Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

Duncan's journal is a brief account of the earliest operations of the 23rd Ohio Infantry while serving in West Virginia in 1861. The orderly book contains copies of orders issued in 1864 and 1865 from the Headquarters of the Army of West Virginia and the Army of Shenandoah, including some signed by William McKinley.

Duncan's journal is a very well written, unfortunately brief account of the earliest operations of the 23rd Ohio, from its mustering in at Camp Chase through the first two months of its service in West Virginia. Even though the passages are generally short, they provide an excellent idea of the difficulties of operating in the mountainous country, and of the problems of poor training and discipline. There is a good second-hand description of the Battle of Rich Mountain, as well as two descriptions of the battlefield a month after the fact, and a long and detailed account of the Battle of Carnifex Ferry. As good as the battle descriptions, though, are his descriptions of the aftermath of Carnifex Ferry, particularly his powerful, grisly description of the expressions on the faces of corpses littering the battlefield.

The orderly book contains 35 routine carbon copies of orders issued late in the war from Headquarters of the Army of West Virginia and the Army of Shenandoah. The book was apparently originally William McKinley's, and many of the orders from Shenandoah are signed by him. Two orders are of some interest: one (in triplicate) dated April 27th, 1865, noting the capture of John Wilkes Booth, and the other, dated April 29th, reporting the surrender of Johnston's army to Sherman.

Duncan included four pencil sketches in his diary, 1) a rough sketch of a "Virginia secesh," 2) a view of Glenville, West Virginia, and sketches of the battlefields at 3) Rich Mountain and 4) Carnifex Ferry indicating troop placements, etc.

The Martin papers are made up of letters written home by Lewis Martin while serving with the Union Army. The letters express Martin's thoughts on the war as well as his concerns with matters at home, including finances, friends, and controversies over the regiment in local newspapers.

The Martin papers consists of fifty-one letters written by Lewis Martin to his mother, Charlotte Martin, and sisters, Ellen and Sarah, and one written by Martin's commanding officer, Colonel Henry L. Cake, informing the family of Martin's death at Crampton's Gap. Martin's letters are an engaging chronicle of early Union Army activities in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The first eight items in the collection date from Martin's association with the National Light Infantry. The remainder of Martin's letters document the travails of the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry, of which he was major, including their involvement in the Peninsular Campaign (West Point, Gaine's Mill, and Malvern Hill), 2nd Bull Run, and Crampton's Pass.

Martin's high rank and friendship with the staff officers of the regiment are not well represented in his letters home, nor are his letters particularly good resources for military information. Apart from the occasional asides, and some tangential references during the Peninsular Campaign, his letters are almost entirely consumed by problems at home, from finances, to friends, to minor controversies over the regiment as played out in the newspapers. For Martin, seemingly the most exasperating aspects of army life were the uncertainty, the waiting, and the irregularity of mail service.

There is a gap in the correspondence between the mustering out of the 25th regiment and the organization of the 96th, and no indication of his role in recruiting and organizing the 96th. Many of the letters written in the late spring and summer of 1862 concern McClellan's cautious planning and frustrating vigil on the outskirts of Richmond, and Martin believed that a single victory there, perhaps a direct attack on Richmond, would bring the war to a quick end. Though the hoped-for battle never took place, Martin nevertheless expressed total confidence in McClellan as a leader and in the arms of the Union Army.

Among other interesting topics covered in the correspondence are Martin's oft-expressed opinions on the course of the war, the situation of the army, and their health, and anecdotes such as an evening ride in an observation balloon, a great military review in Washington in November, 1861, a visit to fort Monroe, and of course the battles in which he participated.

This memoir, tentatively attributed to John W. Burke, documents one man's Civil War service. The writing style vividly conveys the emotions of the battlefield, the sights and smells of death, and the trivia of daily life in camp.

The Civil War memoir/journal attributed to John W. Burke is unsigned and of uncertain provenance. The author provides innumerable clues to his identity: he was from Sag Harbor, had served previously in the 16th and 71st State Militias (the latter in the three months' service), had mustered in on December 19th, when Capt. John Raulston appointed him clerk of Co. H and Col. Rose named him "his private Secratary to take charge of the regimental mail with a promise of promotion to rank of Lieut. at the first vacancy" (p. 6). At one point, the author mentioned as well that he had "sold my surgeon's sash," though he appears to have been neither surgeon nor assistant surgeon to the regiment.

