Collections

The Albert Davis papers contain letters written by Civil War soldier Albert Davis, of the 15th Massachusetts Regiment, Co. G. Davis described his regiment's roles in the battles of Ball’s Bluff, White Oak Swamp, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg.

The Albert Davis papers consist of 97 letters written by Civil War soldier Albert Davis of the 15th Massachusetts Regiment, Co. G, 3 letters written by his friends and family, one allotment receipt, his military discharge papers, and a photo of Albert Davis.

Albert Davis wrote letters while stationed with the Union army in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, between August 1861 and June 1864. Of the letters, Davis sent 83 to his widowed mother and 14 to his teenage sister, Angeline, both living in Upton, Massachusetts. The collection also holds one letter from Albert's mother to his sister (June 30, 1864), a letter from R. W. Ellis to Angeline Leland Davis (March 5, 1864), and a letter from W. I. Scandlin to Albert Davis (July 2, 1874).

Albert's letters document his participation as a soldier in the 15th Massachusetts Regiment from the beginning of the regiment’s formation in July 1861, until its dissolution after the battle of Petersburg (June 22, 1864), when all but eight men and one officer were killed or captured. In the early letters, Davis described his initial training near Worcester, Massachusetts. At first, he enjoyed soldiering, and sent home souvenirs: a piece of wood from the Harper's Ferry Bridge (October 6, 1861), and a piece of cotton from the breastworks at Yorktown (May 24, 1862). He wrote of snowballing a barge while on picket duty (January 4, 1862), and of picking wild blackberries during the fighting at Malvern Hills (August 2, 1862). Upon seeing the Monitor anchored among other boats at Hampton, Virginia, he wrote "it dont look as though it could take a Canal boat" (April 2, 1862). Many of his letters mentioned food, either what he was eating or what he would like to receive from home (cheese, tea, molasses, catsup, preserves, baked goods, chocolate, and checkerberry extract). On August 2, 1862, he sent a recipe for pudding made from hardtack. By December 1863, his feelings about soldiering had changed and he became determined not to reenlist. He was irritated by the "bounty men" who fought for money rather than patriotism (March 9, 1863; August 6, 1863). He witnessed several military executions (September 4, 1863; April 26, 1864). Davis also described his six months spent in hospitals and convalescent camps, and his part in the battles of Antietam, Cold Harbor, Gettysburg, and Bristoe Station.

His letters describing the Battle of Gettysburg are of particular interest not just for their accounts of the battle (July 4, 17, and 27, 1863), but also for his corrections of inaccuracies in the newspaper coverage of the battle (August 13 and 21, 1863). On May 14, 1864, Davis wrote from "mud hole near Spotsylvania Court House" and stated that the battle was "the hardest fight of the War." A few weeks later, on June 6, 1864, he wrote from the battlefield at Cold Harbor that "we are about sick of making Charges [--] we are not successful in one half of them and the loss on the retreat is great...there is some wounded men that are a lying between the lines that have laid there for three days and have not had a bit of care perhaps not a drop of water."

• October 22, 1861
• October 29, 1861
• November 6, 1861
• November 16, 1861
• November 17, 1861
• November 26, 1861
• May 6, 1862
• November 2, [1862]

The Grosvenor L. Townsend scrapbooks consist of 7 volumes containing newspaper clippings, photographs, halftone prints, correspondence, ephemera, printed materials, maps, realia, telegrams, and other miscellaneous documents and materials related to the military career of Grosvenor Lowery Townsend.

The Grosvenor L. Townsend scrapbooks consist of 7 volumes containing newspaper clippings, photographs, halftone prints, correspondence, ephemera, printed materials, maps, realia, telegrams, and other miscellaneous documents and materials related to the military career of Grosvenor Lowery Townsend. Newspaper and journal clippings were mainly taken from New York-based publications. Most of the clippings are in extremely fragile condition. Many clippings are coupled with inscriptions indicating the name and date of the publication they were taken from. Numerous photographs also bear inscribed captions. Each volume measures approximately 25 x 19 cm in size and has marbled paper covers.

