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Captain H. H. Gillum's narrative of Sheridan's final great raid, from Winchester to White House, Va. (February 27-March 19, 1865) is written from the perspective of a quartermaster and overseer of supply trains.

Capt. H.H. Gillum's narrative of Sheridan's final great raid, from Winchester to White House, Va., February 27-March 19, 1865, is written from the perspective of a quartermaster and overseer of supply trains. Composed after the fact, but apparently shortly after, the narrative is highly polished, literate, legible, and engaging, and may have been intended for public eyes, either as a report or for publication. Throughout, Gillum's narrative is concerned primarily with three factors: his duties in moving the creaky supply train along, the devastating effect of the war upon the civilians and their response, and the successes of the Union Army.

Although the details of Gillum's duties are sometimes difficult to extract, the narrative is valuable as an account of the emotions and camaraderie among the quartermasters and supply crews, and the difficult issues they encountered in keeping the army moving. While many Civil War collections focus on the dramatic moments of combat or the boredom of camp, Gillum presents the banalities of mud, mules, and meat and makes them interesting, making the challenge of moving supplies for 10,000 cavalrymen as interesting as any cavalry charge. Equally valuable, Gillum's position in the rear provides him a different perspective altogether in describing the few engagements involving Sheridan's force, most notably Waynesboro, and in dealing with the citizens. His descriptions of the arrival of the column in Charlottesville, enlivened by a visit to the University of Virginia and a vignette of a Confederate prisoner of war meeting his wife, is particularly interesting (March 4-5), as is his account of the punitive destruction of a mill (March 10).

The collection also includes a bill of fare (menu) from John Brewer's Restaurant, Petersburg, Va., apparently kept to show the fluctuating, inflationary prices near the end of the war. It is unclear whether the menu is a Confederate or Union imprint.

Jacob van Zwaluwenburg's memoir contains a discussion of his experiences during the Civil War along with an account of his childhood in the Netherlands and America.

Jacob van Zwaluwenburg's autobiography contains discussion of his experiences during the Civil War along with an account of his childhood in the Netherlands and America. He discusses his family, schooling, and religious upbringing in the Hervormde Kerk (Reformed Church in the Netherlands). He describes the ocean voyage and Erie Canal journey which brought the family to Michigan.

Van Zwaluwenburg describes his wartime experiences in the 16th U.S. Infantry, from his humorous efforts to volunteer through the end of his enlistment. He provides particularly detailed descriptions of the battles of Shiloh and Stones River and the fighting around Chattanooga. His account centers on the experiences of a private and strays little into the fields of politics and the evaluation of generals. Although there are a few geographical and chronological errors, the account provides an interesting view of the common soldier in the regular army.

The journal is in both manuscript and typescript; however, the two are not entirely the same. The typescript copy, 36 pages long, follows the manuscript copy, 33 pages long, with only minor differences until page 18 of the manuscript and page 22 of the typescript. From this point the copies differ greatly, although they cover roughly the same events. The manuscript is incomplete, lacking an ending.

This volume (7.5"x6") contains John Greenwood's memoirs about his experiences during the Revolutionary War (approximately 163 pages) and about his family and personal life (17 pages). During the war, Greenwood was a fife player with a Massachusetts regiment and served on privateers and other vessels in the Caribbean Sea. He originally composed his Revolutionary War memoirs in 1809; this item is a later copy made by his son Clark.

This volume (7.5"x6") contains John Greenwood's memoirs about his experiences during the Revolutionary War (approximately 163 pages) and about his family and personal life (17 pages). During the war, Greenwood was a fife player with a Massachusetts regiment and served on privateers and other vessels in the Caribbean Sea. Greenwood originally composed his Revolutionary War memoirs in 1809; this item is a later copy made by his son Clark.

After a brief note by Clark Greenwood, who transcribed his father's memoirs, the main narrative opens with John Greenwood's brief account of his early years in Boston and in Portland, Maine, and of the unrest that eventually led to the American Revolution (5 pages). Pages 5-51 consist of Greenwood's detailed recollections about playing the fife in a Massachusetts regiment in the Continental Army, and about his experiences in the military. After page 51, the memoirs focus on the interception of British ships in the Caribbean Sea, during which time Greenwood was captured as a British prisoner of war. In addition to his wartime experiences, he also briefly recounted some stories of his postwar life, such as the beginning of his dental practice (pp. 85-89). The remaining parts of the volume include a note by a Greenwood family member who had recently read the memoirs (January 11, 1894), and an additional 17-page autobiographical account by John Greenwood.

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.

This volume contains the author's reminiscences about his service with the 319th Field Artillery Regiment, Battery C (part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade), in Vietnam from June 1968-June 1969. He listed the fire support bases where he was stationed and recalled anecdotes about combat, his relationships with other soldiers and officers, and other aspects of military life.

This volume (31 pages) contains the author's reminiscences about his service with the 319th Field Artillery Regiment (part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade) in Vietnam from June 1968-June 1969. The first 7 pages consist of a numbered list of the locations where his unit was stationed during his time in Vietnam, including several identified as fire support bases, the city of Bảo Lộc, and Cambodia, along with brief notes.

The bulk of the volume (24 pages) consists of notes written on December 13, 1983. The author reminisced about many aspects of his military service, including his participation in artillery support for infantry troops ("grunts") and the clearing and construction of landing zones and bunkers. He named some of his friends and discussed their activities, including frequent drinking and, on one occasion, the use of "coke." He sometimes interacted with local residents, who often sold goods to the soldiers, and frequently mentioned eating rations and local foods such as cucumbers and green lemons. On a few occasions, he recounted interactions with superior officers, and he once bragged about his ability to calculate data faster than a field computer. The memoir contains some descriptions of the scenery near the army's fire support bases and bombed-out villages. The memoir is written in a spiral-bound notebook with an image of an Asian woman on the front.