Primary Sources: U.S. Civil War: North - Personal Sources

From the Ohio Memories Digital Collections

"The Civil War Broadsides and Ephemera Collection contains items from the Wilbur Collection of Vermontiana that were printed and circulated from 1861 to 1865. Most of the items are related to the war, while a small number are related to Vermont’s efforts to organize and train the state militia after the war. The collection features proclamations, orders and announcements about the state’s military operations, including recruitment, enrollment, supplies, and equipment; relief efforts; the end of the war; and President Lincoln’s death. One of the most unusual items is a broadside alerting the public to the theft of U.S. Treasury notes and bonds stolen from a St. Albans, Vermont bank by Confederate raiders in October 1864. "

"In 1861, two brothers, having just purchased a farm in Southern Minnesota, enlisted in the First Minnesota Battery of Light Artillery. Although neither expected a long tour of duty, William and Thomas Christie served in the First Minnesota Battery through June 1865. Their younger brother, Alexander, enlisted in an infantry regiment in fall 1864." Digital Images of some of the letters are provided.

"Diaries, correspondence, and photographs from Iowa soldiers and their families during the American Civil War. The collection offers valuable insight on soldiers' daily activities, experiences in battles, and views on the war."

"...consists of correspondence, ca. 150 items, 1861-1863, between Charles Tenney, a Union soldier from Ohio, and Adelaide Case, a friend from Mecca, Ohio."

"... is the Civil War diary of Lt. (later Capt.) Cornelius C. Platter, of the 81st Ohio Infantry Volunteers, from November, 1864 - April 27, 1865. Platter's diary details Sherman's march through Georgia from Rome to Savannah and the march north through the Carolinas. He gives dates, times, and lengths of marches and describes the weather, locale, scenery, and food as well as orders, rumors, positions, troop morale, and administrative duties. The diary also includes a description of the burning of Columbia, South Carolina, the news of the Confederate surrender, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. "
Digital Library of Georgia

"Civil War diary of a Union pace counter for the California Volunteer Army,Company B, 5th Regiment Infantry.Brief diary entries provide a glimpse of military travel and camp conditions."
University of Arizona

"One of Special Collection’s main collection strengths is the Civil War and Reconstruction Era. In addition to images and military documents – such as muster rolls, generals’ orders, and supply requests – the department also houses a significant amount of correspondence and journals from the time period. As a collective whole, these materials chronicle the evolution of the American Civil War and the immediate aftermath. UT Libraries’ Digital Civil War Collection provides a selection of digitized journals and correspondence. These materials provide unique insight into the era’s military and regional culture by capturing the perspectives and personal experiences of soldiers as well as civilians affected by the war through personal relationships or geographic location. In addition, these materials record political opinions and regional attitudes about topical issues such as slavery and poverty. Each item includes a digital scan of the original document accompanied by a full text transcript."

"Reader (b. 1842), of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, was a private in the West Virginia 5th Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army. His diary covers the period from March 10th until June 25 following his capture. It includes the battle of New Market and the burning of V.M.I. and homes in Lexington by Union troops under the command of General David Hunter."

"George L. Bright was a band member of the 46th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (or 46th OVI), an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Bright's diary details weather and marching conditions from January to September 1862 and in specific locations including Camp Logan, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; and Paducah, Kentucky. Bright's entries also note days when he played his horn for regimental funerals."

"Civil War diary of George S. Smith, sergeant in Company C of the 48th Ohio Regiment, covering his service in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas, 1863-65. "

"Herbert Eugene Valentine, a native of Salem, Massachusetts, served in the Union Army, 23rd Massachusetts Volunteers, Co. F. A photographer by trade, Valentine was responsible for making maps and sketches and taking photographs for official army use. Valentine's manuscript memoirs relate various anecdotes about his army experiences, mostly in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.The original manuscript, housed in the Rare Books Department of Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University, is written longhand in a commercial ledger notebook. The text has been transcribed in full; gaps in pagination reflect the makeup of the original document."

"... contains a sampling of diary entries from the 1860s through the 1900s, some with searchable transcriptions."

"The sample of Civil War letters on this page represent transcription work carried out as part of an internship program in archives and manuscripts."
Provided by the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History at the University of Florida.

"English immigrant, corporal in Co. F, 111th Pennsylvania Infantry. Hilton's Civil War letters (written from the Washington, D.C. / Baltimore,
Maryland area, Cedar Creek. Loudon Heights) to his wife, Mary Jane. Includes various military and legal documents, newsclippings and photo-
graphs."
Description from site

"These twenty-two letters were written to Henry A. Bitner of Shippensburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, between May, 1861 and May, 1863."

"The papers of Union soldier Samuel J. Gibson (1833-1878) consist of a diary kept by Gibson in 1864 while serving with Company B, 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, and a letter to his wife while held as a prisoner at Camp Sumter in Georgia, the Confederate prisoner of war camp commonly known as Andersonville Prison. The diary documents the capture of the Federal garrison at Plymouth, North Carolina, in April 1864, and Gibson’s experiences as a prisoner of war at Andersonville, Georgia, and Florence, South Carolina. Gibson records war news and rumors received by the prisoners, the state of his physical and emotional health, the deaths of fellow prisoners, and the importance of his diary in maintaining a sense of time."

"The papers of reformer, poet, editor, and clergyman William Oland Bourne (1819-1901) span the years 1841-1885, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1856-1867. As editor of the periodical The Soldier's Friend, Bourne sponsored a contest in 1865-1866 in which Union soldiers and sailors who lost their right arms by disability or amputation during the Civil War were invited to submit samples of their penmanship using their left hands. The contest, which awarded a total of $1,000 in prizes for the winning entries, was followed in 1867 by a second contest, which awarded $500 in prizes."

"This collection represents three manuscript volumes that document daily life in Washington, D.C., through the eyes of U.S. Patent Office examiner Horatio Nelson Taft (1806-1888), including Taft's connection with Abraham Lincoln and his family. Of special interest is Taft's description of Lincoln's assassination, based on the accounts of his friends and his son, who was one of the attending physicians at Ford's Theatre the night Lincoln was shot, on April 14, 1865. Transcriptions for all three volumes have been made by Library of Congress staff and are available online with the digital images. "

"...a collection of first person narrative accounts of Wisconsin soldiers and citizens. Through their letters, diaries, poems and other records, we learn about the state's contributions to the Union victory that cost the lives of over 12,000 of the state's men. "
University of Wisconsin