History Commons^™

John Henry Caldwell Papers: Finding Aid, Bethany Latham

Finding Aids

This finding aid references the papers (primarily correspondence, but also other materials) of John Henry Caldwell, member of the Alabama House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives (1873-1877). Many of the letters were written between Caldwell and his wife while he was away serving in the 10th Alabama Regiment during the Civil War. The bulk of the collection has been digitized and is available through the Library's Digital Collections, and the original materials are located in the Library's Alabama Gallery Special Collections.

Horse Racing During The Civil War: The Perseverance Of The Sport During A Time Of National Crisis, Danael Christian Suttle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Horse racing has a long and uninterrupted history in the United States. The historiography, however, maintains that horse racing went into hiatus during the Civil War. This simply is not true. While it is true that horse racing saw a decline in the beginning of the war, by the time the war ended, the sport had risen to similar heights as seen before the war. During the war, the sport was enjoyed by both soldiers and civilians. In the army, soldiers would often have impromptu camp races. As the war continued on, camp races became frowned upon by officers. The …

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 …

Uncovering The Truth: Women Spies Of The Civil War, Olivia Traina (Class Of 2017)

History Undergraduate Publications

The American Civil War is one of the most impactful events in our nation’s history. There is so much that can be analyzed within this one event, from the years leading into the war, during the war, and Reconstruction. Most historians and school history textbooks only focus on the male and battle aspects of the war. While these two topics make up a majority of Civil War history, there is another huge component that played a prominent role, and that is the women spies.

Women spies played a vital role in the Civil War. Rose O’Neal Greenhow, Belle Boyd, Sarah …

Blood-Stained Linen And Shattered Skull: Ford's Theatre As A Reliquary To Abraham Lincoln, Erika Schneider

Erika Schneider

No abstract provided.

Henry Wirz And Andersonville: The Career Of The Most Controversial Swiss American, Albert Winkler

Faculty Publications

Henry Wirz is the most controversial Swiss American. He was assigned to oversee the Andersonville Prison during the Civil War, and he was blamed for the high death rate in that prison even though he had no means of getting additional food and supplies to the captives. He was tried for war crimes after the Civil War. He was not allowed an adequate defense at his trial, and he was found guilty in a travesty of justice. He refused an offer of clemency if he would implicate Jefferson Davis and other high Confederate officials in a plot to kill Union …

Networks Of Resistance : Black Virginians Remember Civil War Loyalties, Amanda Kleintop

Honors Theses

On June 22, 1877, William Charity explained his neighborhood’s Civil War loyalties to special commissioner Isaac Baldwin of the Southern Claims Commission (SCC): “The colored people were mostly all for the union.” Charity, a free black Virginian, recognized that “mostly” did not mean all. He went on to suggest: “some of them were blind.” As a self-identified Unionist, Charity had difficulty envisioning a black man who was not loyal to the Union cause and emancipation during the Civil War. Current debates, however, have seized on those black Virginians Charity called “blind,” taking the “mostly” Unionist majority for granted. Like Charity, …

"We Are No Grumblers": Negotiating State And Federal Military Service In The Pennsylvania Reserve Division, Timothy J. Orr

History Faculty Publications

The article discusses the status of state and federal military officers from Pennsylvania during the U.S. Civil War. It examines the alleged confusion as to the expiration of contracts for soldiers and sailors in the Pennsylvania Reserve Division who had enlisted in 1861. According to the article, the problems arose from organizational difficulties as the mobilization of the Union army fluctuated following the 1861 call to volunteer service from state governors. The article states that following that call, soldiers were transferred from state service into federal service. According to the article, the organizational dilemma caused discord among the Pennsylvania Reserve …

The Ancient City Occupied St. Augustine As A Test Case For Stephen Ash's Civil War Occupation Model, Eric Paul Totten

