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 the University of Vermont and the Vermont Historical Society.
The collection includes materials dating from 1861 at the start of the Civil War, and will grow with additional materials throughout the years of the sesquicentennial commemoration, from 2011 through 2015. 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) will eventually be included; each adds a certain experience and point of view to the whole.
1861
In 1861, Vermont produced a three-month volunteer infantry regiment (the First Vermont Infantry) that served in Virginia from May through July. Five additional volunteer infantry regiments, mustered for three-year terms and numbered consecutively, were put in the field in the summer and fall, camping first in Washington and at Camp Griffin through the fall and winter. The First Vermont Cavalry regiment was also mustered and sent south in the fall of 1861.
Subject content for the 1861 letters and diaries covers a great deal of ground. The many logistical issues involved in launching the war effort come to light in the letters of General John W. Phelps, while officers such as Lieutenant Roswell Farnham often made thoughtful observations on the events and personalities in the camps and in the field. The enlisted men occasionally described important events in detail, but more often wrote about everyday life and concerns. Eyewitness accounts of engagements at Big Bethel (June 9-10), Bull Run (July 21), and Lewinsville (September 11) reveal the motivations and expectations of the men in arms, while descriptions of living conditions, drilling, sickness, and political intrigue provide insight on the soldiers’ experiences.
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.
Time Period Covered: 1861
Sub-collections
Charles F. Bancroft Correspondence
Horace Barlow Diary
Valentine G. Barney Correspondence
John Lester Barstow Correspondence
Barton Family Correspondence
John W. Campbell Correspondence
Roswell Farnham Correspondence
Justus F. Gale Correspondence
Solomon G. Heaton Correspondence
William Wirt Henry Correspondence
William C. Holbrook Correspondence
Albert A. May Correspondence
Benjamin F. Parmenter Correspondence
Joseph L. Perkins Correspondence
John Wolcott Phelps Correspondence
George W. Quimby Correspondence
Joseph Chase Rutherford Correspondence
Henry A. Smith Correspondence
Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Edward and John Stone Correspondence
Ransom W. Towle Correspondence
Orlando S. Turner Correspondence
Wheelock Graves Veazey Correspondence
Daniel S. White Correspondence
Henry Harrison Wilder Correspondence
Lyman Williams Correspondence
Published: April 11, 2011, University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe Library, Center for Digital Initiatives
Rights: Requests to reproduce this item should be sent to the UVM Libraries' Center for Digital Initiatives at cdi@uvm.edu. For more information, see http://cdi.uvm.edu/about/rights. More information.
Browse Options
Creator(s)
Recipient(s)
- Williams,Lois L. [5]
- Williams, Lois L. [2]
- Williams, Caroline [1]
- Williams, Warren [1]
- Williams,Warren [1]
- Williams,Warren, Williams Caroline [1]
Place(s)
- VermontHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [5]
- Military campsVirginia [4]
- Fort Monroe (Va.) [1]
- Richmond (Va.) [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Campaigns [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Casualties [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Medical care [1]
Format(s)
- text [11]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [11]
Topic(s)
- United StatesArmy Military life [4]
- Diseases [3]
- Battle casualties [2]
- Marching [2]
- Morale [2]
- Families of military personnel [1]
- Fort Donelson, Battle of, Tenn., 1862 [1]
- Fort Henry, Battle of, Tenn., 1862 [1]
- Homesickness [1]
- McClellan, George Brinton1826-1885 [1]
- Military hospitals [1]
- Religion [1]
- Savage's Station, Battle of, Va., 1862 [1]
- Seven Days' Battles, Va., 1862 [1]
- Skirmishing [1]
- Sutlers [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 9th (1862-1865) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 9th (1862-1865).Company B [1]
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Browsing by:
Author: ("Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905")
Title: Lyman S. Willams to Lois L. Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1862-07-09
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the camp being shelled twice, the regiment camping on the east bank of the James River, the losses in both armies, and the regiment being reviewed by President Lincoln.
Title: Lyman S. Willams to Lois L. Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1862-07-27
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the quietness of camp near Harrisons Landing, a church service that Lyman Williams attended, and the food Lyman misses from home.
Title: Lyman S. Williams to Caroline Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1861-11-16
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the comforts of camp life.
Title: Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1862-04-01
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the journey from Alexandria to Newport News.
Title: Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1862-02-18
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the warm, muddy weather, the success of the Burnsides Expedition, the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, and the possibility of either marching to Manassas and on to Richmond or back to Vermont.
Title: Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1862-01-29
Resource type: correspondence
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 Parents
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1862-07-06
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a retreat to the James River (known later as a "great skedaddle," a word that Williams uses here but in the context of not being paid), a fight at Savage's Station, a review by General McClellan, and the men killed and wounded in the fight.
Title: Lyman S. Williams to Warren Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1861-10-07
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the election of officers.
Title: Lyman S. Williams to Warren Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1862-04-20
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Lyman Williams coming down with a fever, an encounter with the rebels that left four men wounded, and the rebels' description of the Vermont regiment as dare devils. Stationery has an illustration of a "Vermont Boy," plus two verses of a song with the title "Vermont Soldier." The refrain, "Away down in Dixie," suggests an attempt to compete with the immortal southern song "Dixie."
![Thumbnail: Lyman S. Williams to [Lois L. Williams]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwvhsWilliamsLyman02_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Lyman S. Williams to [Lois L. Williams]
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: [1861]-10-25
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the journey from Montpelier to Camp Griffin.
Title: Lyman S.Williams to Lois L. Williams
Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905
Date: 1861-12-09
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the improving health of the regiment, the deaths of John Roland and Walter Osburn, and a scouting expedition.
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