Special Collections Research Center

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Diary, 1862-1865, of Laura Lee, Winchester, Virginia. (?) entitled "A History of Our Captivity," discussing in detail movements of and occupation by Union forces. The volume also includes lists of persons who died during the Civil War.

The material can also be viewed on microfilm: Laura Lee Diary, Winchester, VA 1862-1865, in Swem Library’s microforms area, 1 reel, call number E605 .L44

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L.W. Fisk, Capt. Crescent Rifles, Warwick Co., Va., to Major W.H. Rightor, Commanding Louisiana Battalion. Fisk describes an encounter of his infantry detachment of 100 men under Col. Dreux against a Federal detachment and a few horsemen near Newport News, Va. He takes over the command when Col. Dreux is killed. However, the enemy fled which prevented carrying out Col. Dreux' command.

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Letters from Willie McLean, Camp 5th Va. Cavalry, to his family with news of camp life, skirmishes, and accounts of Jubal A. Early and General John B. Gordon's troops

Scope and Contents The McLeod-Tyler Family papers contains materials from members of the McLeod-Tyler family. Included in the collection are diaries and scrapbooks of Lieutenant John G. Tyler II during World War II, a typed transcript of a Civil War Memoir of Edward Keville Glennan; a commemorative collection of 20 battle pictures, entitled "Advance in the Pacific, New Guinea to the Philipines"; and two high school poetry anthologies, 1969-1970 to which J. Goodenow Tyler III contributed. Also included in the...

Scope and Contents Bound manuscript titled "Memories of Rebel Prisons".  Contains a list of Union prisoners from the Civil War kept in the Confederate prisons of 'Castle Thunder' and 'Libby' in Richmond, Virginia and a prison in Salisbury, North Carolina.  A memorandum written by Joshua Harris Aubin dated May 14, 1940 reads, "The first thirty pages are in hand writing of Captain W.B. Galucia (1834- 1902), after that in my hand-writing although I cannot recall when or in what circumstances."...

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A letter from Union soldier Mowrey Colwell, Washington, D.C., to William Winson, no place, written on the paper of the 12th Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers, with a print of the U.S. Capitol. He describes the area as "laide wast" and discusses camp life and his pay.

Scope and Contents Letter written on May 11, 1862 by Sgt. Nathan Cory, a Union soldier, to his brother-in-law, Peter Baley, while Cory was "on the road to Richmond."  The letter describes the Battle of Williamsburg, which occurred on May 5th, and mentions that the Union is pursuing the Confederates who left Yorktown shortly after the battle.    Cory mistakenly dated the letter as April 11th.  However, the postmark on the envelope indicates the letter was written in May, which also aligns with the...

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A letter from Nelson Deraino, 20 miles from Richmond, Virginia, to his aunt and uncle, describing the Battle of Williamsburg. Deraino was a member of the 70th New York Infantry. A typescript is included.

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Letter from Oliver H. Sargent in Yorktown Plains, Virginia to a friend, Hoyt, regarding a battle during the opening seige of Yorktown in which his unit, the 22nd Massachusetts participated. The collection includes a cabinet photograph of Oliver Sargent in uniform. Sargent was possibly killed in action by a Confederate landmine, one of the first Union soldiers to be killed in that manner.

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The collection contains the letters of Pvt. Adam Porter of Co. A, 194th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, stationed at Camp Carroll, Md. to his sister and brother-in-law in Williamsport, Pa. He describes camp life. Included is a pen and ink sketch of Porter and a carte-de-visite of him in uniform.

5 items.

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A letter from R.H. Woolworth, Union soldier, Camp near Falmouth, Va. to his sister Anna Woolworth, Westchester, Penn. He relates news of troop movements, bridges, Fredericksburg inhabitants, and the rumored removal of General McCall.

Scope and Contents The collection contains letters written by Rufus Robbins, Jr. to family members during the Civil War. In his year and a half of service in the 7th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Robbins freqently wrote to his parents and brothers Henry and Edwin in South Abington, Massachusetts.  The letters contain information about camp life and the activities of Robbins' regiment.  Of note, the letter dated May 11, 1862 gives Robbins' account of the Battle of Williamsburg, which took place...

