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Full-Text Articles in History

Todd, Theophilus Law, 1841-1963 (Sc 3435), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives May 2019

Todd, Theophilus Law, 1841-1963 (Sc 3435), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3435. Letter, 19-21 September 1862, from Theophilus L. Todd to his sister Agnes Jane Todd. Camped near Louisville, Kentucky while serving with the 93rd Ohio Infantry, Todd thanks her for a package of food and clothing. He describes his surroundings and camp life, including the friendly reception the troops received in Louisville and competition between the camp sutler and local women in the sale of foodstuffs. He also writes critically of the behavior of Brigadier General James S. Jackson during a lengthy and tiresome review of the brigade.


Mcbride, John Randolph, 1841-1912 (Sc 3433), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives May 2019

Mcbride, John Randolph, 1841-1912 (Sc 3433), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3433. Letter, 1 May 1862, of John R. McBride to Lucas F. Smith, Bluffton, Indiana. Serving with the 33rd Indiana Volunteers, McBride describes the march from Lexington, Kentucky to their present encampment near Cumberland Ford on the Cumberland River, and the current command structure. He asks about Bluffton’s young women and lightheartedly complains about the absence of eggs from his diet. He also recalls his fortunes after leaving Bluffton, which included a year of homesickness and then enlistment for service in order to return home “with a …


Daniel, Hannah (Lewis) Hawkins, 1833-1870 (Sc 3413), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Apr 2019

Daniel, Hannah (Lewis) Hawkins, 1833-1870 (Sc 3413), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below" for Manuscripts Small Collection 3413. Letter, 31 October 1864, of Hannah Hawkins Daniel, Poplar Plains (Fleming County), Kentucky, to her brother Dr. Henry H. Lewis, Salt Lick (Bath County), Kentucky. She writes of a possible raid on Flemingsburg, and of the fate of a party of looters in the area. She also laments the difficulties of horse travel, reports hearing of conflict over the military draft from a correspondent in Iowa, and invites a member of Lewis’s household to visit “if there are no Rebs between here & there.”


Fleming, Peter F., 1843-1924 (Sc 3392), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Apr 2019

Fleming, Peter F., 1843-1924 (Sc 3392), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3392. Letter, 7 December 1862, from Peter Fleming of the 96th Illinois Volunteers, Company E, to his friend Thomas Elliott. From Camp Beard at Danville, Kentucky, he writes of the cold weather, the good turnpike roads, the presence of troops in the vicinity, and the satisfactory food supply. He also mentions the names of several of his comrades in Company E.


Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3385), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Apr 2019

Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3385), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text transcript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3385. Letter, 14 December 1862, of George Messer, 107th Illinois Infantry, to his wife Lottie in Clinton, Illinois. He describes the march to camp near Munfordville, Kentucky, the layout of the camp, and nearby graves, the result of an earlier engagement. He outlines the position of other troops in the area and lists the names of several men who have deserted from his company. He makes some critical remarks about his father at home and expresses confidence in Lottie’s ability to manage his domestic affairs.


Clarke, Marcellus Jerome, 1844-1865 - Relating To (Sc 3393), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Apr 2019

Clarke, Marcellus Jerome, 1844-1865 - Relating To (Sc 3393), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Small Collection 3393. Clippings, some typescripted from unidentified sources, and letters about the identity and exploits of Confederate guerrilla “Sue Mundy,” the alias of Simpson County, Kentucky native Jerome Clarke. Topics covered include his family, career, burial place, the origin of the name “Sue Mundy,” and the resulting confusion over whether “Sue” was actually a woman. Also includes an abstract of the U.S. War Department’s record of his court martial.


Johnston, Joseph E., 1875-1970 (Sc 3382), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Apr 2019

Johnston, Joseph E., 1875-1970 (Sc 3382), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3382. Letters of Joe E. Johnston, Pleasureville, Kentucky, to Mary Ellen Richards, Franklin, Kentucky. He discusses his activities, his book Life Begins at Eighty, and his father, Captain I. N. Johnston, an escapee from Virginia’s Libby Prison during the Civil War. Includes clippings about Johnston and his father.