The author is very tentatively identified as John W. Burke, who came with the Sag Harbor contingent and was mustered into Co. H as a private on December 19th, later becoming Sergeant and Lieutenant (shortly after the end of this diary). On balance, internal references in the memoir seem to indicate that the author might have been a sergeant in Co. H, however Burke's presence in the 71st Militia has not been confirmed. It remains a possibility that the author may have been assistant surgeon Carrington MacFarlane (who published an unavailable memoir of his experiences); although the author treated wounded and appears to have been somewhat knowledgeable about doing so, there are no indications that medical care was part of his regular duties. An even less likely possibility for the author's identity is found in an enclosed petition sent to Col. John T. Sprague, requesting that the position vacated by the discharge of Lt. George W. Steadman be filled by Sgt. Drayson Fordred. Fordred also died at Cold Harbor, but served in the 7th Militia (not 71st), while Steadman was a member of Co. I, not H.

Although the problem of identity remains unresolved, the memoir stands as an outstanding document of one man's Civil War service. It was clearly written after the events described, though apparently from notes or a diary made at the time, and if the author were truly Burke, it must have been written prior his death at Cold Harbor in June, 1864. Whoever he was, the author was a proficient writer, able to convey the emotions of the battlefield, the sights and smells of death, and the trivia of daily life in camp with a pleasing vibrancy and intelligence. The author's comments on the Peninsular Campaign, and particularly the period from the Battle of Williamsburg through the end of the Battles of Fair Oaks and Seven Pines, are of particular interest. Although severely ill at Fair Oaks and Seven Pines, the author had the unusual liberty to roam around from the front to the rear -- with the front sometimes overtaking him -- seeing the battle develop from several different perspectives. He was pressed into service to treat the wounded, came under intense enfilading fire himself on more than one occasion, and was able calmly, almost dispassionately, to view the artillery batteries attached to the brigade perform their work on Johnston's charging rebels.

The memoir also provides very good accounts of Burke's semi-disoriented perambulations around the Peninsula in the day before the Battle of Williamsburg, the carnage following the battle, and the morale and slowly deflating siege at Yorktown. He provides some wonderful vignettes of miscellaneous facets of a soldier's life, from keeping pets, to visiting friends, interacting with devastated Virginia citizens, to an interesting story of an Irish-American soldier's wife (also Irish) who had followed the regiment.

The Dolph family carte-de-visite album contains formal studio portraits, many taken by the Dolph Brothers of Erie, Pennsylvania, around the 1860s-1870s. The photographs show both men and women, and two are artistically posed scenes.

The Dolph family carte-de-visite album (16cm x 13cm) contains formal studio portraits, many taken by the Dolph Brothers of Erie, Pennsylvania, around the 1860s-1870s. This album may have been compiled from loose photos acquired at an estate sale by collector and donor Frederick P. Currier. The photographs, comprised of 42 albumen print cartes-de-visite and 5 tintypes, mostly depict men and women, though a few include children. Some items are hand-colored. Many of the subjects are identified by name, and several are labeled on the back "Dolph home," possibly by the collector and donor. Dolph family members include Albert W. Dolph in a military officer's uniform, Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Dolph, and James or Joseph Dolph. A photograph of two men in close conversation, one with a straw hat, pipe and large book in his lap, the other in a top hat and cane, may be of the Dolph brothers themselves; a man beside a mirror that shows his reflection may be a portrait of Jas. Dolph. Also of note is a double portrait of unidentified albino twins. The album's brown leather cover has a geometric design in relief and is closed with two metal clasps.

The Joseph F. Field papers are primarily composed of letters from Field to Kittie Chapman, his fiancé and later wife, while Field served with the Union Army. The letters document Field and Chapman's relationship and the effects of the war on that relationship.

Twenty-six of the 40 letters in this collection were written by Joe Field to his fiancé/wife, Kittie, with the balance including nine documents that Field acquired while adjutant for the regiment, one letter from Kittie to Joe, and two letters from other women to Kittie.

Field's letters contain little war news outside of some discussion of the conditions where he is encamped. In many letters, in fact, it is difficult to detect that a war is even going on. Field's letters are intensely focused on his relationship with Kittie, and are generally lighthearted and playful in tone. The war creeps in at the edges that the relationship defines: it is the war that separates the two, the war that affects the lives of their relatives and friends. For this reason, the collection is most likely to be of interest for the study of the effect of war and separation upon one couple's relationship.

Among the more interesting, specifically war-related, aspects of Field's letters are descriptions of various social activities and camp life, attitudes toward officers, and an account of a soldier who was accidentally poisoned by drinking a bottle of liniment that he had mistaken for alcohol. Field's attitudes toward civilians can be very interesting, as well, as he can be quite favorably disposed toward them. The citizens of Norfolk were particularly pleasant to Field and his company, though Virginia women, he wrote, were "too fancy" for his tastes, and the "native" women tended to shutter themselves in their houses, never showing themselves in public. At the end of the war, Field wrote that the Colonel intended to bring a 14 year-old white slave boy he had found to the north and educate him as a missionary, with the intention of seeing the boy return to the south later to spread the gospel. Field's attitude toward African-Americans was less benevolent, and his reaction to the enlistment of African-American soldiers, in particular, is worth noting. Field writes to Kittie that he hated the thought of the North "trying to raise niggers to do their fighting for them. As though Nigs were equal to your Joe" (1864 August 19), and on another occasion, he joked that he might bring home a freedman to sell as a draft substitute.

