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

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 The reminiscences cover his experiences between late 1861 and March 1862, including copied diary entries originally made between February 13, 1862, and March 6, 1862.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.

This volume is a published collection of photographic prints of battlegrounds, ruins, works, and other scenes from the America Civil War in Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. The photographs were taken between the spring of 1864 and the spring of 1866. Along with the published photographs of Mathew Brady, and Alexander Gardner's Photographic sketchbook, Barnard's Views of Sherman's campaign is one of the main photographic monuments of the Civil War, containing some of the most famous images of the war's destruction.

Photographic Views of the Sherman Campaign (41cm x 51cm) is a collection of 57 photographic prints published in New York by Wynkoop & Hallenbeck in 1866. An abbreviated title is stamped in gold on the album's brown leather cover and the full title is printed on the first page. Clements Library's copy is imperfect: four plates lacking; one missing plate, acquired separately, is shelved at: Photo Div F.20.1. Inscriptions indicate that this copy was presented by Edward Hoffmire to John M. Hoffmire, his brother, in 1868, and John M. Hoffmire later gave it to his daughter Emma on April 15, 1916.

Each print is labeled with the location of the photograph, often including the names of natural and manmade landmarks. Some areas are represented in multiple images, though each item provides a unique view of landscapes and urbanized areas in Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. Many show evidence of military activity, including soldiers, tents and camps, earthworks and trenches, blasted trees, destroyed railroads and buildings. One item is a group portrait of William Tecumseh Sherman and seven other Union generals. See the list of photographs in Additional Descriptive Data for more information about specific locales pictured.