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis intends to prove that Stephen V. Ash’s model of occupation from his work, When the Yankees Came: Conflict and Chaos in the Occupied South, is applicable to St. Augustine’s occupation experience in the Civil War. Three overarching themes in Ash’s work are consistent with Civil War St. Augustine. First, that Union policy of conciliation towards southern civilians was abandoned after the first few months of occupation due to both nonviolent and violent resistance from those civilians. Second, that Ash’s “zones of occupation” of the occupied South, being garrisoned towns, no-man’s-land, and the Confederate frontier apply to St. Augustine …

For Home And Country Confederate Nationalism In Western North Carolina, Hunter D. Shaw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines Confederate nationalism in Western North Carolina during the Civil War. Using secondary sources, newspapers, civilian, and soldiers‟ letters, this study will show that most Appalachians demonstrated a strong loyalty to their new Confederate nation. However, while a majority Appalachian Confederates maintained a strong Confederate nationalism throughout the war; many Western North Carolinians were not loyal to the Confederacy. Critically analyzing Confederate nationalism in Western North Carolina will show that conceptions of loyalty and disloyalty are not absolute, in other words, Appalachia was not purely loyal or disloyal.

The Burning And Reconstruction Of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania 1864-1870, Gordon Boyer Lawrence

Master's Theses

Although many studies of Chambersburg's devastation during the American Civil War have been researched, all have focused on the military actions taken by both sides during the conflict. This thesis instead attempts to explore some of the effects of military actions upon the permanent civilian population.

The Introduction develops a sense of the events which transpired in the town on the fateful day of July 30, 1864, provides an overview of potential research subjects, and details sources available to complete successfully the research parameters outlined. The early development of the community is explored in Chapter 1. This data is necessary …

Defining A Civil War Battlefield: Recent Archaeological Investigations At The Pickett's Mill State Historic Site, Paulding County, Georgia., Terry G. Powis, Jason Whatley, Mary T. Lumsden, Joseph Powell, Patrick Severts, Ron Hobgood, James Page

Faculty and Research Publications

Recent investigations at the Pickett's Mill State Historic Site have yielded new insights into the Civil War battle that occurred in May 1864. Military and historical sources have documented that the major battle took place in a ravine, but that skirmishes also occurred in adjacent areas, including a large, open wheat field. Some reports have suggested that Confederate soldiers had forced Union troops out of the ravine into this field where they became exposed. In the summer of 2006 a variety of different archaeological techniques were employed to determine what role the wheat field played in the battle. This paper …

The History Of The One Hundred And Thirtieth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Terrence W. Beltz

Master's Theses

In August 1862, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania quickly responded to President Lincoln's request for more troops. An overwhelming number of Pennsylvania volunteers promptly answered the call that supplied the Union Army eighteen new infantry regiments who were to serve for a period of nine months. This devoted group of central Pennsylvanians, rendezvoused at Camp Simmons, Pennsylvania, in mid-August 1862, was to become soldiers of 130th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers who, with no military experience and little training, would face hardened Confederate veterans at "Bloody Lane" at the Battle of Antietam and "Marye's Heights" at the Battle of Fredericksburg. They were to …

The Botetourt Dragoons In War And Peace, Michael G. Henkle

Honors Theses

This thesis studies a Confederate cavalry company from the immediate prewar years through the war, ending with the death of one of its last members. Most soldiers were residents of Botetourt County, Virginia. The study focuses upon both the men themselves and the battles in which they fought. Letters, diaries, and postwar accounts reveal their thoughts. After the war, many took an active role in both veterans' affairs and their community by joining veteran camps and participating in politics. Near the end, many received pensions or stayed in old soldiers' homes.

Confederate Matrons : Women Who Served In Virginia Civil War Hospitals, A. Elise Allison

Honors Theses

In September 1862, the Confederate Congress authorized hospitals to employ white women as chief matrons, assistant matrons, and ward matrons. This paper examines the lives and experiences of matrons who worked in Confederate hospitals in Virginia. It concludes that only ''exceptional" women with the stamina to endure physical and mental hardships were able to defy conventional ideas about their proper role and contribute to the care of Confederate sick and wounded as matrons.

