History Commons^™

Realization: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Though my own musings have led me to doubt the traditional interpretation of the Battle of Gettysburg’s military importance, I still hold Gettysburg to be the greatest battle of the American Civil War, without question worthy and deserving of continued study. In order to reconcile these two points of view I pondered further, attempting to unearth other, less-thought-of reasons for the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg to the course of the American Civil War. [excerpt]

Bacteria And Politics: The Application Of Science To The Yellow Fever Crisis In Reconstruction New Orleans, Polly M. Rolman-Smith

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of germ theory during the nineteenth century transformed Western medicine. By the 1870s, public health officials in the American South used germ theory to promote sanitation efforts to control public health crises, such as yellow fever epidemics. Before the discovery of mosquito transmission of yellow fever, physicians of the late nineteenth century believed the disease was spread by a highly contagious germ. Prominent medical practitioners of New Orleans, such as Confederate Army veteran Dr. Joseph Jones, used available scientific knowledge and investigation to attempt to control yellow fever during the Reconstruction period, a period rife with political and …

Examination: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Gettysburg, the first three days of July, 1863. An epic clash of titans sways back and forth across the fields and hills of this small Pennsylvania town. The two armies who fought here left in their wake over fifty thousand men broken in three days of combat, and the significance of their actions to the course of the American Civil War has rarely been doubted. The Union’s victory at Gettysburg put a halt to Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the North, an invasion that could have broken the Northern civilians’ will to continue prosecuting the war. The crushing repulse …

Commemoration: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

There is nothing quite like residing in the town of Gettysburg during the years leading up to the sesquicentennial of the great battle fought here in 1863. As a devoted student of that great internecine conflict known as the American Civil War, I had applied to Gettysburg College in 2011 with the full knowledge of what was to come only two short years in the future, and could not have been more excited for it. [excerpt]

“Home Again”: The Contrasting Experiences Of Richard D. Dunphy And Lewis A. Horton, S. Marianne Johnson, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Union veterans returning home from the war in 1865 faced a myriad of experiences and reacted to the return to civilian life in a variety of ways. Richard D. Dunphy and Lewis A. Horton, both double-arm amputee veterans of the Navy, ably demonstrate the differences in experience and reaction to the war and life afterwards. [excerpt]

Allen, John G., 1837?-1863 (Sc 2795), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2795. Pocket diary of John G. Allen, containing a few brief notations made while Allen was serving in the Union Army in 1862 and was encamped near Nashville; letter to his sister from camp, 24 November 1862, assuring her that he has had enough to eat; two promissory notes of Allen’s; and a summons to Allen to appear in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky Court to answer a claim for debt.

An Evening With David Blight, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Monday evening, November 18, students from Gettysburg College got to sit down and discuss memory with Dr. David Blight from Yale University, author of the renowned work Race and Reunion. The session was conducted as an informal panel with Dr. Blight and Gettysburg College’s own Dr. Isherwood and Dr. Jordan. Dr. Blight spoke about beginning his work when memory studies was not an official field and stumbling his way headlong into working with the memory of the American Civil War. When discussing whether or not memory studies were a fad that would pass away, Blight reassured the audience that people …

Richard D. Dunphy: To Him, A War Goes On, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Although I have so far treated Richard Dunphy as a man who achieved heroism through valor and suffered greatly for it, there is another side to his character that I have not yet explored. In 1899, his wife, Catherine, accused Richard of being too irresponsible to handle his own pension money. Furthermore, she accused him of abusing his family and failing to pay his bills. To resolve this conflict, the Bureau of Pensions sent Special Examiner E. G. Hursh to Vallejo to investigate. He collected about a dozen depositions in order to evaluate the validity of these claims. Richard Dunphy …

Richard D. Dunphy: Under The Knife, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Within four hours of Richard Dunphy’s grievous wounding at the Battle of Mobile Bay, both of his arms had been amputated. In a medical survey, he described the “extraordinary pain” that lasted “for about three weeks.” There was “a great quantity of pus, and twelve pieces of bone or splinters came out” from the wound for months after the surgery. Though the pain was great, it faded in time. The psychological and social effects of the operation, however, never went away. [excerpt]

Artus, James (Sc 1274), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1274. Letter, 18 January 1861, written by James Artus, a veteran of the War of 1812, to G.L Forman and H. Taylor, concerning procurement of medals from the state for himself and three other surviving Kentucky volunteers. He also expresses his hope that Kentucky supports the Union.

