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The Cosner papers document the experience of a middle-aged Union soldier serving with the 21st Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.

Cosner's letters reflect his rather unusual position as a middle-aged soldier. Sixteen of the 18 letters in the collection were written to his wife, Ann B. Cosner, and the other two were addressed to his daughter, Martha, one in 1880. Cosner's handwriting suggests that he was not an experienced letter-writer, nor are his descriptive skills well developed, seldom advancing beyond straightforward comments and never at length. Cosner's letters, however, do reflect the attitudes of many pious, honest soldiers trying to live a Christian life in the middle of a seemingly godless war, and, unusually, display an open reticence about entering combat.

This collection consists of Clarice A. Bouton's transcriptions of the Civil War reminiscences of her grandfather, Albert G. Fuller. Fuller, a native of Reading, Michigan, served in the 78th New York Infantry Regiment, Company K, and participated in actions including the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, and Sherman's March to the Sea.

This collection consists of Clarice A. Bouton's transcriptions (8 pages) of the Civil War reminiscences of her grandfather, Albert G. Fuller. Fuller recounted many incidents from his time in the 78th New York Infantry Regiment, which he joined on March 20, 1862, with three friends from his hometown of Reading, Michigan: Lemuel Wisner, William Herrington, and William Green, all killed during the war. He discussed his regiment's movements and marches, his time in hospitals recuperating from bullet wounds, and his participation in battles, skirmishes, and Sherman's March to the Sea. He described wounded soldiers lying in their tents, nursed by other soldiers; the interruption of his meal immediately prior to the Battle of Peachtree Creek; the harsh treatment and execution of three deserters; and the Union Army's destructive practices while marching from Atlanta to Savannah.

Fuller noted the deaths and disappearances of his hometown friends and recalled his recuperation in hospitals in York, Pennsylvania, after the Battle of Gettysburg, and Savannah, Georgia, in 1864; while in York, he attended a political speech that was disrupted by gunfire, resulting in a panic and further injuries to his wounded leg. Fuller's account ends with his discharge on June 2, 1865, and his return to the family farm on June 20, 1865, where he resumed work immediately upon his arrival.

The George Martin Trowbridge papers contain Trowbridge's description of his military service with the 19th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War, including religious, medical, and social aspects of soldier life.

The George Martin Trowbridge papers contain a total of 238 letters, 47 of which are written on earlier letters in order to conserve paper. Trowbridge wrote 191 of the letters to his wife, Lesbia ("Lebbie") during his Civil War service with the 19th Michigan Infantry. When his supply of stationery ran low, he reused incoming letters, interlining them with his own writings, and thus 42 letters from Lebbie and 5 from George's friends are also preserved with the collection. The letters span October 9, 1863, to June 22, 1865. Trowbridge apparently intended his wife to preserve these letters for posterity, because he wrote exceptionally detained accounts of the latter part of the Civil War, totaling 1,089 pages of correspondence.

Early letters in the collection describe camp life in McMinnville, Tennessee, which the 19th Michigan occupied for six months from October 1863 to April 1864, with very little to do. Trowbridge was considerably anguished at being separated from his wife, and his long answers to her letters included attempts to govern his household from a distance of several hundred miles. Trowbridge's relationship with his wife emerges with great complexity in their correspondence. George repeatedly discussed the place of women and proper parenting, and he appears to have harbored a nagging suspicion during the first several months of his service that his wife might have been unfaithful to him. His frequent condemnations of adultery, pointed comments concerning infidelity on the part of soldiers' wives, and assertions that he would personally drop a wife who was guilty of infidelity, eventually brought Lebbie to exasperated protests; by the opening of the Atlanta Campaign, references to the subject ceased completely. An evangelical Christian, Trowbridge wrote letters during the occupation period that revealed his interest in the spiritual lives of his fellow soldiers; he described prayer meetings and theological debates. He also frequently criticized the military's secular treatment of the Sabbath, especially in a letter of November 22, 1863.

After the spring of 1864, the unit began its participation in the Atlanta Campaign and in his letters, Trowbridge increasingly discussed military engagements, medical work, duties, and the places and people that the regiment encountered. Of particular note is Trowbridge's 36-page account (November 11-December 17, 1864) of Sherman's March to the Sea, detailing the Union army's destruction of plantations, railroad tracks, and cotton storage facilities. It also provides an excellent description of slavery in Georgia, including working conditions of half-clothed young slaves, the sexual advantage that masters took with their female slaves ("there is white blood in most"), and the illegality of slave literacy. Other topics mentioned include the historical significance of the march, Confederate resistance near Savannah, and the production of "Sherman ties" made by winding heated railroad track pieces around trees. Trowbridge also wrote a 56-page narrative of the March through the Carolinas, dated February 2-March 26, 1865. In this, he gave an account of further destruction of homes, cotton, and infrastructure; of Sherman's reputation as a fighter; of the capture of bank safes in Charleston and Camden; and of the battles of Averasboro and Bentonville.

Toward the end of the war, when stationery got scarce, Trowbridge began writing on letters which Lebbie and others had written to him. Thus over 40 of her letters are preserved. Lebbie's letters, which are still largely legible in spite of the fact that George wrote between the lines of her letters, provide ample family news and many details of life on the homefront. Of particular interest is her description of reactions to Lincoln's assassination in Michigan (on George's letter of May 23, 1865), as well as her discussion of alcohol use by her neighbors (August 28, 1864). Both George and Lebbie comment upon the failed love life of Lebbie's sister, Gertrude A. Fox (b. 1843), who for a time was engaged to her first cousin.

Soldier in the 1st Michigan Regiment of Engineers and Mechanics during the Civil War. Collection includes originals, transcripts, and images of letters written by John Kelley Hough as a Union soldier, a family photo, and biographical information.

John Kelley Hough's letters constitute the bulk of the collection. Files include fifteen original letters with transcrips and digitized images of the originals, and one photocopy of a transcript and its digital image. The Hough Family series includes biographical information about the Hough family and a digital image of a family photo dated 1897 with information about the people depicted on the photograph. Also, a list of family members that are mentioned in John Hough's letters.

This typescript contains John Henry Otto's detailed recollections about his service in the 21st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, Company D, during the Civil War.

This typescript (646 pages) contains John Henry Otto's detailed recollections about his service in the 21st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, Company D, during the Civil War. The narrative is divided into an introduction and 52 chapters, with outlines provided at the beginning of each chapter. Otto made two longhand copies of his reminiscences around 1902 and presented them to his sons August and George; Vincent R. R. Carboneau, Otto's grandson, created another longhand copy in early 1943. This typescript, completed by Carboneau's daughter, Phyllis McGrath, in 1977, is a typed version of Carboneau's manuscript, with original spelling, grammar, and punctuation intact.

The typescript, based on Otto's original war diaries, concerns the entirety of his Civil War service, from his initial enlistment in August 1862 to his final discharge in June 1865. An early chapter contains brief notes about his previous military experiences in the Prussian army, with which he served in wars against Denmark (1848) and Austria (1850-1851), and he occasionally referred to his wife and children in Wisconsin. He discussed Wisconsin residents' response to the war and the renewed call to arms in late 1862 and shared stories of his interactions with civilians and military personnel throughout his time in the South, including other German-American soldiers and both Union and Confederate sympathizers. Otto encountered runaway slaves and freedmen and occasionally referred to the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1864, he expressed his negative opinion of George McClellan and McClellan's nomination for the presidency.

Most of Otto's reminiscences concern his daily experiences, and some parts of the narrative are structured like a diary. Otto described camp life, winter quarters, drilling, equipment, and the areas he passed through and visited in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. In September and October 1864, he visited Wisconsin on furlough. The typescript includes his detailed recollections of the Tullahoma Campaign, the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, and the Carolinas Campaign; numerous skirmishes; and major engagements such as the Battle of Perryville, Battle of Stones River, Battle of Hoover's Gap, Battle of Chickamauga, Battle of Resaca, Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Battle of Peachtree Creek, Siege of Atlanta, and the Battle of Averasboro. He recounted in-battle movements, the experience of coming under fire, and deaths. Otto witnessed a few executions, including that of at least one deserter, and wrote about the capture of Confederate prisoners and equipment. While in the Carolinas near the end of the war, he befriended a young mulatto boy, "Joe Hooker," who returned with him to Wisconsin in 1865. After the 21st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment participated in the Grand Review of the Armies in May 1865, Otto remained in Washington, D.C., where he did some sightseeing. The final pages of the typescript include a copy of Sherman's farewell address to the army.

Comments on wartime activities, including description of Sherman's Georgia Campaign.

Serving in the 28th Pennsylvania Infantry and then in the 147th, Josiah King witnessed some of the most memorable events of the war, including Gettysburg, Atlanta, and the March to the Sea. His letters home contain observations and asides, particularly on the Presidential election of 1864, as well as itemized lists of goods to be sent from home.

Josiah Edmond King served in two of the most active and "efficient" regiments from the state of Pennsylvania, although his first letters home contain few details about combat. Like many soldiers, he was preoccupied with the rigors of marches and camp life, and with requests for funds and packages of food and other essentials. His itemized lists for goods to be forwarded from home are excellent and unusually specific.

Beginning in July, 1863, the quality of King's correspondence noticeably improves, and his letters become increasingly detailed and peppered with keen observations. King witnessed some of the most memorable events of the war, including Gettysburg, Atlanta, and the March to the Sea, and although his letters provide little actual description of the engagements, they are full of thought-provoking -- and occasionally poignant -- asides. King was a particularly interesting, staunchly Republican commentator on the Presidential election of 1864, and thereafter it appears that his political leanings veered ever more into the Radical camp. An interesting motif in his letters is King's experimentation with handwriting styles, doubtless brought about by his heavy load of paperwork for the Army.

Three of the letters in the collection were written by Dr. Richard C. Halsey, surgeon with the 142nd Pennsylvania between August 4, 1862, to March 29, 1863. His two letters from before, during, and after the Battle of Fredericksburg are exceptional from the medical view. Halsey's casual style exhibits an interesting blend of sincere patriotism and cynicism. His letter of March 10, 1863 in which he reports excellent health and no plans to be home for some time to come, is interesting in light of the fact that he was discharged nineteen days later.

The Lewis W. Van Tuyl Papers contain the Civil War correspondence of Van Tuyl, primarily to his father Isaac and other family members. Van Tuyl served with the 10th Illinois Infantry from September 1861 to July 1865, with an interim stint with the Pioneer Brigade of Engineers from November 1862 to November 1863.

The Lewis Van Tuyl papers contain 101 letters written by Van Tuyl to members of his family during his Civil War service with the 10th Illinois Infantry. The letters span September 1861 to July 1865. Van Tuyl wrote primarily of camp life, skirmishes and battles along the Mississippi River, and his participation in Sherman’s march through Georgia and South Carolina. The collection opens with three letters describing his time at Camp Defiance in Cairo, Illinois. Van Tuyl noted that the area was situated on "low ground" and permeated by "a stench that does not improve the health of the camp" (September 5, 1861). On October 6, 1861, he wrote that the regiment had moved to Camp Morgan in Mound City, Illinois, to escape its own waste (October 6, 1861). Other early letters concern such topics as Union uniforms (September 11, 1861), a visit to a plantation in Kentucky and the activities of slaves living on it (September 23, 1861), and the meals prepared for the company by a cook (November 6, 1861).

After a period spent in the hospital, described in several letters during late-February and early-March 1862, Van Tuyl rejoined the regiment. He gave a lengthy account of action at Tiptonville, Tennessee, during the Battle of Island Number Ten (April 10, 1862), as well as an account of an engagement near Fort Pillow (April 15, 1862). On May 11, 1862, he reported the death of a "valuable man," Major Zenas Aplington, who had been targeted by a sharpshooter during a reconnoitering mission near Corinth, Mississippi. His letter of June 21, [1862], contains a small pencil sketch map of the Union and Confederate fortifications, troop positions, and Union camps during siege of Corinth, Mississippi. Van Tuyl also described the Confederate raid on Holly Springs, Mississippi, and called the Union garrison commander, Colonel Robert Murphy, a "second [Benedict] Arnold" (March 11, 1863). In the summer of 1863, Van Tuyl wrote home concerning frequent marching, pickets, and some aspects of camp life. The collection contains a gap between November 21, 1863, and March 1, 1864, and just six of Van Tuyl's letters cover 1864. In these, he discussed the severe treatment of Union prisoners at the hands of Confederates (March [14], 1864), the health of the company (April 24, 1864), and money that he sent home to his family (November 9, 1864). On December 16, 1864, he wrote about the regiment's arrival in Savannah, Georgia, and noted that "all approaches to the city are closely guarded and…it can neither be reinforced or evacuated." He also noted that he felt very isolated from news and happenings in the North.

