberia (Click on "Additional files" below).

Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3297), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3297. Letter, 10 August 1863, of George Messer to his wife Lottie Messer in DeWitt County, Illinois, written from camp southwest of Lebanon, Kentucky. He describes the forces gathering in the area and praises his current officers. Despite the amenities of his camp, he recounts the prevalence of illness and his struggle with chronic diarrhea, which he fears will prevent him and others from accompanying the regiment on a planned march to east Tennessee.

Thompson, B. F. (Sc 3296), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3296. Letter, 27 July 1863, to his wife from B. F. Thompson, in camp with the Union Army near Danville, Kentucky. He details preparations for a march, including the issue of new guns and equipment and packing up old guns for return. He reports a rumor of Confederates crossing the Cumberland River but is uncertain of his regiment’s next movements.

Searching For Compromise: Missouri Congressman John Richard Barret’S Fight To Save The Union, Nicholas Sacco

The Confluence (2009-2020)

In the months leading to the Civil War, Missouri politics were turbulent. Some supported union, others not. John Richard Barret fought to keep Missouri and the state’s Democrats loyal to the union.

Hobson, William Edward, 1844-1909 - Relating To (Sc 3283), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3283. Certificate of Honorable Discharge, 23 January 1899, issued to William E. Hobson, Bowling Green, Kentucky, by Post No. 55, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Kentucky. The certificate includes data about Hobson’s service and the date he joined the Post.

Row, Jacob D., 1835-1910 (Sc 3281), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3281. Letter, 4 December 1864, of Jacob D. Row, 17th Indiana Infantry, to his wife Hannah in Lakeville, Indiana. Writing from Louisville, Kentucky, he tells of improving from an illness but complains of weakness and tremors. He advises her to “sell our corn for what you can get” prior to a trip to Ohio, as he will not be coming home on furlough.

Ligon, Lucy Ann (Parker) Robbins, 1833-1891 - Letters To (Sc 3278), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3278. Letters to Lucy Ann Robbins Ligon, the daughter of Fulton County, Kentucky judge Josiah Parker and his wife Lucy A. Parker, written while she lived in Crittenden County, Arkansas with her late husband’s brother, and in Hickman, Kentucky after her remarriage. Lucy’s parents relay news of her siblings and of pre-Civil War Hickman, and at the outbreak of war dramatically describe the division of loyalties, the townspeople’s fear and uncertainty as invasion threatens from the North, the enlistment of local men, two destructive fires, economic conditions, …

Danny Postel Analyzing Conflict

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Ballew, William A., 1842-1915 (Sc 3277), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3277. Letter, 12 November 1864, from William A. Ballew to Thomas Hopkins, Clinton County, Kentucky. Writing from Spring Hill, Tennessee, where he is serving with the 12th Kentucky Infantry, Ballew notes his regiment’s support of presidential candidate George B. McClellan (“little mack”). Although they were not yet enfranchised, he cites a mock election held by African Americans in Nashville as evidence for President Abraham Lincoln’s likely reelection. He notes the good health of his fellow soldiers, including Hopkins’ two sons, Lewis and Shelby.

Fry, Samuel Van Buren, 1840-1903 (Sc 3276), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3276. Letter, 31 July 1864, of Samuel V. Fry, 16th Kentucky Infantry, to Ruth Jane Sapp. From Dalton, Georgia, he writes of engaging Confederate forces near Atlanta in a "big fight every day” and hopes to see her if he survives the war. He urges her not to “give me up for lost and take some other gentle man in my place.”

Hopkins, Lewis Franklin, 1841-1921 (Sc 3275), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3275. Letter, 18 April 1864, to his parents in Clinton County, Kentucky, from Lewis F. Hopkins, 12th Kentucky Infantry. Encamped at Burnside’s Point, Kentucky, he reports on the construction of fortifications and the soldiers’ demand for horses. He finds the food plentiful, but is unhappy that civilians in the vicinity who have come from Tennessee and are likely to have Confederate sympathies are drawing from the camp commissary.

Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3254), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3254. Letter, 4 January 1863, of George Messer to his wife Lottie, written while encamped with the 107th Illinois Infantry at Woodsonville, Hart County, Kentucky. He notes recent Confederate attacks that resulted in interrupted mail, a shortage of food rations, bridge burnings, and some of his regiment being captured. He reports a delay in receiving his pay due to an officer’s negligence, and fears that a box of provisions sent to him has fallen into enemy hands.

Dr. James L. White -- "History Of The Confederate General Hospital Located At Farmville, Va, 1862-1865", Maeve Losen

Theses & Honors Papers

Dr. James L. White (1833-1909) was not born and raised in Farmville, Virginia, but he called the town home, nonetheless. Using White’s own accounts, with the aid of medical periodicals, newspapers, and Civil War databases, readers are able to best understand the life of one of Farmville’s former physicians. This biographical sketch, along with accompanying resources, describes not only his professional career as a surgeon and doctor, but his early life, experiences during the American Civil War, and impact on the town of Farmville in the late-nineteenth century and into the early-twentieth century.

The Trophies Of Victory And The Relics Of Defeat: Returning Home In The Spring Of 1865, Peter S. Carmichael

History Faculty Publications

The remains of a lone apple tree, cut down and carved into small pieces by Confederate soldiers, lay along a rutted dirt road that led to the village of Appomattox Court House. Earlier on 9 April 1865, Robert E. Lee had waited under the shade of the apple tree, anxious to hear from Ulysses S.Grant about surrendering his army. Messages between the generals eventually led to a brief meeting between Lee and two Union staff offices who then secured the parlor in Wilmer McLean's house, where Grant dictated the surrender terms to Lee. As soon as the agreement was signed …

Review, Surveillance And Spies In The Civil War: Exposing Confederate Conspiracies In America’S Heartland, By Stephen E. Towne, Evan Rothera

Secrecy and Society

Review of Stephen E. Towne's Surveillance and Spies in the Civil War: Exposing Confederate Conspiracies in America’s Heartland.

Helm Family Papers (Mss 633), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscript Collection 633. Correspondence, business papers, deeds, and miscellaneous records of the Helm family of Butler County, Kentucky, and related families.

The Cruel Consequences Of War: Life In Fauquier County, Virginia, 1861-1863, Madeleine Forrest Ramsey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“The Cruel Consequences of War” describes how the American Civil War came to Fauquier County, Virginia, a border area in northern Virginia, and examines the effects of the conflict on the county’s black and white residents from 1861 – 1863. Scholars have been writing community studies since the 1960s, but few have examined the region of northern Virginia. While the “traditional” war in Virginia has been studied extensively, the home front has not received as much focus. “The Cruel Consequences of War” helps to fill this void by detailing the wartime experiences of civilians, and the soldiers who occupied the …

Chapin, Margaret (Terwillinger) (Sc 3239), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection SC 3239. Letter, 16 November 1862, of Margaret T. Chapin, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to her husband, David S. Chapin, at Camp Despair in Kentucky. Margaret copies a section of a song from a hymnbook. David S. Chapin writes back to Margaret on the other side of the paper on 23 December 1862 from Camp Despair. He tells Margaret that she would receive his pension if he dies in the amount of $96 a year or $8 per month. He reminds her to send stamps in her …

Morgan, William Montrose, 1842-1926 (Sc 3231), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3231. Letter, 2 February 1862, of William Montrose Morgan to his parents and sisters, of Wisconsin. From Camp Wood, Kentucky, he writes of the rainy and snowy weather; the number of soldiers sick in company regiments; he describes his regiment and his brigade commander as being the best in the division. He comments about the regiment being on guard duty and held in reserve to protect a bridge and ferry on Green River. He further reports that there are 20,000 men in his regiment under General Negley; …

Kibbee, Amos Watson, 1828-1915 (Sc 3230), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3230. Letter, 26 January 1862, of Amos Watson Kibbee to his cousin, Hattie Tuttle, of Painesville, Ohio. From Camp Barker in Cairo, Illinois, he writes about camp life and rumors of possible cavalry soldiers being discharged and his experiences of late-night scouting duties. He also describes being in an advance guard with other soldiers, taking the town of Blandville, Kentucky, and arresting suspicious civilians. He writes about guarding a prisoner of war, and his change of religious views. Includes an Illinois Union envelope.

