Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Correspondence series (1 linear foot and 12.0 GB, 1943-2012) includes both original and digitized versions of documents and is divided into three subseries: Family correspondence, Personal correspondence, and Research correspondence. Family correspondence contains letters and related materials sent or received by Lawrence Witt's mother, Gladys Collins. The bulk of the correspondence was sent by Witt himself, and much of that from when he was a prisoner of war (POW) in Germany. Also included are notifications sent by the Department of War about Witt's status, a few notes or letters to Witt, and related materials such as newspaper clippings. Personal correspondence primarily consists of letters sent between Lawrence Witt and his future wife, Lois Davis, but also includes a few letters from other friends and acquaintances. The bulk of this subseries was sent following the end of the war. The Research correspondence subseries contains letters related to Laura Edge's research on her father's and other airmen's experiences as prisoners of war in Germany during World War II.

The Correspondence series includes personal letters (both the original letters and typescripts) between members of the Bingham and Warden families. There is extensive correspondence (1848-1861) between Bingham and his wife, Mary Warden Bingham, during his absences while serving in government offices in Lansing, Michigan and Washington, D.C. There is also a substantial correspondence from James W. Bingham, writing to his parents during his boarding school years at the Normal School in Ypsilanti, Michigan and one year while studying at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Later letters between James and his mother were written while James was serving with Co. H, 1st Michigan Infantry, and then in Co. B, 2nd Battalion, 16th U.S. Infantry. Also of interest are letters in 1850 referring to John, a nephew who participated in the California Gold Rush, where he died.

Nearly 300 letters written to his wife while he was serving in Company B, 19th Michigan Infantry (1862-1865). He is concerned with folks and affairs at home. He comments on guard and picket duty; the officers (especially General McClellan); the Chaplain; the health of the men, deaths and burials; the draft, deserters and Negroes coming into camp; on rumors of battles; and speculates about the end of the war. He tells about boxes and mail from home; explains why he is fighting; and writes often of the ever present food problem. There is an account of a fierce battle near Franklin with a cavalry unit of Bragg's army in which his brother is killed and the regiment captured and marched south to Libby Prison. He tells an interesting story about buckets of burning leather being carried through the camp to smoke out smallpox. Paroled, the men marched or rode in hog cars back to Fortress Monroe and Annapolis where he was hospitalized for a while. After being at home for a short time, he returns to the regiment, and the march south to Atlanta begins. He describes their camps and shanties; trading with rebel pickets; prisoners taken (including a woman in man's clothing); a Sunday in camp with "preaching in one place, firing of guns in another, a brass band playing in another place, and cooking meat and washing clothes most all around you." He visits the Chickamauga battlefield, describes the destruction and evacuation of Atlanta; the march to Savannah; the capture of a rice mill and the burning of towns and plantations along the way through South Carolina. Finally the war is over. He is sent to McDougall Hospital in New York Harbor, and discharged May 26, 1865.

Personal correspondence, 1842-1941; Civil War letters, 1862-1865, of C. V. DeLand of Co. C, Ninth Michigan Infantry, later Colonel of the First Sharpshooters during the Civil War; and correspondence concerning early Jackson (Mich.) history and other matters.

Civil War correspondence includes six letters (1862-1865) written by Charles Victor DeLand to his parents. They are concerned with runaway slaves in camp; the beauties of the country near Nashville; the battle of Petersburg in which his brother James was wounded; and the death of Lincoln. There is one letter from his mother about McClellan. The collection also includes two letters from other soldiers relating to James S. DeLand, who was wounded at Petersburg, Va. One letter (Apr. 12, 1865) from Charles Allen (postmaster, Second Corps Hospital, City Point, Va.) to judge William R. DeLand concerns James's condition after being wounded at Petersburg, April 2, 1865. Another letter (Apr. 2, 1865), written by Edward J. Buckbee (an adjutant with the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters from Ypsilanti, Mich.) to Colonel Charles DeLand, gives an account of the engagement before Petersburg in which Captain James DeLand was wounded and of DeLand's condition.