The Horatio G. Finch journal contains brief daily entries that Finch composed between from December 1858 to May 1872. He described his experiences traveling around the South during the Civil War and chronicled his life as a farmer near San Francisco, California, after the war.

The Horatio G. Finch journal (5" x 14", about 365 pages) contains brief daily entries that Finch composed between from December 29, 1858, to May 3, 1872. Each page of the diary represents a specific date (i.e., July 24), with entries composed over the course of as many as 13 years; additional pages are bound into the volume for longer entries. Finch frequently dated entries in Spanish. Before and after the Civil War, he reported news of his daily life in and near San Francisco and discussed his travels around California, consistently noting weather conditions and his current location. During the Civil War, Finch traveled throughout the South, spending much of his time socializing with Union Army officers in Kentucky and Missouri. He often mentioned recent military developments, such as the escalation of tension at Fort Sumter and two reports of Lincoln's assassination, each set apart by a thick ink border (April 13, 1865, and April 15, 1865). In June and July 1864, Finch traveled to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he recorded his impressions of the heavily-shelled town. Many of the later entries, often brief, pertain to Finch's concerns while working on his farm and vineyard.

Finch also bound newspaper clippings into the volume, and its final pages have instructions for repairing macadam and earthenware. Items laid into the volume include a brief joke and newspaper clippings concerning the Civil War, the election of 1864, and Fabius M. Finch's 50th wedding anniversary.

During the secession crisis of 1861, the support of German immigrants was a key factor in consolidating Unionism in Missouri, and when war broke out, Germans throughout the west enlisted in large numbers. The 35 letters written by John Schroeder to his brother, James, between 1857 and 1862 provide a unique glimpse into the life of a German-American soldier during the Civil War.

The 35 letters written by John Schroeder to his brother, James, between 1857 and 1862 provide a unique glimpse into the life of a German-American soldier during the Civil War. Never shy about speaking his mind, quick and opinionated, Schoeder's letters are an outstanding resource for understanding one man's motivations and attitudes, and provide some excellent accounts of the early months of the war in northern Missouri. As a series, they constitute a mini-regimental history of the 3rd Iowa Infantry from its origin in June, 1861, through the Battle of Shiloh in April, 1862. Every letter in the collection is written in old script German, however Schroeder's handwriting is excellent and easily legible. Neither transliterations nor translations are available.

Chronologically and topically, Schroeder's letters fall into two discrete clusters. Seven letters, written between May 22 and September 13, 1857, describe Schroeder's sojourn in Minnesota, working on a potato farm in Liberty, Blue Earth County. These letters include excellent, lengthy descriptions of the territory while it was organizing for statehood. A staunch Republican, Schroeder kept a close eye on the struggle for political control of the state, but he was also keenly interested in the development of the state in terms of building roads, markets, and cities, opening lands, and combatting and expelling Indians.

The remainder of the letters in the collection comprise a nearly complete run of correspondencefor the period of Schroeder's enlistment in the 3rd Iowa Infantry Regiment. These letters document the utter confusion and occasional turmoil surrounding the first regiments raised in the west, and the logistical problems caused by the stumbling rush into war-time production and the appointment of political cronies to leadership positions in the military. Having been a Captain in the Steuben Guard, apparently a militia unit in eastern Iowa, Schroeder was particularly resentful of being passed over for a commission in favor of less qualified -- ignorant -- Americans. The sting of discrimination irritated him, but never detered him.

Though nearly all of the letters are good, Schroeder was at his best during the months of July through September, when the 3rd Iowa were stationed in northern Missouri. His letters from this period include descriptions of engagements near Kirksville, Shelbina and Paris, and Blue Mills Landing, but of greater interest is the sense they give of the shifts in the morale of the regiment as they first enter "enemy" territory, as they taste battle for the first time, and as they first experience defeat. Throughout his correspondence, Schroeder is concerned with the abilities of his fellow soldiers -- both German and American, with the officers in his regiment, and with higher officers, including Frémont, Sigel, and Hurlbut.

Martin Webster's journals record his service with Battery I, 3rd New York Light Artillery, from 1863 to 1865, during which the regiment was stationed in northeastern North Carolina, primarily at New Bern.