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Two letters from a Union soldier, S.L. Allen, to his mother, about the burning of Hampton, Virginia and fighting of the troops against the Rebels on the Peninsula. He worries that his mother is going alone to New York.

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This collection is a typed carbon copy of the letterbook of Captain Daniel Messinger, Provost Marshall of Portsmouth, dated November 9, 1863 to June 27, 1864. It contains correspondence between Messinger and various military personell including Brigadier General Wild, Brigadier General Barnes, General Butler, Colonel Shaffer, Colonel Holman, as well as Portsmouth's Mayor Collins. Photographs are included in the copy. It was transcribed by Jno. C. Emmerson, Jr. in 1946.

Scope and Contents Letter from Samuel T. [?], Camp Elliott Hill, [Tenn.?], to "My Dear Sister," no place. He is responding to her two letters. He's glad the enemy didn't get as far as their house. He hears the people were treated badly along their route. He mentions "semi skirmishing" with Philip Henry Sheridan and the number of candidates for "even the smallest offices" and tells of 16 deserters in the brigade. He hears that the army has started recruiting "negroes" and fears they will not be "much advantage...

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A letter written by a Union soldier, Burt H., to "Charles" while at camp near Yorktown, Virginia. He notes that "we have been making a new road so we can take the rebels... they say it is a harder place to take than Richmond," and "there is one hundred and a thousand men with us and McClellan at the head..."

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A letter from a Maryland-native soldier, Renton, while in Franklin County, North Carolina about going home.

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A letter from a soldier, 1st Mass. Mounted Riders, Williamsburg, Va., to his sweetheart, Catherine G. Cooke, Richmond, Mass., regarding his reenlistment. He hopes that the war won't last any longer than 15 months more.

Scope and Contents The letter from Carl B., camp at Beverly Ford, Virginia, to Uncle George, no place, describes his three pen and ink sketches. The drawings depict the camp reading room, a black man attached to the Brigade Headquarters carrying water, and a humorous incident involving 11 conscripts who had arrived for the 118th P.Vs. and 18th and 22nd Mass. Regt. He looks forward to a camp dance. He rejoices over Union possession of Morris Island and the attack on Ft. Sumter. He urges Charleston be burned and...

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This collection consists of two letters from a Union soldier, signed as "Mac." The first letter is addressed to "Friend Harry" and dated December 12, 1861. Written from Camp Hooker, it details the end of a Rebel blockade after the shelling of a Rebel battery by a Union gunboat. The second letter, which is undated, is incomplete, but provides a detailed description of an unknown combat operation. Mac was possibly a member of the 1st Massachusetts.

Content Description 6 page letter addressed to "Mother" from Adams Run, South Carolina. Winn was a Corporal in Company "D" of the South Carolina 3rd Infantry Battalion. He writes extensively about his disdain for the North and the belief that permanent separation is the only possible outcome. ..."better far to be crushed than live in disgrace our separation from the North is distinct, unalterable, complete. We are henceforth a distinct race and no interest can again unite us..." Winn goes on to describe news...

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The diary of William Coe, a minister from the Shenandoah Valley, with entries dated from May 29, 1862 to August 13, 1862. He writes about the Seven Days and Cedar Mountain battles and shifts in area from Confederate to Union control. He discusses slavery, specifically a man he enslaves who marries a free woman, as well as the death and burial of an enslaved woman who was his servant's mother.

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Letters from William Woodville, Jr. of Baltimore, Maryland written to his wife 'Nan' (Ann C. Schley Woodville) during the Civil War while serving as an aide to Brig. General Harry T. Hays, CSA. His letters describe camp life and military maneuvers mostly in Virginia, including the Peninsular Campaign. A marriage license of Woodville to Schley dated 1855 is also included. The collection contains original letters and typescripts of original letters.

Scope and Contents This collection contains a letter from Brigadier General Henry A. Wise, Lewisberg [sic], Va. [W. Va.], to Adjutant and Inspector General Samuel Cooper, no place. The dispatch is reporting troop strength at Gauley Bridge and reports on guns and ammunition. He writes that the area is unsound. At a place called Williamsburg [W. Va.?], there is "a violent Yankee partisan, a Dr. Thatcher" who shot at his [HAW] orderly, wounding him in the head. Wise asks that three field officers--Col. J. Lucius...