In 1865, Van Tuyl participated in Sherman's March through the Carolinas. In a letter of January 25, 1865, he stated that Sherman was currently in the camp, and "his presence indicates action." He also mentioned the construction of a portable trestle to be used for river crossings. In a later letter, he described the slog through North Carolina's swamps and quicksand and frequent travels over difficult "Corduroy Road[s]." He worried about contracting yellow fever, which he called the "great Hydra Headed monster promised by the Rebels from the beginning" (March 25, 1865). Van Tuyl's correspondence closes with a letter announcing his readiness to return home, dated July 3, 1865, the day before he was mustered out.

This collection is comprised of correspondence, diaries, documents, financial papers, and other materials of the family of stonecutter and marble worker John M. Ramsey, his wife Cyanea, and their children. The family lived in Greenfield, New Hampshire; Milwaukee and Port Washington, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Around 60 Civil War letters and one diary of the Ramseys' son Henry, who served in the 16th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, and around 10 letters of a cousin Ridgeway P. Cragin, of the 32nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, are included. Particularly notable are 96 daily diaries of the Ramsey daughters Emily S. and Cyanea H., kept largely while they lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1870s-1920s.

This collection is comprised of 1,182 letters; 98 diaries; 210 documents; 468 receipts, checks, and account books; seven school papers and writings; three photographs; 34 printed and ephemeral items; and other materials of the family of stonecutter and marbleworker John M. Ramsey, his wife Cyanea, and their children. The family lived in Greenfield, New Hampshire; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Around 60 Civil War letters and one diary of the Ramseys' son Henry, who served in the 16th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, and around 10 letters of a cousin Ridgeway P. Cragin, of the 32nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, are included. Particularly notable are 96 daily diaries of the Ramsey daughters Emily S. and Cyanea H., kept largely while they lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1870s-1920s.

The Correspondence series includes 1,182 items and opens with the 1827-1830s letters of Caroline and Hannah Ramsey of Greenfield, New Hampshire, and a sister, Sarah Marshall, of Augusta, Maine. A group of letters pertain to the courtship and marriage of John M. Ramsey and Cyanea Stevens--including a letter from Cyanea's parents Lemuel and Reliance about Cyanea's request for their approval of the wedding (August 5, 1836). Letters of the 1850s include correspondence of Collins Hinckley Stevens, regarding the death of Cyanea's mother Reliance in 1858, and incoming letters to Emily Ramsey from her schoolmates. A selection of letters to Emily from E. H. Langdon, a schoolteacher in Milwaukee, are present.

In the 1860s, sisters Emily, Frances "Fannie", and Cyanea carried on correspondence with each other and with friends and family, including:

• "Hannah" from the Baraboo Female Seminary (Sauk County, Wisconsin) in 1863
• Fannie to Emily while visiting Stoughton in 1863; Fannie's correspondence while attending the Ripley Female College, 1865-1866; her letters while staying with family in Greenfield, New Hampshire; and correspondence while in Chicago for medical reasons
• Ora Stevens in Nashville and Louis H. Stevens of Manchester, Vermont
• Friend "Louise" in Hartford, Connecticut (who moved to Bay City, Michigan, and married Edwin Wood)
• John M. Ramsey's nephew David Butler Ramsey (1829-1899), from Chicago and Milwaukee, many written while working in the law offices of Palmer, Hooker & Pitkin, later Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
• Female friends and family to Emily and Fannie, written from Evanston, Illinois; Milwaukee and Ozaukee, Wisconsin; and Poultney, Vermont

The Ramsey family correspondence includes around 60 Civil War letters of Corporal Henry C. Ramsey of the 16th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry. He wrote from Camp Randall, the steamship Planet, Camp Sabin, Camp near Grand Junction, Camp near Memphis, Camp near Lake Providence, Louisiana, Camp Randall, and Vicksburg. In the mid-1870s, Henry was admitted to the Michigan Asylum for the Insane at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the family received letters from Dr. E. H. VanDensen about his progress, especially around 1876. Around 10 letters of a cousin Paul Ridgeway Cragin, of the 32nd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, are included.

