Thirza Finch diary and letter transcriptions, 1858-1870
Using These Materials
- Restrictions:
- The collection is open for research.
Summary
- Creator:
- Finch, Thirza, 1831-1872
- Abstract:
- The Finch diary and letter transcriptions volume contains Thirza Finch's sporadic (or selected) diary entries from 1858-1870, plus copies of letters written to Thirza and other family members from her brothers who served in the Civil War.
- Extent:
- 480 pages
- Language:
- English
- Sponsor:
- James S. Schoff Civil War Collection
- Authors:
- Collection processed and finding aid created by Rob S. Cox, April 1992
Background
- Scope and Content:
-
The Finch diary and letter transcriptions contains Thirza Finch's sporadic (or selected) diary entries from 1858-1870, plus copies of letters written to Thirza and other family members from her brothers in the service. Unfortunately, in many cases the diary entries and letters appear to be extracts of the originals, rather than true transcriptions, and there is no way to know what has been omitted.
Except for a few entries written during the first year of the war, while Thirza was at Maple Valley, the diary entries are generally brief. These few entries, though, are a powerful record of the uncertainty felt by civilians caught in a war zone, and of the fear and suspicion surrounding the appearance of unknown persons, white or Black, soldier or civilian, northern or southern. The diary is at its best in the few days surrounding the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, when Thirza writes longer pieces, and when events take place at a very rapid pace and the tension reaches its peak. There are also several excellent entries relating her experiences nursing Union soldiers -- semi-voluntarily, it seems -- and hosting "deserters" from the Confederate Army.
Among the correspondence copied into the book, a few of the letters from Thirza's brothers are outstanding, though most are fairly routine, and many have been edited down during the copying process. Particularly noteworthy are a letter written by Richmond following the death of their father, in which he laments the fact that the family have drifted apart, and the series of letters written during the siege of Washington, N.C. Edwin's letters describing a spirited cavalry skirmish at Lacey Springs and the trenches at Petersburg three days before the fall are also excellent, as is his lengthy description of a huge snowball fight between members of three New York regiments and the 1st Vermont Cavalry.
- Biographical / Historical:
-
Finch, Edwin, 1846-1870
Rank: Pvt.
Regiment: 15th New York Cavalry Regiment (1863-1865)
Service: 1863 September-1865
Finch, Foster M., 1839-1885
Rank: Pvt.
Regiment: 7th New York Artillery Regiment (Heavy) (1862-1865)
Service: 1863 July-1865
Finch, Madison, 1835-1917
Rank: Pvt.
Regiment: C.S.A. Virginia Cavalry Regiment, 4th. Co. A (1861-1865)
Service: 1861-1863 November
Finch, Richmond, b. 1837
Rank: Sgt., Q.M.Sgt, Lt. (Jan. 1864); Capt. (Oct. 1864)
Regiment: 3rd New York Cavalry Regiment (1861-1865); 15th New York Cavalry (1863-1865) (transferred Jan. 1864)
Service: 1861 August 1-1865 March 22
In the early 1850's, Thirza Finch, her father and eight siblings moved from Knox, N.Y., to a farm in Maple Valley, Prince William County, Va. Though the Finches were staunch Unionists in a predominantly pro-secession region, father John Finch (d. 1862) could not bear, or afford, to abandon his possessions and escape to the north when the war broke out, even after several great battles, including the 1st Battle of Bull Run, took place within a few miles of their house. Yet as early as the summer of 1861, the family began to disperse under pressure of the war, when one son, Richmond, enlisted in a New York cavalry regiment, and another, Madison, despite his Unionist sympathies, was drafted into the 4th Virginia Cavalry (Confederate). Madison served very unwillingly under several Lees until his capture in Maryland in November, 1863. After five weeks spent at Old Capitol Prison in Washington, he was paroled and allowed to join his family in Knox, where he remained for the balance of the war.
Richmond Finch had apparently been estranged from his family for several years prior to the war, having been completely separated from them since April, 1858. In August, 1861, he mustered in with the rank of Sergeant in the 3rd New York Cavalry, and later, in November, 1863, accepted a commission in the 15th New York Cavalry. During his service, Richmond was posted in Washington, N.C., during the Confederate siege of that city, and saw action under Sigel and Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, and under Sheridan during the campaigns of 1864 and 1865. Richmond was an avid, apparently fearless soldier and was as aggressive as he was successful in pursuing a military career, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. After the war, Richmond operated a business in New Berne, N.C., for two years. Richmond's younger brother, Edwin (Eddie) also served in the 15th Cavalry. For several months in 1864, Eddie was posted as a guard for new recruits and prisoners of war at Hart Island, N.Y., before being transferred to the Shenandoah to take part in Sheridan's campaigns.
