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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.

This collection contains reports, notes, and manuscript maps related to the actions of Task Force Poinier, a United States Army unit, between March and April 1945, as well as a narrative account of the 331st Infantry's experiences in France in January 1945. The reports provide detailed records of American military operations as Allied forces progressed eastward across Germany in the closing months of World War II.

This collection contains 3 reports, 3 pages of notes, 11 manuscript maps, and a narrative account of the 331st Infantry Regiment's experiences in France in January 1945, written by Technical Sergeant Davenport West. The reports provide detailed records of American military operations as Allied forces progressed eastward across Germany in the closing months of World War II.

The S-3 Worksheets series contains 3 typed reports on the actions of various units including Task Force Poinier (comprised of companies from the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron; the 18th Tank Battalion; the 809th Tank Destroyer Battalion; and the 7th Armored Infantry Battalion).

The first document (5 pages, incomplete) is a list of communications received from various units moving east through Germany toward the Rhine River on March 1 and 2, 1945. These communications often reported encounters with enemy troops and occasionally relayed information received from captured prisoners of war. The battalion receiving the communications was stationed in Wankum, Germany, near the country's western border.

The second report (20 pages) is comprised of daily communications compiled throughout March 1945. The typescript has occasional manuscript revisions and marginal notes. During the first part of the month, soldiers remained in camp and spent most of their time participating in training exercises, and on March 24 they began making preparations to join other troops attempting to cross the Rhine River. The orders received on March 24 pertain to several tactical considerations for the upcoming military action to establish an Allied line between Hamm and Soest, Germany. The resulting battle to capture the town of Dorsten is covered in detail between March 28 and March 31.

The third S-3 worksheet, an incomplete copy of a report entitled "Secret After Action Report" (2 pages), contains daily updates on Task Force Poinier's progress through Germany between April 1, 1945, and April 4, 1945.

The Manuscript Narrative and Notes series includes a narrative account and 3 pages of miscellaneous notes. The narrative is entitled "Travels of Too Bad: Le Havre to Herzberg," and chronicles an unidentified unit's experiences between January 5 and January 12, 1945, written by "an informal EM" (p. 1). After landing on January 5, the unit traveled through northern France, and the author described the countryside and the army's movements. Though the narrative ends near Nomény, [France], on January 12, a table of contents indicates that the full document was intended to conclude after the author's unit moved into Herzberg, Germany. The narrative is accompanied by 3 pages of notes.

Ten Manuscript Maps show various sections of Germany that the 7th Armored Infantry Battalion crossed in March and April 1945. These include detailed battle maps showing the location of various American units, as well as overlays of the battalion's route. An additional map is a sketch of the town of Dorsten, Germany.

"Fredericksburg During the Civil War" is a typed account of a Union soldier's experiences during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Second Battle of Fredericksburg, and Battle of Salem Church. The account includes detailed descriptions of each battle and of the "Mud March" of January 1863. The writer commented on his regiment's movements, casualties, the experience of coming under heavy fire, and other subjects.

Fredericksburg During the Civil War (16 pages) is a typed account of Union soldier's experiences during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Second Battle of Fredericksburg, and Battle of Salem Church. The account begins with a description of the area around Fredericksburg, Virginia, and brief remarks about its strategic importance. The bulk of the document consists of the author's reminiscences about his experiences between December 1862 and May 1863. While crossing the Rappahannock River toward Fredericksburg, he saw a large number of playing cards discarded by soldiers who did not want to seem morally compromised in the event of their death. He described the large number of casualties between Union and Confederate lines during the Battle of Fredericksburg and recalled a heroic Confederate sergeant who took water to the wounded despite the risk of being shot; both sides ceased to fire while he tended to the wounded. After retreating to winter quarters, the author and his tent-mate built a log hut and participated in General Ambrose Burnside's aborted "Mud March" in January 1863.

The narrative resumes in May 1863, when the author's regiment joined the "disastrous" Chancellorsville campaign under General Joseph Hooker. The VI Corps approached Fredericksburg on May 1, 1863, and then engaged Confederate forces. Though the author exchanged fire with Confederate soldiers, he was unsure whether he had been directly responsible for any deaths. He discussed the capture of the Washington Battery, noted the death of a college classmate during the battle, and wondered whether the victory had justified the large number of casualties. As the Union Army continued to move toward Chancellorsville, the author became involved in the Battle of Salem Church, which he recounted in the present tense, listing multiple marching orders and providing accounts of several specific soldiers. The essay ends with the author locating his disjointed regiment and retreating back toward a previous encampment at White Oak Church.

This collection contains a diary and a volume of reminiscences by Gilbert Edwin Dunbar, who served with the 13th Michigan Infantry Regiment from 1862 to 1865. The diary relates to his service as assistant quartermaster in Chattanooga, Tennessee, between January and August 1864. The reminiscences cover his experiences between late 1861 and March 1862, including copied diary entries originally made between February 13, 1862, and March 6, 1862.

This collection contains a diary and a volume of reminiscences by Gilbert Edwin Dunbar, who served with the 13th Michigan Infantry Regiment from 1862 to 1865.

