United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
Subject
Subject Source: Library Of Congress Subject Headings
Found in 17 Collections and/or Records:
Ellen Strong Bartlett letters
Collection — Box BW 59: [Barcode: X031674512], Folder: 001
Identifier: MSS 16854
Content Description
This collection primarily contains the letters of Ellen "Nellie" Strong Bartlett, author and historian, when she was sixteen years old. Ten letters describe her trip to Washington, D.C., from January to early March 1864. She stayed with her aunt and uncle, Julia and David Bartlett. David Bartlett wrote an early and influential campaign biography of Abraham Lincoln and served as the Clerk of the Committee on Elections in the House of Representatives. The letters describe her travels to...
Dates:
1864-1897
Blockade Civil War letter from wife Isabella and her children, Jumain, Miriam, and Rosa to her husband in Cuba
Collection — Folder 1: [Barcode: X032762544]
Identifier: MSS 16853
Content Description
This collection contains a rare letter written by a woman named Isabella, and her children, Jumain, Miriam, and Rosa, to her unnamed husband describing their attempts to sail from Galveston, Texas, to join him in Havana, Cuba. Their passage was on a blockade runner that failed as they could not pass through the Union ships. The back of the letter contains short notes from each of the children addressed to their father.
Dates:
March 7, 1865
Charles Ellery Bradley papers
Collection — Box 2: [Barcode: X032669575]
Identifier: MSS 9728
Content Description
Charles Ellery Bradley U.S. Civil War diaries 1861, 1862, and 1863. Bradley, a volunteer in the 32nd Regiment., New York, describes marching, keeping guard, and fighting in key battles including Bull Run, The Battle of Gettysburg, Antietam, and mentions generals such as Ambrose Everett Burside, John Sedgwick, George B. McClellan, and Joseph Hooker.
Dates:
1861-1863
Elizabeth Albee Brooks Diary
Collection — Box BW 59: [Barcode: X031674512], Folder: 001
Identifier: MSS 16890
Content Description
This collection contains the diary of Elizabeth Albee Brooks (1828-1869) from 1865. Brooks was an artist in training who lived in Medford, Massachusetts. The diary has an inscription in the front endpaper that reads "With many happy new years from her loving Auntie. Medford." The diary contains 124 entries handwritten in pencil graphite. It documents and gives insights into the experiences of adult, single women in suburban Northern communities as the Civil War came to a close. The diary...
Dates:
1865
Private Riley Carpenter letters
Collection — Box BW 59: [Barcode: X031674512], Folder: 001
Identifier: MSS 16891
Content Description
This collection contains six letters written by Private Riley Carpenter, a Union soldier in the 150th Pennsylvania "Bucktails" unit. The letters are from camps in Rappahanock, Warrington, and Culpeper, Virginia. The letters' content discusses battles, waiting periods at various camps, fellow soldiers, and Riley's longing to be home...
Dates:
1862-1864
Anna Maria Hickman Otis Mead Chalmers family papers
Collection
Identifier: MSS 4966
Scope and Contents
The papers of Anna Maria (Campbell Hickman) Otis Mead Chalmers (1809-1891) and her family offer a deep look into a 19th century American family with a sharp focus on enslaved and formerly enslaved persons. The collection documents the life of a young, widowed woman, Anna Maria Mead Chalmers, who was the granddaughter of General William Hull (1753-1825). She was a mother of four children and became a businesswoman in Richmond, Virginia. She was a writer, an editor of the Southern Churchmen,...
Dates:
1821 - 1897
Sylvenus A. Fay Civil War diary
Collection
Identifier: MSS 16708
Content Description
Sylvenus A. Fay diary recounting the daily events of camp life and fighting, his capture by Confederates during the Battle of Plymouth, North Carolina and waiting for an exchange for his freedom with hundreds of Union Officers. Lieutenant Fay was the commanding officer of Company F, 85th New York Infantry. In January 1864, the 85th Infantry was ordered to Plymouth NC, where in April, almost the entire regiment was captured. There is significant information in the diary about...
Dates:
1864
Hayes, Rutherford, B. letter to Major Davis
Collection — Box BW 51, Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 16651
Content Description
One autographed signed letter by Rutherford B. Hayes to Major Davis regarding reports about the American Civil War and Morgan's Raid in Buffington, Ohio, in July 1863.
Dates:
1891 January
John G. Staysa Civil War Diary
Unprocessed Material
Identifier: ViU-2023-0026
Joseph Tatnall Lea and Annie Anderson Cabeen letters- addition
Unprocessed Material — Folder 1
Identifier: ViU-2021-0039
Julia Chase diary
Unprocessed Material — Multiple Containers
Identifier: ViU-2020-0048
Leukhardt family Civil War letters
Collection — Box 1: [Barcode: X030899341], Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 15155
Scope and Contents
Leukhardt family letters (1862-1865; 0.25 cubic feet) consist of letters from Captain Gottfried Leukhardt and his family while he and his son Andrew are fighting for the Union army from 1862 to 1865. They mention several important battles including the Seven Days Battle (Malvern Hill 1862) and Bermuda Hundred, Manchester and Varina, Virginia (1864). General George B. McClellan and General Fitz John Porter are also mentioned.
There are different spellings of their names, including...
Dates:
1862-1865
Lieutenant Sylvenus Fay Civil War diary, 1864
File — Folder BW 45, Folder: 1/3
Content Description
From the Collection:
Sylvenus A. Fay diary recounting the daily events of camp life and fighting, his capture by Confederates during the Battle of Plymouth, North Carolina and waiting for an exchange for his freedom with hundreds of Union Officers. Lieutenant Fay was the commanding officer of Company F, 85th New York Infantry. In January 1864, the 85th Infantry was ordered to Plymouth NC, where in April, almost the entire regiment was captured. There is significant information in the diary about...
Dates:
1864
John L. Nau III Civil War History Collection
Collection
Identifier: MSS 16459
Scope and Contents
The John L. Nau III Civil War History Collection (1806-1988, bulk 1861-1865; 133 cubic feet) contains Civil War-era correspondence, service records, pension records, artifacts, photographs, military records (including orders, requisitions, and correspondence), currency, newspapers, and other print materials. The collection primarily contains the correspondence, records, and photographs of white soldiers and officers who fought in the Civil War, including white officers serving in...
Dates:
1806-1988; Majority of material found within 1861 - 1865
John G. Staysa Civil War Diary
Collection — Folder 1: [Barcode: X031579410]
Identifier: MSS 16812
Louis P. Stone Letter
Collection — Box BW 57: [Barcode: X032668454], Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 16858
Content Description
This collection contains a letter from Louis P. Stone (1843-1903) to Colonel Tracy describing his exploits as a U.S. Secret Service operative and requesting payment for his services. Stone was a U.S. Secret Service operative during the first two years of the Civil War. The "Secret Service," before officially inaugurated as the investigative branch of the Treasury Department in 1865, was the unofficial name for the intelligence services in the Union Army. The letter contains Stone's account...
Dates:
1863 May 3
Wentworth family letters
Unprocessed Material — Folder ViU-2025-0108_001: [Barcode: X032762795]
Identifier: ViU-2025-0108