Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Clark-Whedon papers document the activities of at Michigan cavalry officer serving in northern Virginia during the Civil War, including descriptions of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Appomattox Campaign.

The Clark Papers contains eight letters, seven of which were written by John A. Clark to William Wesley Whedon (1827-1907), of Chelsea, Michigan, and his wife, Helen Turner. One letter, written by Clarence Whedon, William's brother, includes a good description of the Battle of Fredericksburg. Clarence served in the 20th Michigan Infantry

Clark's letters are highly literate accounts of the cavalry service during the Civil War, filled with descriptions of the strenuous, active and mobile life of the horse soldier. His letters describing the days before and after the Battle of Gettysburg, and his 14 page letter describing the Appomattox Campaign and the close of the war in the east are memorable. His letter of August 10th, 1863, includes a description of counter-guerrilla activity in the Shenandoah Valley that highlights the brutality and uncertainty of guerrilla warfare and the sometimes extralegal means to which Federal troops had to resort to suppress the guerrillas.

The Noah Deaton papers contain six letters written by Deaton to his father, William Deaton, and to his future wife, Sarah Jane McDonald, during his service in the 26th North Carolina Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army. Deaton's regiment served in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg campaign.

The Noah Deaton papers contain six letters written by Deaton to his father, William Deaton, and to his future wife, Sarah Jane McDonald, during his service in the 26th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Deaton wrote mainly about military movements and interactions between his regiment and Union soldiers, including several skirmishes in Virginia and North Carolina. On one occasion, North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance accompanied the regiment, as the Yankees broke up telegraph and railroad lines and eventually skirmished with the rebels outside of Goldsboro, North Carolina (December 19, 1862). Shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg, Deaton expressed his fear that the conviction of his fellow soldiers was waning, but he staunchly refused to submit to "Old Abe" (July 8, 1864). Deaton composed the final letter while imprisoned at Point Lookout, where he manufactured rings and breast pins for the Union Army. He described his condition as tolerable, but expressed pleasure at hearing news from home (October 10, 1864).

Deaton included a poem, "Soldiers Farewell," in his letter of June 23-30, 1863,