Diary, incomplete with loose pages, probably kept by [Captain George Annesley Barksdale (1835-1910)] , 1861 May-October

The diary mentions the following topics: the loan of a sharps rifle from George W. Randolph, supposedly owned before by John Brown and presented to the 1st [Virginia?] Regiment at Harper’s Ferry; a four mile drive on the Petersburg Road to “Strawberry Hill” owned by Robert Edmond; Judge and Mrs. Robertson leaving for “Mount Athos” their place in the country near Lynchburg, Virginia; double guard on “the mills” [Gallego Mills?]; the arrival of 1,000 men from Tennessee who went to the old fairgrounds; a drill by the “Richland Rifles” at the South Carolina camp; occupation of Alexandria by President Lincoln’s troops; news of a battle at Bethel Church between Yorktown and Hampton; the departure of 2,000 troops for Manassas on June 13th; a visit to Camp Lee; examination of the fortifications below the city with locations noted; note that business is very slow since the commencement of the war; the meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Macfarland and General Lee at Mr. Lyon’s [home?]; birth of a daughter [Elise Warwick Barksdale Wickham (1861-1952)] on August 28, 1861; note that he spent the last month with the 16th Virginia Regiment as Quartermaster at “Camp Withers” six miles from Norfolk; his orders to transfer to Colonel L. Smith’s office as paymaster, September 13, 1861; and the death of cousin Fanny Townes, September 20, 1861.