Having failed in his attempt to "find a situation" in Albany, a fourth Finch boy, Foster M. (his namesake, an elder brother, had died in infancy), stayed out of the war until July, 1863, when he enlisted in the 7th N.Y. Heavy Artillery. Early in 1864, Foster was apparently captured by Mosby's Rangers and imprisoned in Virginia. Weakened by his imprisonment, Foster spent some time in hospital after his release before rejoining his regiment in March, 1865. During most of his service, he was stationed defending forts in the vicinity of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
The eldest of the Finch children, Thirza, had been a sickly child and remained in fragile health throughout her short life. For more than a year after the outbreak of the war, Thirza and her father remained in Maple Valley, even after her brothers all had left for the military. In the month leading up to the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, Thirza's diary begins to show the depth of mistrust between Black and white, and between pro-Union and pro-Secession neighbors in Maple Valley. Several times, men in civilian clothes appeared at her door asking for food or shelter and claiming to be Confederate deserters or draft resisters. Her farm was visited and ransacked by soldiers from both armies, and she was called on to nurse several wounded or sick Union soldiers in her house. The aid she dispensed was always given with an overtone of reluctance, suspicion and mistrust, as she worried about who these men might really be and about reprisals from pro-Southern neighbors. Thirza was alone at the farm, in August, 1862, when long columns of Union soldiers and cattle passed by to the engagement at Bull Run. When her father returned on August 27th, the Finches decided that they, as known Unionists, would be in peril if the Union army again failed, and that her father, like her brother Madison, might be forced into the Confederate service. As a result, the Finches abandoned their farm and fled to their old home in Knox. Thirza spent the remainder of her life in Knox, as did her father, who died at the end of October, 1862.
- Acquisition Information:
- 1990. M-2562 .
- Rules or Conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Related
- Additional Descriptive Data:
-
Bibliography
Norton, Chauncey S. "The red neck ties," or, History of the Fifteenth New York Volunteer cavalry. (Ithaca: Journal book and job printing house, 1891)
Partial Subject Index
African Americans--Contraband - 426
African Americans--Virginia - 125, 157
Brother versus brother - 123, 130, 131, 145
Brother versus brother--Poetry - 211a-213
Brothers and sisters - 267
Bull Run Campaign, 1862 - 151-153
Bull Run, 2nd Battle of, Va., 1862 - 154
Camp life--New York (State) - 55, 56
Camp life--North Carolina - 429
Camps (Military) - 83
Camps (Military)--Virginia - 420
Cedar Creek (Va.), Skirmish at, 1864 - 406
Centreville (Va.) Skirmish at, 1862 - 159
Civilians--North Carolina--Civil War, 1861-1865 - 430
Civilians--Virginia--Civil War, 1861-1865 - 65, 66, 136
Confederate States of America. Army of Northern Virginia--Surrender - 59
Confederate States of America. Army--Mosby's Rangers - 263
Cookery, Military - 74
Custer, George A. (George Armstrong), 1839-1876 - 59, 60
Deserters, Military--Confederate States of America - 75, 128
Draft resisters--Confederate States of America - 120, 121, 127
Draft--Confederate States of America - 104, 239
Early, Jubal, 1816-1894 - 277, 386
Enemy--Relations - 403
Fathers - 256
Fathers--Death - 206, 220-222
Fear - 134
Finch Family - 177, 178, 240-242, 356, 358, 372
Finch, Edwin, 1846-1870 - 108, 452, 454
Finch, Foster M., 1839-1885 - 266, 270, 272, 276
Finch, John, d. 1862--Death - 206, 220-222
Finch, Madison, 1835-1917 - 103, 104, 156, 157, 229, 231-233, 236, 239, 249
Finch, Richmond, b. 1837 - 45, 66, 70, 197, 248, 250
Five Forks, Battle of, 1865 - 113-114
Food - 84
Foraging--North Carolina - 431-432
Foraging--Virginia - 379
Garrison duty - 300, 426
Gilmor, H. W. - 74
Gordonsville (Va.)--Raid, 1864 - 61, 62, 67
Guard duty - 35-45
Guerillas--Virginia - 73, 263
Hart Island (N.Y.) - 37, 39-41, 47
Hatteras Inlet (N.C.) - 142
Lacey's Springs (Va.)--Raid, 1864 - 369-371, 377-379
Laundry - 46
Lice - 99
Marriage - 390, 391