Our Country: Northern Evangelicals And The Union During The Civil War Era [Bibliography], Grant Brodrecht

History

On March 4, 1865, the day Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address, Reverend Doctor George Peck put the finishing touches on a collection of his sermons that he intended to send to the president. Although the politically moderate Peck had long opposed slavery, he, along with many other northern evangelicals, was not an abolitionist. During the Civil War he had come to support emancipation, but, like Lincoln, the conflict remained first and foremost about preserving the Union. Believing their devotion to the Union was an act of faithfulness to God first and the Founding Fathers second, Our Country explores …

Civil War, 1861-1865 - Reenactors (Sc 3228), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3228. “26th Kentucky Volunteers: To Save the Union,” a handbook for a company of Civil War reenactors based in Owensboro, Kentucky. Includes a history of the 26th Kentucky Volunteers and a guide to aspects of reenacting including uniforms, equipment, camp setup and rules of conduct.

Hebron, John L., 1842-1914 (Sc 3226), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3226. Letter, 31 January 1862, of John Hebron to his mother, written from Camp Jefferson, Bacon Creek, Hart County, Kentucky. He thanks her for a food package, comments on his health and, in response to her question, replies that he knows of no one being confined for failing to keep his gun clean.

Ms-225: Joshua Blake Civil War Naval Journal, Laurel J. Wilson

All Finding Aids

In this journal, Blake details his experiences aboard the USS Preble, which was one of the ships that were deployed to the Gulf Coast as part of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron. His time on the USS Preble is detailed in the first 41 pages of the journal. On page 46, Blake switches to detailing his time aboard the USS Augusta from 1866-67, and also details his 1869 passage to Genoa aboard a ship called the Magdalene. On page 132, Blake switches back to 1862, detailing his two months aboard the USS Connecticut. A possible explanation for …

Warren, Kaye (Fa 1150), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1150. Student folk studies project titled “From Slavery to Freedom for the Negro Race in Logan County [Kentucky]” which includes survey sheets with a brief description of African American life in Logan County, Kentucky. Sheets may include interviews, written records, photographs, informant’s name, age, and address.

The Relationship Between The Methodist Church, Slavery And Politics, 1784-1844, Brian D. Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations

The Methodist church split in 1844 was a cumulative result of decades of regional instability within the governing structure of the church. Although John Wesley had a strict anti-slavery belief as the leader of the movement in Great Britain, the Methodist church in America faced a distinctively different dilemma. Slavery proved to be a lasting institution that posed problems for Methodism in the United States and in the larger political context. The issue of slavery plagued Methodism from almost its inception, but the church functioned well although conflicts remained below the surface. William Capers, James Osgood Andrew, and Freeborn Garrettson …

Webster, Mrs. William - Letter To (Sc 3221), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3221. Letter, October 1864, written by “Ann” to her sister, Mrs. William Webster in Lorain County, Ohio, apparently after leaving home to join her husband Ed, stationed at a garrison in Columbus, Kentucky. Ann writes of her recent illness and the frequency of sickness in women coming from the North; of Ed’s military duties; of a “boy” back home; and of her lack of fear when alarms are raised at the garrison. In an apparent reference to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, she doubts that he will …

Miller, George W., B. 1843? (Sc 3220), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3220. Letter, 19 January 1863, of George W. Miller to his sister. In camp at Bowling Green, Kentucky, the unhappy soldier writes of the threat of death from battle and disease, of “tyrannical” officers, and of a debt owed to him at home. He is angered to learn that an uncle in Fostoria, Ohio is a secessionist. He also mentions his brother Jacob’s engagement in a “big fight” lasting five days.