Martin Webster's journal offers an insightful venture into the thoughts and experiences of a working class man drawn into the back waters of the Civil War. The two volumes record his service with Battery I, 3rd New York Light Artillery, from September, 1863, through the beginning of March, 1865, during which the regiment was stationed in northeastern North Carolina, primarily at New Bern. The volume contains fine descriptions of two expeditions undertaken by the regiment from December, 1864 through March, 1865, and a fair, but myopic view of the Confederate assaults on New Bern in February and May, 1864. With these exceptions, however, the diary is more a chronicle of the doldrums of camp life and the effects of ill discipline, abysmal sanitation, and alcohol, than it is a record of martial achievement.

Of particular note are an excellent, long and detailed account of the mass execution of a group of deserters at New Bern (1864 August 14), and a memorable account of Webster and his friends stealing Thanksgiving dinner from local Black families (1864 November 23). The constant refrains of Webster's world are drill, drink, and (particularly in the fall of 1864) disease, and through these emerges a vivid picture of the seamy side of the war that many soldiers preferred to deemphasize. He is, for instance, one of the few soldiers in the Schoff Collection who admits to having taken a body part as a souvenir, the scalp blown off the head of a man hit by a 100 pound shell (May 9, 1864), and he is a soldier who plans openly to get even with his colonel for what he perceives as a slight.

The longest and perhaps most significant part of the journal spans the period from December, 1864, through March, 1865, when Webster was engaged in expeditions to Rainbow Bluff, N.C., and in the vicinity of Plymouth and Colerain, N.C., the latter a half-hearted offensive led by Col. (later Brig. Gen.) Jones Frankle, and conducted as a northern extension of Sherman's Carolinas Campaign. The journal ends shortly before the engagement at Wise's Fork, and thus includes little information on the role that the 3rd N.Y. Artillery played in this decisive stage of the war.

Laid in the front of the first volume of Webster's journal are several loose manuscripts, including an 1876 deposition relating to Webster's work in the machine shop at Auburn Prison, and a series of documents relating to his application for an invalid's pension in 1890. The journal also includes a newspaper clipping dating from 1896, pertaining to the attempted murder of Isabelle Webster, probably a relative of Martin's.

The John T. Durang papers consist of general orders received by Mr. Durang during his military career in the Pennsylvania National Guard and Infantry Regiments, as well as correspondence regarding reconstruction in North Carolina.

The bulk of the John T. Durang papers consists of general orders. Capt. Durang appears to have saved every one he ever received, but this collection contains only those winnowed from an immense stack of such documents. The correspondence is very slender, though it is of considerable interest. While there is virtually no war-time correspondence at all, the value of the collection lies in the series of letters written by Durang's cronies from the Vetereans Reserve Corps who were involved in both reconstructing the Union and in pushing forward the Freedmen's Bureau. The several letters written from government-run plantations in North Carolina during the early reconstruction period offer a perspective on the progress of race and labor relations there, as well as on the work of the Bureau.

There are several items in folders 27, 28, 30 and 33 relating to the performance of the National Guard during the great railroad strike of 1877, when they shot into the crowd of strikers, killing several. The collection includes an unusual three-page printed document describing the events of the shooting, as well as some printed orders and documents relating to the aftermath.

The Vinaca papers consist of Civil War letters written by Francis Vinaca to his parents; correspondence from his cousins Henry Chase and James Miner; and from a friend, Martin Dealing. Francis and Martin served in the 186th New York Infantry and Henry in the 1st New York Mounted Rifles. Francis' letters are a valuable resource for examining the attitudes of a soldier entering the war in its latter stages.

The Vinaca papers contain 46 letters written by Francis Vinaca to his parents during the Civil War; 10 from his cousin, Henry Chase addressed to Francis; two letters from Francis' close friend, Martin Dealing (also of the 186th N.Y. Infantry); and two from a cousin, James Miner of the 35th New York Infantry. Although he is not the most observant writer, Francis' letters are a valuable resource for examining the attitudes of a soldier entering the war in its latter stages. His motives for enlisting appear to have been as much tied as much in profit and personal advancement as they were in patriotism, and the time that he spent in the unglamorous work of building roads or digging for fortifications was typical of the experiences of many soldiers, as were the periods of inactivity. Vinaca's unsuccessful attempts to secure a commission in a "colored" regiment are meagerly documented.

Henry Chase's rough-edged and occasionally offensive letters include some colorful descriptions of the theatre of action near New Bern, N.C., with particularly negative comments reserved for discussions of African Americans and the idea of fighting for the end of slavery.

Vinaca's letters from March and April, 1865, provide an indication of how low Confederate morale had sunk, as measured by the large number of deserters crossing the lines, and the level of desperation they must have felt. The most interesting letters concerning military action are the two in which Francis discusses his bloody experiences in the assault on Fort Mahone and the fall of Petersburg -- the last major engagements of the war in Virginia.