Vermonters in the Civil War
Collection Overview
Vermont soldiers in the Civil War wrote an enormous quantity of letters and diaries, of which many thousands have survived in libraries, historical societies, and in private hands. This collection represents a selection of letters and diaries from...
Show moreVermont soldiers in the Civil War wrote an enormous quantity of letters and diaries, of which many thousands have survived in libraries, historical societies, and in private hands. This collection represents a selection of letters and diaries from the University of Vermont and the Vermont Historical Society.
The collection includes materials dating from 1861-1865. Materials were selected for digitization to provide a variety of perspectives on events and issues. The voices represented in the collection include private soldiers and officers, as well as a few civilians. All of the extant Civil War-era letters or diaries of each of the selected individuals (at least, all that are to be found in the participating institutions’ collections) are included; each adds a certain experience and point of view to the whole.
Officers in the photo above are (from left to right): Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Stoughton, Colonel Edwin H. Stoughton, Major Harry N. Worthen. All are from the Fourth Vermont Infantry Regiment.
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Sub-collections
- Daniel S. White Correspondence
- Edward P. Stone Correspondence
- George W. Quimby Correspondence
- Henry A. Smith Correspondence
- Henry Harrison Wilder Correspondence
- Horace Barlow Diary
- John Lester Barstow Correspondence
- John W. Campbell Correspondence
- John Wolcott Phelps Correspondence
- Joseph Chase Rutherford Correspondence
- Joseph L. Perkins Correspondence
- Joseph Spafford Correspondence
- Justus F. Gale Correspondence
- Lyman S. Williams Correspondence
- Orlando S. Turner Correspondence
- Ransom W. Towle Correspondence
- Roswell Farnham Correspondence
- Solomon G. Heaton Correspondence
- Valentine G. Barney Correspondence
- Wheelock Graves Veazey Correspondence
- William C. Holbrook Correspondence
- William Wirt Henry Correspondence
Lesson Plans
(1 - 12 of 12)
- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to [Lois L. Williams]
- Description
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Topics include the journey from Montpelier to Camp Griffin.
- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics include wishing for letters from home, being in command of two companies and Adjutant as well, and his hopes for a leave of absence when the Brigade goes to winter quarters.
- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics include marching to Washington from Richmond, sightseeing in Richmond, the possibility of a review, and rumors about an attempt by the Governor of Vermont to get the old Brigade home all at once, though Williams doesn’t think this likely.
- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics include the sick in Essex and at camp, the knee deep mud, and Lyman Williams' plan to send money home.
- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Writes of a raid on the railroad line between Richmond, Virginia and Welden, North Carolina at Ream’s Station destroying tracks, his wish to be at home visiting with his brother, Nathan, the hot and dusty weather, and getting paid.
- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Writes his health is good, the weather is hot, the men have a good camp ground and good water close by. States he has received letters from home and tells of the different types of food crops grown in Virginia ; gives his opinion of some men folk at home, of men drafted but who run away and...
Show moreWrites his health is good, the weather is hot, the men have a good camp ground and good water close by. States he has received letters from home and tells of the different types of food crops grown in Virginia ; gives his opinion of some men folk at home, of men drafted but who run away and refuse to fight, and sends this letter with no postage stamp as his request for some has not yet been fulfilled.
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- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Williams describes the movement of the 6th Corps from Winchester to Petersburg, Virginia moving into the log houses built by the 2nd Corps, the neighborliness of the rebel pickets, names of people he has received letters from, news of Union General Thomas’ victory over Confederate General Hood at...
Show moreWilliams describes the movement of the 6th Corps from Winchester to Petersburg, Virginia moving into the log houses built by the 2nd Corps, the neighborliness of the rebel pickets, names of people he has received letters from, news of Union General Thomas’ victory over Confederate General Hood at the Battle of Nashville (Tenn.) December 15-16, 1864, receipt of leather gloves much needed by the men.
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- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Letter to sister Lois about his great appreciation of receiving letters from home and their importance to him ; relates the men's hard march, camping in the the field, hardships endured including having little food to eat, of no complaints from the men regardless ; a bit of home gossip.
- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics including marching out to support a cavalry raid on February 27, 1864 and returning to camp exhausted by the march through mud. He also writes about his wife, Mary Gorton Williams, hopes that his room would be empty when he returns from the army, so that he and Mary might live there....
Show moreTopics including marching out to support a cavalry raid on February 27, 1864 and returning to camp exhausted by the march through mud. He also writes about his wife, Mary Gorton Williams, hopes that his room would be empty when he returns from the army, so that he and Mary might live there. Requests postage stamps.
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- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Writing to his father topics include receiving the $50.00 he asked for from him, a list of the expenses incurred buying equipment needed as 2nd Lieutenant, his hope that his brother Nathan will recover his health now that he has left the Service, and the confidence of the Army in Ulysses S. Grant...
Show moreWriting to his father topics include receiving the $50.00 he asked for from him, a list of the expenses incurred buying equipment needed as 2nd Lieutenant, his hope that his brother Nathan will recover his health now that he has left the Service, and the confidence of the Army in Ulysses S. Grant and their hope that hard fighting is done now.
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- Title
- Lyman S.Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics include the improving health of the regiment, the deaths of John Roland and Walter Osburn, and a scouting expedition.
- Title
- Nathan A. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics include the expectation of a battle and reinforcements. The anticipated battle was probably the 2nd Manassas or Bull Run campaign (Aug. 26-30, another win for the Confederates).