The Diary (about 86 pages) commences on January 1, 1864, and chronicles Dunbar's time as an assistant quartermaster at Chattanooga, Tennessee. In brief daily entries, he wrote about loading and unloading supply ships and trains that stopped in the city, and mentioned other regiments passing through Chattanooga. He also commented on his social life, which included a visit from his father and social calls with local women. After April, he occasionally mentioned news of the war, including developments around Atlanta and related battles; he also shared his favorable opinion of General Ulysses S. Grant. Dunbar mentioned seeing a parade of African American troops on May 1, and on June 30 described a dispute with Colonel Easton, who had charged Dunbar with disobedience and neglect of duty. The final entry is dated August 31, 1864.

The Reminiscences (49 pages), written after the war, begin with a brief introduction indicating Dunbar's intent to publish his memoirs, followed by "Chapter II," which recounts the 13th Michigan Infantry Regiment's training at Camp Douglas in Kalamazoo. Dunbar described his experiences in camp and included a list of the regiment's officers (pp.5-8); after mentioning the unit's departure for Tennessee (p. 12), he copied entries from his diary, commencing on February 13, 1862, as the unit boarded railroad cars bound south through Indiana. Dunbar wrote about the rainy weather and its effect on the soldiers' marches and described the scenery in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. He sought out a battlefield near Munfordville, Kentucky, where he saw the bodies of horses that had been shot during the action (p. 26). The regiment stayed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, between March 2 and 11 (pp. 29-34), and arrived in Nashville on March 13 (p. 37). The volume concludes with an entry dated April 6, 1862, as Dunbar's regiment headed toward Savannah, Tennessee.

The John E. Boos collection consists of over 1,200 personal manuscript recollections or brief notes by persons who met or saw Abraham Lincoln and by persons who experienced the Civil War. John Boos, of Albany, New York, solicited and compiled most of these reminiscences in the early 20th century. In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index, which identifies each contributor to the collection: John E. Boos Collection Writer Index.

The John E. Boos collection consists of over 1,200 personal manuscript recollections or brief notes by persons who met or saw Abraham Lincoln and by persons who experienced the Civil War. John Boos solicited and compiled most of these reminiscences in the early 20th century. The collection is arranged in four series: Bound Volumes (compiled by and bound for John Boos), Unbound Volumes (binders apparently compiled by John Boos, but never bound), Loose Items, and one Book.

Boos collected autographs and reminiscences on uniquely sized 6.5'' by 9'' paper, and he instructed those he was soliciting to leave a wide 1.5'' left margin for binding. All but one volume in Series I are bound collections of this Boos-standard paper and most contributors in Series II and III contributed a note or autograph on the same size paper.

John Boos's interviewees related an almost uniform admiration or reverence to the President and his memory. Within the first binder of Series II, for example, William Strover (who was not a Civil War veteran, and who never met Lincoln) remarked: "I consider him the greatest man that has come upon the earth since Jesus Christ, and surely the greatest American that lived." Such high praise is featured throughout the entire collection. One example expressing disdain for Abraham Lincoln is a November 24, 1930, letter by Confederate and Presbyterian minister Milton B. Lambdin, who was skeptical about Boos' intent in contacting him. He suspected that Boos made the connection on account of a multi-issue article Lambdin produced for the Confederate Veteran (1929) titled "A Boy of the Old Dominion..."

Series I: Bound Volumes, 1931-1970

Eight of the nine volumes contained in this series are letters and reminiscences compiled by Boos. The volumes revolve around individual persons or themes, including the Lincoln-Douglas debates; Lincoln's assassination; Lincoln's guards; General George H. Thomas, a leading figure in the Western theater of the Civil War who retired to Troy, New York; Johnson Brigham, a fellow Lincoln enthusiast who met the President on several occasions; and the story of Confederate General George Pickett as told by his wife, La Salle Corbell Pickett; and a selection of "Mr. Lincoln's Soldiers."

Boos interspersed the manuscript and typed accounts with ephemeral items and his own narratives of relevant events. He frequently provided an overall account of the volume's theme (usually with lengthy quotations from his correspondents) before presenting the reminiscences and a brief biography of each contributor. In his introductions to these personal accounts, Boos sometimes included a narrative of how he had met and interviewed the individual or linked the person's memories of Lincoln to similar ones. Most of the volumes include a title page, dedication, illustrations, and an index.

The accounts in these bound volumes differ in length, tone, and detail, but they provide insight into how a variety of individuals remembered the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln more than a half-century after the fact. Many of his contributors were Union Army veterans, but he also tracked down individuals who witnessed the Lincoln-Douglas debates as children, Mrs. M. O. Smith who saw Lincoln at Gettysburg,a Confederate soldier, several of Lincoln's personal guards, an actress who had performed in Our American Cousin the night Lincoln was shot (Jeannie Gourley), a man who was in the same Ford's Theater box as Lincoln and who was stabbed by John Wilkes Booth (Henry Rathbone), and the man who recorded the testimony of witnesses to the assassination (James Tanner). The accounts address subjects ranging from the President's dress and style of speaking to the contributors' reflections on his legacy and greatness.