Mothers - 259
Mothers--Death--Poetry - 214
New Berne (N.C.) - 401
Nostalgia - 267, 268
Officers' wives - 278
Petersburg (Va.)--History--Siege, 1864-1865 - 387, 388
Piedmont, Battle of, 1864 - 398
Pillage--Virginia - 127
Poetry - 25-27
Prisoners of War - 277, 370, 371
Prisoners of War--Confederate States of America - 90, 91, 263, 429
Punishment - 150
Reconstruction--North Carolina - 199, 200
Refugees--Virginia - 104, 105, 155-162
Religion - 2, 3, 7, 391
Religious poetry - 207-209
Rheumatism - 383
Sabbath - 77
Scorched earth policy - 63
Secession--South Carolina - 223
Shenandoah Valley Campaign, 1864 - 257, 267, 268, 280, 398-400, 406-409
Shenandoah Valley Campaign, 1864-1865 - 64, 65, 72, 257, 260, 369-371, 377-379
Sheridan's Raid in Northern Virginia, 1865 - 386
Slavery--Emancipation - 111
Snowball fights - 75, 76
Soldiers--Attitudes - 202, 203
Soldiers--Confederate States of America - 156, 157
Soldiers--Recreation - 75, 76
Soldiers--Suffrage - 57
Soldiers--United States - 129, 136-139, 147, 151, 152, 155
Souvenirs - 84
Spies - 136
Spring - 375, 376
Spring--Religious aspects - 254, 255
Union sympathizers--Virginia - 103-105
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--African Americans - 430
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Artillery operations - 402-404
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Blockades - 403
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Cavalry operations - 61, 62, 280, 369-371
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Confiscations and contributions - 107, 398, 399
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Desertions - 37
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Hospitals - 150
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Peace - 73, 74, 272
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Postal service - 113
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Women - 278
United States. Army--Barracks and quarters - 39
United States. Army--Enlistment - 309
United States. Army--New York Cavalry Regiment, 3rd--Poetry - 210a-b
United States. Army--New York Cavalry Regiment, 15th--Poetry - Inside back cover
United States. Army--Officers - 74, 280
United States. Army--Recruiting - 40-43
Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 - 354-355
War - 429
Washington (D.C.) - 272
Washington (N.C.) - 148
Washington (N.C.), Skirmish near, 1863 - 429
Washington (N.C.)--History--Siege, 1863 - 402-404, 428-434
Women--Virginia - 124, 125
Yorktown (Va.)--History--Siege, 1862 - 143
Youth - 258
Subjects
Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.
- Subjects:
-
Bull Run, 2nd Battle of, Va., 1862.
Draft resisters--Confederate States of America.
Draft--Confederate States of America.
Fathers--Death.
Five Forks, Battle of, Va., 1865.
Foraging--North Carolina.
Gordonsville (Va.)--Raid, 1864.
Guard duty.
Guerillas--Virginia.
Lacey's Springs (Va.)--Raid, 1864.
Military deserters--Confederate States of America.
Petersburg (Va.)--History--Siege, 1864-1865.
Poetry.
Prisoners of War.
Prisoners of War--Confederate States of America.
Refugees--Virginia.
Religion.
Religious poetry.
Shenandoah Valley Campaign, 1864.
Shenandoah Valley Campaign, 1865.
Soldiers--Confederate States of America.
Soldiers--United States.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Cavalry operations.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Confiscations and contributions.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Peace.
United States. Army--Officers.
Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Women--Virginia. - Formats:
-
Diaries.
Letter books. - Names:
-
Finch family.
Custer, George A. (George Armstrong), 1839-1876.
Early, Jubal, 1816-1894.
Finch, Edwin, 1846-1870.
Finch, Foster M., 1839-1885.
Finch, John, d. 1862--Death.
Finch, Madison, 1835-1917.
Finch, Richmond, b. 1837.
Finch, Thirza, 1831-1872. - Places:
- Hart Island (N.Y.)
Contents
Using These Materials
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
The collection is open for research.
- USE & PERMISSIONS:
-
Copyright status is unknown.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Thirza Finch Diary and Letter Transcriptions, James S. Schoff Civil War Collection, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan