Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Students’ Army Training Corps In Virginia, R. Matthew Luther

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) is an overlooked part of the United States’ military training system during World War I. In early 1918, the War Department realized that they would need more military officers due to the rapid expansion of the Army for the war, the high expected casualty rate of officers, and the planned spring 1919 offensive. To help fix this problem, the Committee on Education and Special Training, a subsidiary of the War Department, created the SATC. College campuses served as training locations and male students enrolled at the schools received military training in addition to their …

The Guns Of Fort Monroe, Chris Fox

Student Posters: GIS Day

The objective of this research project is to analyze the interlocking fields of fire from the field artillery positions around the Bastion known as Fort Monroe located in Hampton Virginia. The research project will allow for the visualization of the artillery positions around the fort in one overview, as well as line of sight analysis from each artillery position within the moat. An analysis and line of sight for the artillery positions outside of the fort was also conducted. The 12 Inch M1895 and M1900 disappearing guns were the largest guns used at the fort and fired a projectile that …

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

MSS 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.

Measuring Rural Revolutionary Mobilization: The Militiamen, Soldiers, And Minutemen Of Fauquier County, Virginia 1775 - 1782, Jason Fackrell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The story of the rural soldiers and militiamen of Virginia that served in the American Revolution remains open to historical research and exploration. Recent scholarship of Virginia’s military contribution to the Revolution focuses heavily on relationships of power among social groups that operated within the colony’s hierarchy, concluding that a lack of white, lower-class political and economic representation disabled mobilization among the Old Dominion’s more settled regions. My study emphasizes the revolutionary backcountry’s story by using Fauquier County, Virginia as a case study.

A study of Rural Virginia during the Revolution presents scholars with significant challenges. Literacy rates among the …

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).

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 …

"With Nothing Left But Reputation": Reconstructing The Virginia Military Institute, Kaylyn L. Sawyer

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

The Virginia Military Institute was founded in 1839 and flourished throughout the mid- nineteenth century. The Institute remained loyal to Virginia during the Civil War, providing the Confederate Army with top ranking generals and deploying the corps of cadets during the Battle of New Market. Exposed as a target for Union troops marching through the valley, the Institute was virtually destroyed in 1864. The defeat of the Confederacy in 1865 left VMI uncertain of its very existence. Advocates for the Virginia Military Institute faced the daunting task of rebuilding the school while a fractured nation struggled to rebuild itself through …

Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2017

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

No abstract provided.

"Our Captain Is A Gentleman”: Officer Elections Among Virginia Confederates, 1861-1862, Ryan C. O'Hallahan

Theses and Dissertations

Enlisted soldiers preferred to elect company- and regimental-level officers during the first year of the American Civil War. This thesis explores how early Confederate mobilization, class conflict between elites and non-elites, and Confederate military policies affected officer elections from spring 1861 to spring 1862 among Virginia Confederates. Chapter 1 explores how the chaotic nature of mobilization and common soldiers' initial expectations regarding their military service influenced elections from April 1861 until late July 1861. Chapter 2 details the changing nature of elections as elite officers faced challenges from non-elites and Confederate policies regarding furloughs and conscription forced officers to reconcile …

Tolle Collection (Mss 524), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 524. Correspondence and papers of the Tolle family of Barren County, Kentucky. Includes data on the Tolle, Snoddy and Bransford families, William Daniel Tolle’s history of Barren County, and materials relating to his work as a veteran’s pension claims agent.

Daniels, Herbert, 1836-1899 (Mss 500), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 500. Letters of Herbert Daniels, serving with the 7th Rhode Island Infantry, to Salina A. (Brewster) Waterson in Worcester, Massachusetts. He reports on camp life in Kentucky, Maryland and Washington, D.C., gossips about other soldiers, and makes candid references to his sexual relationship with Salina.

Ten Miles From Richmond, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

At the tiny crossroads town of Cold Harbor, Ulysses S. Grant hoped to crush Robert E. Lee's army and hasten the war's end. What happened instead would become one of his greatest regrets.

Vanbuskirk, Michael Henry, 1840-1905 (Sc 1383), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Small Collection 1383. Diary, 1862-1864, kept by Michael H. VanBuskirk, while serving with Co. F, 27th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteers. He was taken prisoner in Virginia on 25 May 1862, and released on 13 September 1862. He gives a good description of military life. Also includes an 1862 letter written in rhyme to his parents (Click on "Additional Files" below for scan).

Harris, Downey Lamar, 1875-1956 (Sc 1033), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1033. World War I letters written by Downey L. Harris from Camp Lee, Virginia to his family in Franklin, Kentucky, consoling them over the loss of his brother, George DeWitt Harris in France. The letters also contain information about Downey’s work as a physician at Camp Lee during the war.

Bowles, Orlando Charles, 1839-1896 (Mss 455), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 455. Correspondence, accounts, land surveys, and miscellaneous business and legal papers of Orlando C. Bowles, a Civil War veteran, lawyer, farmer, and timber trader of Pike County, Kentucky. Includes some material relating to the Cecil family of Floyd and Pike counties.

Civil War, 1861-1865 - Letters (Sc 956), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 956. Letters, 1861-1864 (3), written by three soldiers from Indiana. Two are stationed in Virginia and describe recent battles and camp life. The letter writer from 1864 speculates that the war is almost over and describes Raleigh, North Carolina, and military affairs there.

Weeks, George Henry, 1839-1914 (Sc 798), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 798. Letters, 18 and 24 May 1863, of George Henry Weeks, a Union soldier from the 103rd Ohio Regiment, to his mother and sisters while camped near Somerset, Kentucky and the Cumberland River. Weeks includes details on duty, guerrilla activities, a slave’s plight, and his chaplain.

Wickersham Family Papers (Sc 560), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 560. Bound typescripts of 73 letters, 1861-1877, and an 1887 deed of the Wickersham family, Mercer County, Kentucky. The collection includes 53 Civil war letters, chiefly written to the family by brothers William, Jacob and George Wickersham, who served with Kentucky Union regiments. The majority of these letters are from William who prayed for peace and to be reunited with his family, but he died in 1863. Additionally, there are other family letters from 1863 to 1877.

Ginther Collection (Sc 464), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 464. Photocopies of typescripted letters written by brothers William A. and Joseph Ginther to their father, George Ginther, brother David, and sister of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while serving in the Union Army with the Department of the Potomac.

Heard, Grant Davis, 1841-1910 (Sc 426), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 426. Letters from Richmond, Virginia, July 1862, and near Gordonsville, Georgia, 21 April 1864, from Grant D. Heard to his father in Covington, Georgia. He laments the hardships of war, describes a meeting to censure the Governor of Georgia for his policies, and outlines the procedure for sending provisions. Heard served in the 53rd Regiment, Georgia Volunteers.

Slaughter Family Papers (Sc 402), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 402. Will, 1798; slavery bill of sale, 1810; militia commission, 1820; letters concerning Slaughter estate settlement, 1835-1843 (9); Mexican War claim, 1849; letters of recommendations for judicial appointments, 1853-1879 (7); Civil War notes and letters, 1861-1864 (4); and miscellaneous items. Selected items have been typescripted.

Prentis Papers (Mss 32), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and transcription of one 1865 letter (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 32. Letters to James Prentis, 1836-1869; family letters to Lucy Prentis, Petersburg, Virginia, 1838-1842; family letters to Margaret Prentis, 1867-1909; 26 letters and essays of James Prentis written to friends and newspaper editors expressing his views as a Union supporter, 1861-1867; and miscellaneous items.

Hoffman, Marvin G., 1878-1907 (Sc 222), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 222. Photocopy of diary kept by Marvin G. Hoffman, Tiffin, Ohio while serving in the Ohio National Guard and the 2^nd Ohio Infantry, chiefly during the period of the Spanish American War. Hoffman gives a good picture of his training and of life in the Ohio, Georgia, and Tennessee camps where he was stationed.

Helm, John, 1741-1825 (Sc 199), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 199. Copy of John Helm's appointment as an ensign in the Bedford County, Virginia militia. Signed, 17 November 1775, in Williamsburg, Virginia by members of the Committee of Safety for the Colony of Virginia.

Deupree Family Letters, 1865 (Sc 189), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 189. Letter, 30 May 1865, to James R. Deupree, Woodburn, Warren County, Kentucky from his sister-in-law, Sarah H. E. Deupree, Richmond, Virginia, and letter, 2 June 1865, to James R. Deupree from William L. Salmon, Henrico County, Virginia. They both relate to the death of James’s brother, Stephen, who was killed in an explosion while serving in the Confederate army. They also write of the effects of the war on everyday life in the Richmond area.

Morgan, Joseph Underwood, 1835-1892 (Sc 145), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 145. Correspondence of Joseph Underwood Morgan, Logan County, Kentucky. He writes to Maria D. Noel (whom he would marry in 1866) of their families, mutual friends, and his social activities. While serving in the Confederate Army, he writes of military life, including the derailment of his troop train, and of the restrictions placed on him while aprisoner at Rock Island, Illinois. A final letter discusses their intentions to marry.

Lee, Robert Edward, 1807-1870 (Sc 2149), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (click on Additional Files below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2149. Letter from Robert Edward Lee to Colonel Robert P. Blount, Provost Marshal at Guiney Depot [Guiney's Station], Virginia. Lee instructs him to hold the position, declines to provide artillery support, and refers to the transportation of prisoners. Includes copies of Confederate postage stamps and currency. Poor quality photostatic copy.

Cosby Family Papers (Mss 242), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 242. Letters to John Dudley Cosby, Muhlenberg County, and his family, from other family members in Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi. Includes genealogical data, some of Cosby's personal papers, and his estate inventory.

Jubal Early’S Trains: The Battle Of Lynchburg In Historical Memory, John G. Marks

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

On June 18, 1901, Charles Minor Blackford, brother of Battle of Lynchburg veteran Eugene Blackford, made a speech commemorating the thirty-five year anniversary of the Lynchburg Campaign. In the Battle of Lynchburg, as a part of the wider Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864, General Jubal Early and the Confederate force defended the city from General David Hunter and the Union in a two-day engagement, marked mostly by skirmishing. Blackford stated in this speech that, “During the night of the 17th, a yard engine, with box cars attached, was run up and down the Southside Railroad, making as much noise as …

Hamilton, Andrew Graff, 1835-1895 (Sc 1858), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1858. Information, chiefly published items, related to Hamilton's role in the escape of Union prisoners from Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia in 1864. Also, details concerning his 1895 death.