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The Bridgman "autobiography" consists of a typescript of a long series of letters sent by Edward P. Bridgman to a cousin, which form a continuous, sometimes rambling narrative of Bridgman's life from the time he travelled to Kansas in 1856 through the end of the Civil War.

The Bridgman "autobiography" consists of a typescript of a long series of letters sent by Edward P. Bridgman to a cousin (?), Sidney, between June 10th, 1894 and April 9th, 1895. The letters were transcribed by another relative, Frank, and form a continuous, sometimes rambling narrative of Bridgman's life from the time he traveled to Kansas in 1856 through the end of the Civil War.

Written retrospectively, almost 30 years after the end of the war, many of the details of Bridgman's service have been lost, yet he manages to display a strong, if somewhat selective memory for anecdotes and for the emotions of the events that remained in his dreams for so many years. "As I look over some of my army letters," he wrote, "and Bowen's history [of the regiment], march after march and camp after camp are an utter blank to me. But the terrible battle scenes are stamped vividly in my recollection; they can never be forgotten" (p. 42). A fine writer with a gentle sense of humor, Bridgman's letters offer an interesting insight into the way that selective memory and time shaped veterans' experiences of the Civil War. The battles, numerous as they were, form the focus of the narrative, but the suffering faces of the dead and wounded and the small pranks he played assume almost equal prominence.

Bridgman's descriptions of the battles in which he was engaged tend to be somewhat generalized, but the emotional impact of these events clearly remained strong with him. His descriptions of the costly capture of Marye's Heights during the Chancellorsville Campaign, of the battle of Chancellorsville itself, and of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Campaigns are noteworthy. Always, his letters make for engrossing reading, whether he is writing about wormy hardtack, lice, making beds, drinking tainted water from the mouth of a dead mule, or doing battle. Because he served intermittently, unofficially, as a nurse and surgeon for his regiment, Bridgman also provides several brief, but powerful accounts of medical care, the wounded and the dead.

Rev. Reuben Smith Goodman's journal traces the six week excursion of a Presbyterian minister in Tennessee, while employed by the U.S. Christian Commission. The brief entries record war-time evangelical activities, including distributing religious literature, consoling, preaching, and ministering to the sick and wounded in hospitals.

Rev. Reuben Smith Goodman's journal traces the six week excursion of a Presbyterian minister from La Porte, Indiana, to Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee, while employed by the U.S. Christian Commission in 1864. The brief, almost daily entries provide an intimate record of war-time evangelistic activity including distributing religious literature, consoling, preaching, and ministering to the sick and wounded in hospitals. Several soldiers with whom Goodman treated appear to have been quite anxious about their spiritual state, and Goodman appears to have been expert at working to bring them into the "Christian" fold.

Accompanying the journal is a biographical sketch prepared by Goodman's descendants along with his commission and a series of seven passes received while in the field. Pinned on the fly-leaf of the journal is Goodman's silver pin reading, "U.S. Christian Commission, Phil."

This collection contains 4 letters that W. F. Farrington wrote to his wife Margaret in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, while volunteering with the United States Christian Commission in Alexandria, Virginia, in June 1865.

This collection contains 4 letters (12 pages) that W. F. Farrington wrote to his wife Margaret in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, while volunteering with the United States Christian Commission in Alexandria, Virginia, in June 1865. Farrington discussed his work at Sickles Hospital, where he held religious services and distributed clothing to sick soldiers, including some who were close to death. He also expressed his distaste for Alexandria and his desire to return home. In his letters of June 15, 1865, and June 22, 1865, he described his visits to Mount Vernon, the Bull Run battlefield, and Fort Ellsworth.