Civil War Collections In Manuscripts & Folklife Archives At Western Kentucky University, Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Mar 2019

Civil War Collections In Manuscripts & Folklife Archives At Western Kentucky University, Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

This is a list of collections in the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives holdings of WKU’s Department of Library Special Collections that relate to the Civil War. Included are letters and diaries of soldiers and civilians, military records and papers, and other, mostly unpublished material. Our collections are particularly strong on Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Civil War history and in documenting the experiences of Kentuckians or those who passed through Kentucky and surrounding states during the war.


Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3332), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Feb 2019

Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3332), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3332. Letters of George Messer to his wife Lottie, written while serving with the 107th Illinois Infantry. Writing on 7-9 December 1862 from Camp Waller near Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where part of his regiment is guarding the railroad, he describes the camp and includes a sketch; he also writes of two desertions, of procuring some fresh meat, of an officer who has contracted a venereal disease, and of the local populace who he finds “at least one half century behind the times.” In a letter of 25 July …


Redfern, Alfred Francis, 1848-1913 (Sc 3327), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Feb 2019

Redfern, Alfred Francis, 1848-1913 (Sc 3327), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3327. Letter, 24 December 1863, to his parents from Alfred Redfern, serving at Point Isabel, Kentucky with the 91st Indiana Volunteers. He reports orders to march to Knoxville, Tennessee, despite his hopes of remaining at the now-fortified camp until he is mustered out. He also reports on receipt of money and other gifts from home, sending some of his pay to a friend in New Albany, and the likelihood of a poor Christmas dinner of fat pork and crackers.


Traitors In The Service Of The Lord: The Role Of Church And Clergy In Appalachia's Civil War, Sheilah Elwardani Feb 2019

Traitors In The Service Of The Lord: The Role Of Church And Clergy In Appalachia's Civil War, Sheilah Elwardani

Masters Theses

Studies of the guerrilla war in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains reveal repeated instances of violence and threats directed at the pastors of mountain churches. Instances of churches being burned, pastors and laymen beaten and at times murdered are sprinkled throughout the primary source materials. The question raised here is why were pastors and specific churches being targeted for violence? The church was the center of the life for secluded Appalachian communities, church leadership carried tremendous weight in influencing loyalties. Research focused solely on the Dunkard Church in Floyd County, Virginia revealed that amidst a particularly violent guerrilla war, …


Hebron, John L., 1842-1914 (Sc 3323), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Jan 2019

Hebron, John L., 1842-1914 (Sc 3323), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript for Manuscripts Small Collection 3323. Letter, 20 February 1862, from John L. Hebron to his mother in Steubenville, Ohio. He reports his regiment’s arrival on the outskirts of Bowling Green, Kentucky, taken from Confederate forces “without firing a gun,” and describes attempting to cross a ruined bridge, his living quarters in a deserted house, and available food supplies. In a 25 February postscript from Nashville, Tennessee, he writes of the troops’ continued lack of success in crossing the river into Bowling Green, and mentions reports that the Confederates plan to “make a stand” south of Nashville. …


Ua1c2/25 Ft. Albert Sidney Johnston Photos, Wku Archives Jan 2019

Ua1c2/25 Ft. Albert Sidney Johnston Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of Fort Albert Sidney Johnston.


Dennis, John, 1832?-1914 - Letter To (Sc 3300), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Nov 2018

Dennis, John, 1832?-1914 - Letter To (Sc 3300), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) 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 Nov 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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 Nov 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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 Nov 2018

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

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) 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.


Hobson, William Edward, 1844-1909 - Relating To (Sc 3283), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Oct 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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 Oct 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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 Oct 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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, …


Ballew, William A., 1842-1915 (Sc 3277), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Oct 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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.


Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3254), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Oct 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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.


Hopkins, Lewis Franklin, 1841-1921 (Sc 3275), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Oct 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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.


Fry, Samuel Van Buren, 1840-1903 (Sc 3276), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Oct 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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.”


Chapin, Margaret (Terwillinger) (Sc 3239), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Jul 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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 Jul 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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 Jul 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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.


Hebron, John L., 1842-1914 (Sc 3226), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Jun 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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.


Civil War, 1861-1865 - Reenactors (Sc 3228), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Jun 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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.


Miller, George W., B. 1843? (Sc 3220), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives May 2018

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

Manuscript Collection 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.