Spencer Wallace Cone Family Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of materials related to the Spencer Wallace Cone family spanning 1810-1976 with the majority of materials dated between 1810 and 1892.. Materials include nineteenth and early twentieth century correspondence between members of the Cone family, including Spencer Houghton Cone and Spencer Wallace Cone. Also included are military documents related to the 61st New York Infantry regiment, legal documents, biographical information, sermons and notes by Spencer Houghton Cone, records of the Oliver Street Church (1825-1840), a household account book, photographs, and records relating to the settlement of Spencer Houghton Cone II’s estate. Spencer Wallace Cone’s literary works, including …

The Capture Of Jefferson Davis, John Adam Fox, Benjamin D. Pritchard

Civil War Text

"The story of the capture of Jefferson Davis as told through the personal papers of Benjamin Pritchard, the Union Officer in charge of the capture." - p. 1. There are 22 pages of pictures, one of Davis, one of Pritchard and the other 20 are of documents pertaining to the capture.

Naomi L. D. Cox Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

The collection consists of correspondence to Naomi L.D. Cox of Clayton's Mills, Pickens County, South Carolina from 1859-1869. The letters from family members discuss personal and farm news, but also mention the secession of Tennessee and South Carolina, life and living conditions in Tennessee during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and some descriptions of battles in Tennessee. Correspondents include Malinda D. Cox, Henrietta Cox, and Sallie Cox. The collection also contains an Atlanta Constitution advertisement, a letter between the donors of the collection, and a photograph.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

A History Of The Bounty System Used During The Civil War, Oren Ford

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to trace the history of one of the chief elements which entered into the securing of recruits during the Civil War. This was the bounty system as it was used by the National, State, and local governments.

A Diary Kept On The Battlefield In The Year Of 1863, John A. Holtzman

Honors Theses

Thursday, January 1, 1863.

Left Mr. James Luttrell for Oak Shade thence to Mr. L. Strigfellow where I staid all night. Heard that the Yankees were at Warrenton, also at Waterloo whick proved not to be so.Quite a warm day.

Friday 2.

Left Mr. Satingfellow for camp whick I Found 6 miles of Fredericksburg.

Saturday 3.

Went out on drill-

Sunday 4.

Moved camp some 2 miles up the plank road, found our tents on an eminence has some singing at night. Our chaplan did not preach.

Our Picket Guard, Grand Army Of The Republic. Burnside Post No. 47 (Auburn, Me.)

Maine History Documents

Biographies of Maine citizens involved in the United States Civil War.

The Military And Naval History Of The Rebellion In The United States: With Biographical Sketches Of Deceased Officers, William Jewett Tenney

Civil War Text

The book provides a general history of the Civil War, describing the battles, related political events and relevant issues of equipment and medicine. On title page "Illustrated with steel plate portraits." Includes 843 pages, additional leaves of portraits, and 10 pages on roman numerals. The portraits are engraved by H.W. Smith. Also includes maps and index. Special Collections copy lacks folded map. The copy has inscription: Presented to John Lusadder by his grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Geo Nelson, New years 1892.

Letter From Robert Patterson To His Mother Julia Dated September 8, 1863, Robert Patterson

Patterson Family Correspondence

Robert Patterson wrote this brief letter to his mother Julia on September 8, 1863 to let her know he was rejoining his regiment in Catletts Station, Virginia and would not be able to come home for a visit.

Letter To Jefferson Patterson From An Unknown Sender In 1862, Unknown

Patterson Family Correspondence

This letter is to Jefferson Patterson from an unknown sender from 1862. The letter relates information that the sender received from Pittsburg Landing.

Western Union Telegram From William Patterson To His Father Jefferson Patterson Dated February 17, 1862, William Patterson

Patterson Family Correspondence

This Western Union telegram was sent from William Patterson to his father Jefferson on February 17, 1862, requesting his father to send him twenty dollars.