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Clinton H. Haskell Civil War collection contains miscellaneous letters, military orders, telegrams, and documents related to the Civil War.

Clinton H. Haskell Civil War collection (120 items) contains miscellaneous letters, military orders, telegrams, and documents related to the Civil War from 1843 to 1895. The bulk of the collection is comprised of letters written by army officers and politicians, both Union and Confederate, during and after the Civil War.

The Dixon family papers contain the letters of Anna Marie Dixon's family: her parents, Bennet and Phebe Prindle, and her children. Of note are six letters from Sylvanus Dixon to his mother, between October 1862 and August 1863, describing his time in the Union Army as he traveled through Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Indiana.

The Dixon family papers are comprised of 12 letters. The earliest letter in the collection (July 1, 1833) is from Betsy Stilson to her son Bennet Prindle. She discussed family news and health ("No Chlrea or any other prevailing Sickness in N. York") and advised him on business decisions relating to the price of lumber.

The next six letters are from Sylvanus to his mother, between October 1862 and August 1863, while he was with the Union Army. He wrote from Union encampments in Danville, Kentucky; Murfreesboro and Tullahoma, Tennessee; Stevenson, Alabama, and from on board a steamer 40 miles from Evansville, Indiana. Sylvanus wrote in detail about his company's activities and the general state of the war. He discussed the Battle of Perryville and mentioned Generals McCook, Sill, Terrill, and James Jackson (October 13, 1862). In a letter dated March 22, 1863, he discussed Generals Bragg ("old Bragg") and Rosecrans ("Rosey"). After Gettysburg and Vicksburg, at a time when the North was more optimistic about the direction of the war, Dixon wrote:

"Yes, Our Glorious success is now apparant to all, I only wish I could have done more than I have towards it,...If I was to end the life of a Hundred traitors I could not be the cause of any suffering. They first endangered the lifes and happiness of the whole Country; and made a necessity for the sacrifice thousands of Patriots have made...Thus makeing their own bed of woe, and that of thousands besides who are innocent. I therefore claim it my duty to never lay down the sword untill every traitor, both male and female, Child and adult, whether in the south or in the north, is extinguished (August 12, 1863).

In an undated letter, Sylvanus wrote to his sisters Phebe and Vashti, scolding them for never writing to him. Another item in the collection is a letter to Anna from her distraught father Bennet Prindle, relating that her brother Washington had died from inflammatory rheumatism (January 16, 1865). The remainder of the collection consists of two letters to Anna from her mother, asking her to visit, and a letter from Anna to her daughter Vashti.

Attached to the letter from April 25, 1863, is an illustrated patriotic envelope listing all of the states in the Union.

The Gardner B. Clark papers consist of ten letters from a Union soldier to his wife between 1861 and 1864. Also included is a Special Order from Major General Burnside.

The Gardner B. Clark papers consist of ten letters with his wife Mary, and one Special Order from Major General Burnside. In his letters, Clark writes of his feelings for his wife, the dead and wounded among his company, the upcoming draft in Michigan, and seeing fellow soldiers from Michigan. He also discusses a few experiences on the battlefield. In a letter from December 20, 1863, Clark voices his opinions on how the government is running the war:

"By what right have a few who hold the reins of the U.S. Government precipitated a long and cruel war upon thirty-million of their fellow beings. They say to preserve human liberty as our forefathers left it. Is it not just possible they are thrusting a worse bondage upon us than relieving us from tyranny. For certain it is the Military power that now rules[.] This Nation has no parallel, only in the history of the despots of the old world."

The order comes from Major General Burnside to the headquarters of the army of the Potomac's Camp near Falmouth, Virginia. The order is largely a morale-boosting call to the army, commending the "gallant solders" for their "many brilliant battlefield accomplishments and achievements."