Cyanea's and Emily's other correspondents from the 1870s to the 1930s include but are not limited to:

• Friends, cousins, and other relatives, including the Stevenses in Vermont; Persis Moore of Niles, Michigan; "Augusta" of Allegan and Otsego, Michigan; Almira Marshall in Owasso, Michigan; Frederick Marshall of Saginaw, Michigan; "Lizzie" in Woburn, Boston, and Framingham; Elvira Elizabeth Ramsey in Greenfield, New Hampshire; "David" in Greenfield; Murray J. Hoppock of Fremont, Michigan; and many others
• William H. Ramsey, Jr., a cousin, employed at the Ozaukee County Malting Company at Port Washington, Wisconsin, in the late 1880s; and as Secretary and Treasurer of the Wisconsin Chair Company in the 1890s
• Grand Rapids attorneys More & Wilson and bankers Edward M. Deane and Company, following the death of their father in 1897
• Gertrude P. Newton (Mrs. E. B. Newton) from Newton's Ranch, Colusa, Kansas, early 1900s
• Cousins James and Sarah (Saidee) Baker, from Ancón, Canal Zone, Panama, 1921-1935

The Diaries series includes 98 daily diaries, 96 of which were kept by sisters Cyanea H. and Emily S. Ramsey between 1873 and 1935, while the two lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The remaining two diaries include Henry C. Ramsey's Civil War diary for the year 1864 and a partial 1921 diary kept by [Howard Stevens?] in a pre-printed 1894 pocket journal. Henry Ramsey's 1864 pocket diary includes entries covering the 16th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry's movements from Vicksburg to Tennessee, to Georgia, with accounts of Kennesaw Mountain and the battle of Atlanta. The diary also covers his experiences as part of Sherman's march to the sea.

The Documents series is made up of 210 legal and financial documents pertinent largely to land and property in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Michigan, between 1786 and 1919 (bulk 1825-1911). Additional items include tax documents, stock-related items, and other materials.

The Financial and Business Papers includes 300 receipts, around 160 bank checks, and eight account books. The receipts date between 1831 and 1928, pertaining largely to John M. Ramsey's marble and stonecutting business. Additional receipts relate to personal property and tax payments. The 160 checks are drawn largely from Grand Rapids, Michigan, banks between December 1869 and October 1880. The account books include:

• [John M. Ramsey?] Account Book, 1830-1836. Comprised largely of accounts related to farm labor (haying, plowing, tending stock, etc.) in Greenfield, New Hampshire.
• John M. Ramsey Ledgers and Account Books, 1854-1886 (7 vols.). Consisting of the accounts of John M. Ramsey's marble and stonecutting businesses. One undated, illustrated manuscript book of monuments designed by N. Merritt for J. M. Ramsey, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is included with the account books.

The collection's School Papers and Writings (7 items) include John M. Ramsey's teacher's book, November 1830-February 1831; a fragment of mathematical rules by J. M. Ramsey; a chronological table by Emily Ramsey, 1851; a reward of merit for Mary Ramsey; two penmanship exercises; and a manuscript issue of The Literary Chip Basket (vol. 111, no. 11), Port Washington, 1861, with list of contributors including Fanny Oatman and Emily Ramsey.

The Photographs series includes one carte-de-visite of Henry C. Ramsey of the 16th Wisconsin Infantry; and one carte-de-visite and one cabinet card of unidentified individuals.

The Ephemera and Printed Items series is made up of invitations, Nashua Manufacturing Company employee regulations (August 31, 1837), advertisements for marble and other products, and torn pages from the History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, ed. Hurd, 1885.

The collection also contains items pertinent to Genealogy (6 items) and an Address Book, Fragments, and Envelopes.

William C. Fraser kept this diary while serving with the Pioneer Corps, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps, during the Civil War. In daily entries, Fraser recounted his movements, commented on skirmishes with Confederate troops, and noted his daily activities, often related to construction.

William C. Fraser kept this 60-page diary while serving with the Pioneer Corps, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps, from May 6, 1864-June 18, 1865. Most of his daily entries pertain to his movements in Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia; he often noted the names of towns and rivers he passed during his travels, as well as the time of Reveille. Fraser wrote about his work with the Pioneer Corps, which involved building earthworks and fortifications, setting up pontoon bridges, and working at a hospital; on one occasion, he tore down slaves' huts to collect wood for army use (January 25, 1865). Though he primarily worked in a support position, he occasionally participated in skirmishes with Confederate troops. Fraser's later entries relay news of the war, including the surrenders of prominent Confederate armies and the death of Abraham Lincoln. Two entries concern dental work (August 27, 1864, and April 19, 1865).

The diary arrived at the Clements Library with a copy of A Manual of Military Surgery. Prepared for the Use of the Confederate States Army (housed in the Book Division). William C. Fraser reportedly picked up the volume while in Georgia and sent it home to his family in Wellsville, Ohio. A newspaper clipping laid into the volume concerns the Battle of Atlanta, including a casualty list for the 78th Ohio Infantry Regiment (July 24, 1864).