Sowers, Henry (Sc 1227), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1227. Letter, 9 November 1862, written by Henry Sowers, encamped at Nicholasville, Kentucky, to his brother John. He gives an insight to the harshness of camp life and asks that certain articles (food and clothing items) be sent to him.

Ambivalent About Tragedy: David Blight On Bruce Catton, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

November 19, 2013, marked a momentous day in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg – the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The 272 worded speech given four months after the Battle of Gettysburg assigned meaning to the intense fighting and death that had besieged the nation for two years. With the war’s end nowhere in sight, Lincoln directed the American people on how to fathom the tragedy that surrounded them, both figuratively and literally, at the dedication of the National Cemetery in 1863. 150 years after this speech, thousands gathered to celebrate and commemorate those few appropriate remarks Lincoln …

Benedict, Harrison, 1813-1900 (Sc 2789), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text of letter (click on "Additional Files") for Manuscripts Small Collection 2789. Letter, 30 March 1862 of Harrison Benedict, Scottsville, Kentucky, to his cousin David Selby in Jamestown, Kentucky. He reports on military activity in the area, including Confederate searches of his and his mother’s homes, the theft of guns, horses and wagons, and the destruction of bridges. He includes his wife Emily T. Benedict as a signatory to the letter.

Guthrie, Margaret, 1800-1892 (Sc 2784), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2784. Essay of Margaret Guthrie, Louisville, Kentucky titled "Treatise on Temperance" in which she explains her reasons for supporting temperance. Originally found in an old store account book, the essay was typescripted in 1939. All original punctuation and spelling was kept intact.

Civil War, 1861-1865 - Soldiers From - Tennessee (Sc 1203), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1203. Applications for John Dill Paschal and Elisha Paschal for the Confederate States of America Roll of Honor and an application for Will J. Harris for the United Daughters of the Confederacy Cross of Honor.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 (Sc 1223), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1223. Civil War certificate signed by President Abraham Lincoln appointing Herbert M. Enos to the position of First Lieutenant in the regiment of mounted riflemen.

Weir, Nancy A., B. 1821? (Sc 2782), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2782. Letter, 11 August 1865, of Nancy A. Wier, Webster County, Kentucky, to the postmaster of Danville, Virginia, asking for assistance in reestablishing contact with her family in the area, particularly her father and siblings. She names family members and describes the death of her husband while a prisoner of war at Camp Douglas, Illinois.

Braly, William D. (Sc 1188), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1188. Letter written by William D. Braly, stationed near Tullahoma, Tennessee, to Miss A.E. Abernathy. He mentions that his regiment is guarding a bridge near Tullahoma, but he is chiefly concerned about not receiving a letter from her despite writing to her about a year earlier.

Richard D. Dunphy: The Measure Of Honor, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

On September 20, 2013, I had the pleasure of attending a town hall meeting at Gettysburg College featuring three members of Congressional Medal of Honor Society (CMOHS). Each had served our country with bravery and valor, each had gone above and beyond the call of duty, and each had earned the same medal as the man whose life I have been exploring for the past several months. [excerpt]

A Man Of Mystery: An Introduction To Mr. Clark Gardner, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Clark Alving Gardner was born on June 20, 1839, to Peleg and Julia Gardner in Rodman, New York, a town in Jefferson County. He was the oldest of five children. On July 31, 1862, at the age of twenty-three years, Gardner enlisted in the Black River Artillery, and was called to service on September 11 of the same year.