One bound volume, inscribed to John E. Boos by its creator Bernhardt Wall, contains etchings of locations in New York State visited by Lincoln. Three letters from Wall to Boos are enclosed in this 1938 volume.

Series II: Unbound Volumes (extracted from binders), 1905-1941

Series II includes the contents of 13 binders, arranged roughly into thematic categories, apparently by Boos himself (likely with the intention of binding them as he did with the letters in Series I). The order of pages within the binders has been maintained in its present housing.

Boos placed each incoming letter, reminiscence, or autograph into a top-loading page protector with related materials. In some volumes, for example, Boos matched each manuscript with his own typed or handwritten notes, which variously included the veteran's name, where they saw Lincoln, regimental information, where Boos met the veteran, and Boos's impressions of the individual. Boos wrote many of these notes on the back of scrap paper, such as advertising mail received by Boos or sample primary election ballots (some of the scrap paper contains illustrated letterheads).

Binders 1-3: Lincoln's Soldiers (3 binders, 1905-1927). Lincoln's Soldiers largely consists of letters sent to Boos, many with their envelopes still attached. Most contributors utilized Boos-provided paper, though some utilized their own stationery. Despite its title, "Lincoln's Soldiers" is comprised of letters by civilians and soldiers alike. Many contributors had met President Lincoln, and Boos collected as much information as possible about those encounters. Others were unable to meet Lincoln, but shared vivid memories of their times in Andersonville Prison, or interactions with other famous leaders, such as General Sherman (W. H. Jennings) and General Grant (J. E. Parmelee). Some documented their efforts to preserve Lincoln's memory or their involvement in Veteran's organizations.

Binders 4-7: I Saw Lincoln (4 binders, 1911-1928). The bulk of the contributors to I Saw Lincoln met or saw Lincoln during his presidency; a smaller portion interacted with him prior to the presidency; and others saw him while lying in state or en route to Illinois in 1865. The I Saw Lincoln group includes Boos's incoming correspondence and autographs he personally collected while traveling. Glowing praise of Lincoln continues throughout these binders, including an anecdote by Daniel Webster (of Salem, Oregon), in which he described how he was "near being mobbed" in Arkansas in 1871 for calling Lincoln "the brightest star in the galaxy of American statesmen and patriots."

Binder 8: Antietam (1 binder, 1912-1937). The soldiers represented in Antietam were present at the battle; some provided descriptions of the confrontation, though the writers do not all focus on the event. Antietam is notable for having the longest continuous example (in the unbound portion of the collection) of prose by Boos, in which he described the battle and his meetings with the veterans.

Binders 9-11: Lincoln's Soldiers and Where They Saw Him (3 binders, 1911-1933). contains accounts from soldiers who saw Lincoln and soldiers who did not. This group includes a significant number of contributions by soldiers who guarded the President's remains.

Binder 12: Autographs of Abe Lincoln's Soldiers (1 binder, 1910-1917). This binder contains signatures of soldiers, with very brief notes on each veteran. Boos apparently revisited the binder at a later dated and added death dates.

[Unnumbered Binder]: [Additional Lincoln's Soldiers] (1 binder, 1911-1937). This binder includes accounts similar to those found in binders 9-11.

Series III: Loose Items, 1904-1949

This series is comprised of nearly 200 loose letters, disbound book pages, and notes. Many of these items were either part of one of the Clements Library's pre-2015 accessions, or were included with the Dow collection in unarranged binders. The bulk of the series is letters to Boos containing memories of Lincoln. The accounts provided by these eye witnesses include memories of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's assassination, hospital visits by the President, his 1860 Cooper Union speech, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and general memories of the Civil War period. The contributors include veterans, Ford's Theater attendees on the night Lincoln was shot, the daughter of Mary Todd Lincoln's personal nurse (Ealine Fay), and a woman who sang in the choir for the ceremony at which Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address (M. O. Smith). This series contains letters by Jennie Gourlay Struthers and James Tanner, who are also represented in the Then a Nation Stood Still volume in Series I.

The series includes writings and other materials that shed light on John E. Boos's collecting practices and editing processes and a 1924 letter from Congregational minister William E. Barton to Walt Whitman expert Emory Holloway, with comments on the growing cult of memory surrounding Lincoln.

A folder of manuscripts and photocopies pertain to Grace Bedell, who is credited with convincing Lincoln to grow his whiskers. These items include photocopies of letters Bedell exchanged with Boos, original letters between Boos and Bedell's heirs, and letters between Boos and Congressman George Dondero, who at one point owned Bedell's original letter to Lincoln.

The Loose Items series also contains correspondence of Donald P. Dow, photocopies of Boos materials offered for sale, and photocopies of letters not present in the Clements Library's collection.

Series IV: Book. A publication containing 103 John Boos letters has been added to the collection: Rare Personal Accounts of Abraham Lincoln, ed. By William R. Feeheley and Bill Snack (Cadillac, Mich.: Rail Splitter Pub., 2005).

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index, which identifies each contributor to the collection: John E. Boos Collection Writer Index.

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.