• This volume contains materials related to Townsend's service in the New York National Guard, 7th Regiment, Company D, between 1893 and 1894. Items of particular interest include a Grand Army of the Republic report regarding the 7th's service record in the Civil War and during various New York City riots (pg. 1); a group portrait of 7th NYNG Co. D soldiers, including Townsend (figure furthest to the right), at an encampment in Peekskill, New York in June 1893 (pg. 5); clippings related to a mock Civil War battle held at Van Cortlandt Park (pg. 11); clippings related to Townsend's promotion from private to lance-corporal (pg. 13); clippings from the New York Herald and New York Tribune regarding the 7th NYNG relocating to the Seventh Regiment Armory (pgs. 42-45); a group portrait of 7th NYNG members at Sea Girt, New Jersey, in July of 1894 during a visit with New Jersey National Guardsmen (pg. 67); and Townsend's Lance Corporal chevrons (pgs. 92, 93).

• This volume contains materials related to Townsend's service in the New York National Guard, 7th Regiment, Company D, during 1896. Items of particular interest include an engraving depicting Company D winning a chariot race at the 7th Regiment games (pgs. 28, 29); a New York Herald clipping from May 31st 1896 regarding the 7th NYNG's victory over West Point in a baseball match (pg. 39); an American Lithographic Co. halftone reproduction of a Jay Hambidge painting showing the 7th NYNG marching in uniform titled "For Love or War?" (pg. 43); clippings regarding the new regimental clubhouse at the Creedmoor Rifle Range (pg. 45); a private circular for NCOs regarding a regimental parade in honor of Chinese viceroy Li Hongzhang as well as a halftone portrait of Li (pgs. 46, 47); and cartoons from the 7th Regiment Gazette of December 1896 comically depicting track and field events (pg. 61).

• This volume contains materials related to Townsend's service in the New York National Guard, 7th Regiment, Company D, from 1897 to May of 1898. Items of particular interest include a photographs of 7th NYNG officers and NCOs (pgs. 2, 3); halftone images from a 7th NYNG camp (pg. 7); a New York Sun clipping from October 10th 1897 regarding a mock battle at Van Cortlandt Park replete with a topographical map of the park (pg. 11); a New York Herald clipping from October 10th 1897 showing engravings related to "The Battle of Van Cortlandt Park." (pgs. 12, 13); a Harper's Weekly clipping from October 1897 showing halftone reproductions of paintings related to the mock battle at Van Cortlandt Park (pgs. 14, 15); camp scene photographs from June 1897 including one portrait of Townsend in uniform (pg. 23); halftone images showing interior rooms of the Seventh Regiment Armory (pgs. 25-28); a halftone reproduction of an engraving showing 7th NYNG uniforms from 1802 to 1897 (pg. 33); a halftone reproduction from Harper's Weekly vol. 42 no. 2157 of a painting by T. De Thulstrup showing the 7th NYNG being reviewed by Major General Charles F. Roe at the Seventh Regiment Armory (pgs. 76, 77); and multiple clippings related to the 7th NYNG's decision to refrain from allowing members to individually enlist in the regular US Army at the outset of the Spanish-American War so as not to disintegrate the unit (pgs. 82-91).

• This volume contains materials related to Townsend's service in the 201st Infantry Regiment of New York Volunteers as well as in the US Army 1st Infantry Regiment covering the period from March of 1899 to February of 1900. Items of particular interest include clippings related to Townsend's promotion from Captain of Company M 201st NY Volunteer Infantry Regiment to Second Lieutenant in the US regular army (pg. 5); letters from Townsend to his parents regarding exams he must take at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in order to achieve his promotion (pgs. 8, 9); a picture book containing halftone images from around Fort Monroe (pg. 11); a photograph showing a Fort Monroe examination room black board coupled with text of the example question present on the board (pg. 17); a copy of Townsend's commission as Second Lieutenant (pgs. 22, 23); clippings related to the naval transportation of American troops to Cuba (pg. 33); photographs of various Cuban scenes including an ossuary outside of Havana, Cuban huts and houses, Cuban soldiers being paid, American camps and barracks, a Cuban funeral, Afro-Cubans, underbrush near the mountains, a general view of Pinar del Rio, American military officers and their wives, and American troops in formation (pgs. 36-46, 48-55); a memorandum concerning the administrative use of officers' photographic portraits (pg. 59); photographs showing scenes of Guanajay and Pinar del Rio, Company K rifle ranges, American officers including Lt. McCue, Lt. Tebetts, Lt. Reams, Lt. Beacham, Lt. Wilcox, Dr. Dunchie, and Lt. Reeder, child golf caddies (including a Chinese boy named Ah Soy), a Cuban house being constructed out of palm tree materials, American officers and their wives, a Cuban burial party, soldiers on the march and drilling, an American military graveyard, Cuban ox carts, a railroad station, and churches (pgs. 60-66, 68-82); a clipping including an advertisement for "Mahara's Minstrel Carnival" (pg. 84); and more photographs showing American officers and their wives, Chinese-Cubans, a man posing with a white owl, a well-dressed Cuban man named "Mr. Usavraga", 2nd Battalion shelter camps, American barracks at Guanajay, a group of American officers and several women that includes both Townsend and his mother Emma, the fort at Mariel, a Cuban ship named Alphonso XIII sinking in Mariel Harbor, street scenes in San Antonio and Guanajay, and golf links at Guanajay (pgs. 91-115).

• This volume contains materials related to Townsend's service in the US Army 1st Infantry Regiment covering the period from April 1900 to December 1901. Items of particular interest include photographs showing 1st Infantry Company K assembled in uniform at Guanajay and the aftermath of a major storm at Guanajay, (pgs. 1, 2); clippings related to the potential ordering of the 1st Infantry from Cuba to China as well as Yellow Fever outbreaks among American soldiers stationed in Cuba (pgs. 4, 5); a fragment of an envelope bearing an official stamp from a US military surgeon indicating that the parcel had been "Disinfected and Passed" (pg. 9); clippings from August 1900 detailing the ordering of troops to Manila, Philippines, instead of China (pgs. 13-17); photographs showing various scenes from around Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, including the US Army Disciplinary Barracks (pg. 19-24); clippings from October 1900 regarding the capture and subsequent rescue of Capt. Devereux Shields (pgs. 28-30); clippings regarding the launch of the Samar Expedition and insurgent fighting tactics (pgs. 31-33, 40); photographs showing buildings occupied by American troops in Catbalogan, US Army officers and headquarters at Tacloban in February 1901 (pgs. 40-42); a clipping showing a map of the "Peaceful Districts in the Philippines" highlighting areas deemed unsafe for Americans to venture (pg. 46); photographs showing street scenes, Filipino villages and villagers, and landscape views (pgs. 50-54); a letter and associated hand-drawn map sent by Townsend to his mother describing an ambush against American forces in southern Samar in April of 1901 during which Townsend came under fire from a rifle he believed to have belonged to an American soldier who had deserted (pgs. 55, 56); a letter from Townsend to his mother in April of 1901 describing the visit of a group of Palauan tribesmen and counterinsurgency operations (pg. 57); photographs taken by Townsend of the Palauan tribesmen (pgs. 58-60); photographs from around Guiuan, including the U.S. Army headquarters, a 200 year old church door, Lt. Downes and Townsend's quarters, and images of a church and locals in Mercedes (pgs. 62, 63); clippings related to the death of Lt. Downes and Lt. McClure (pg. 68); a typescript copy of a letter initially sent by Townsend to Capt. Willard C. Fisk from July 1901, which the latter forwarded to Townsend's parents, describing engagements in Samar including one that led to Townsend being stabbed in the forearm (pg. 70); clippings related to the death of Lt. Downes and the Balangiga Massacre (pgs. 71-76); a letter from Townsend to his mother dated Oct 5 1901 describing the Balangiga Massacre and how his detachment were very nearly sent there (pg. 77); Townsend's Second Lieutenant bars (pg. 78); and a clipping describing innovative traps used by the Moros against American soldiers (pg. 79).

• This volume contains materials related to Townsend's service in the US Army 1st Infantry Regiment covering the period from 1905 to September 1907. Items of particular interest include a group portrait showing Townsend, other U.S. Army officers, and several women (including Cornelia T. Getty) standing in front of a house in Canada with snowshoeing equipment (pg. 3); clippings related to Fort Brady and a roster of troops serving in the Department of the Lakes as of August 15th 1905 (pgs. 5-7); clippings related to renewed unrest in China and the shipment of more U.S. troops to the Philippines (pg. 10, 12); clippings related to the transportation of American troops to the Philippines (pgs. 18, 19); clippings related to the celebration of George Washington's birthday at a ceremony in Gibraltar in February 1906 (pgs. 24, 26); a letter from Townsend to his mother from aboard the USS McClellan near Sri Lanka in April 1906 describing the conditions of the ship and the progress of the journey thus far (pg. 36); a typescript summary of Townsend's military career as of July 1906 (pg. 49); panoramic views of Camp Stotsenburg (pgs. 58, 64); a clipping regarding an earthquake in the Philippines in April 1907 (pg. 69); a typescript copy of a memo from September 1907 titled "Regarding the Government of the Philippine Islands With Special Reference to the Subject of Police Protection" (pg. 80); and photographs by Pedro Casanave of the S.S. Mindoro and of "Calle Gen. Hughes" in Iloilo City (pgs. 87, 88).

• This volume contains materials related to Townsend's service in the US Army 23rd and 1st Infantry Regiments covering the period from August 1909 to August 1910. Items of particular interest include a roster of officers and troops on duty at the Army Service Schools, Fort Leavenworth and the US Military Prison as of November 1909 (pg. 5); a studio portrait of Townsend in uniform taken at Fort Leavenworth (pg. 7); a copy of the September 1910 issue of the Infantry Journal by The United States Infantry Association containing an article written by Townsend titled "The Use and Effect of Flying Machines on Military Operations" (pg. 25); clippings related to practice maneuvers at Pine Camp, New York (pgs. 28-39, 49-58); halftone images showing camp scenes at Pine Camp (pgs. 47, 48); and photographs showing Townsend in uniform, Townsend's parents Malcolm and Emma, and what may have been the Townsend family residence (pg. 59).

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has also created the G. L. Townsend Scrapbook Inventory which serves as an itemized list of the contents of each scrapbook.

The Hampton, Virginia, photograph album contains approximately 120 photographs, mainly panoramic images, showing waterfront views of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia as well as images of a rural farm or estate.

The Hampton, Virginia, photograph album contains approximately 120 photographs, mainly panoramic images, showing waterfront views of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia as well as images of a rural farm or estate. The album (28 x 38 cm) is half bound in brown leather. Images of interest include several exterior and interior views of a beach cottage; men, women, and children in swimming apparel, bobbing in the surf, strolling the beach and the boardwalk, and posing on the cottage porch swing and lawn; two photographs of a family group dining on the cottage veranda while an African American servant holds a fan; and a well-dressed African American couple on the porch steps.

Other photographs include views of the Chamberlain and Buckroe Beach hotels; the Cape Henry lighthouse; the Hampton Institute from across the water; the Ocean View Resort in Norfolk; the electric railway bridge over the water; and the Hampton soldier's home. Marine subjects include views of numerous small boats manned by sailors; possibly engaged in a rowing exercise; a naval station and battleship in the background; a Navy monitor under steam; and sailing boats moored in a harbor. An additional series of photographs show exterior views of a large country house in a landscaped setting, with elegant horse-drawn carriages, a farmyard with livestock, an African American man plowing a field, workers harvesting fruit in an orchard, and two African American men tending a steaming vat over an open fire.

The Smith College, Hampton, Va., area and Connecticut photographs consist of approximately 300 photographs in 1 album and 1 folder. Images include photographs of Smith College as well as scenes from Connecticut and southeastern Virginia.

The Smith College, Hampton, Va., area and Connecticut photographs consist of approximately 300 photographs in 1 album and 1 folder. Images include photographs of Smith College as well as scenes from Connecticut and southeastern Virginia. Smith College photographs include dorm room interiors, women on campus, and a college basketball game. Connecticut scenes show a Connecticut River ferry, women boating and swimming in Bantam Lake, and St. Margaret's School in Waterbury, Connecticut. Also depicted are buildings at Hampton Institute in Virginia, a variety of boats and warships, likely on the Chesapeake Bay, winter fishing, "oyster canoes" (skipjacks) and men unloading crabs at the factory. Other Virginia photographs show buildings in pre-restoration Williamsburg and rural life, possibly in the Williamsburg area, with rundown shacks, African Americans, ox-drawn carts, and a group of African American school children. Views from unidentified locales include rural scenes, streams and country roads, beaches, dwellings, family life photos with children in a variety of settings, posed Grecian tableaux, and a studio portrait of a man dressed in Native American clothing holding a la crosse ball and stick. Additional photographs include Jamestown church ruins, Deerfield Memorial Hall with several interior views, 7 photographs of interior rooms in an unidentified house, and canal views, possibly of the Dismal Swamp Canal.

Identified individuals include: Grace Collins Lathrop, Sue Boss, Sue Gardner, Alice Bishop, Fanny Coit, Emma Kelsey, Arthur Eggleston, Percy Eggleston, Henrietta Spear, Nellie Spear, Theodate Pope, Ethel Fiefield, and Mary Lewis.

The album is half bound in burgundy leather and is stored in a three part wrap with green cloth spine