The Black River Artillery originated from Sackett’s Harbor, New York, located off the Black River Bay in Jefferson County. The 4th, 5th, and 7th Battalion units of the Black River Artillery were consolidated to form the 10th New York Heavy Artillery …

“Consternation Was Depicted On All Their Countenances”: Gettysburg’S African American Community And Confederate Invasion, Brian D. Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

On June 15, 1863, Albert Jenkins’s Confederate cavalry brigade became the first of Lee’s men to enter the North when it crossed the Potomac River and headed for Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Lee had issued strict orders forbidding his men to damage or confiscate private property unless it was a requisition made for necessary supplies, and overseen by authorized Confederate staff. Jenkins’s men half-heartedly obeyed, and scoured the area for anything valuable, including African Americans, fugitive or legally free, who might be sold into slavery. One horrified Chambersburg resident watched local blacks attempt to hide in cornfields only to have troopers chase …

The Storm Breaks: Gettysburg’S African-American Community During The Battle, Brian D. Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

By late June 1863, though rebel troops had already occupied Gettysburg briefly, the threat to the borough grew still more ominous. Rebel troops had cut the town’s railroad lifeline to the north by destroying a bridge across Rock Creek, and convinced the local telegraph operator to flee with his equipment. The new isolation from news accentuated scattered reports of large forces, rebel and federal, approaching the borough from all directions. When federal cavalry arrived on June 30 to take up defensive positions west of town, Gettysburg residents sensed a looming battle. [excerpt]

Tuttle, John William, 1838-1927 (Sc 1197), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1197. “History of the Third Kentucky Volunteers” written by John William Tuttle, Wayne County, Kentucky, from a diary that he kept of his Civil War experiences. Includes associated data.

Richard D. Dunphy: A Frank Request To Gideon Welles, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

By January 1866, the war had concluded and the country’s divisions had begun to heal. Richard Dunphy, meanwhile, devoted himself to claiming his pension and his medal. When the Medal of Honor he had earned during the Battle of Mobile Bay was lost amidst the naval bureaucracy, Dunphy took it upon himself to write a letter directly to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. He believed that Welles, who had been involved in the creation of the award, would be able to help obtain his well-deserved medal. This letter, owned by the Gilder Lehrman Institute, provides unique insight directly into …

Calm Before The Storm: Gettysburg’S African-American Community Before The Battle, Brian D. Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

African-Americans have always been a part of Gettysburg’s community fabric. Slaves belonging to Samuel Gettys, the area’s first settler, arrived as early as 1762 to build one of the first local taverns. Samuel’s son James, who founded Gettysburg in 1786, also owned slaves, including Sydney O’Brien. After her owner’s death, O’Brien obtained her freedom, and in purchasing a small lot along South Washington Street helped establish the borough’s African-American neighborhood. The free black community continued to grow over the first decades of the nineteenth century as Pennsylvania’s policy of gradual emancipation effectively ended slavery in the state by the 1840s. …

Toeing The Line Between Offense And Education, Natalie S. Sherif

Blogging the Library

Medical history can be gruesome. People shy away from blood and guts and images of death perhaps because it makes us question our own mortality or perhaps because it reminds us a bit too much about the origins of that hamburger we ate for lunch. Whatever the reason, a lot of humans cannot stomach the truly heinous. [excerpt]

Blohm, Amanda (Sc 1129), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1129. Student paper titled “Changes in the Economic Role of Women in Kentucky Shaker Communities” submitted as honors program thesis at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky by Amanda Blohm.

Richard D. Dunphy And The Prices And Prizes Of War, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Like many immigrants during the mid-nineteenth century, Irishman Richard D. Dunphy served his new country in the Civil War, albeit not entirely willingly. The wounds he sustained during the war were grave, including the loss of both arms. He received some reward for his sacrifice from his country: a monthly pension, a Medal of Honor, and a notability lacked by other faceless coal heavers. As with other great conflicts, the war played a pivotal role in the lives of its participants, especially in the case of Richard Dunphy. [excerpt]

Allen, Mildred C., 1888-1978 - Collector (Mss 484), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 484. Notes and correspondence relating to the history and genealogy of the Allen, Barret, Carson, Clarke, Helm, Hines, Hobson, Walker and Walton families. Includes a speech about the legal career of Walker D. Hines.

Richard D. Dunphy: A Veteran’S Struggle Echoing Into The Present, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

When I first received the bundle of Richard Dunphy’s pension documents, I was prepared to begin research on an obscure figure lost to time. To my great surprise, the very first search I performed resulted in a handful of genealogy websites, several citations of his merit, and even a Wikipedia page. As I began research, it became clear that this coal heaver was not one of the faceless many who fought in the American Civil War, but rather a man of the age whose life told a timeless story of hardship and resolve. [excerpt]