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)
- Spafford, Mary Jane [39]
Place(s)
- Military campsVirginia [13]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Medical care [2]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Women [2]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Military reconnaissance [1]
- Vermont -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [1]
- VermontHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [1]
Format(s)
- text [39]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [39]
Topic(s)
- United StatesArmy Military life [19]
- Diseases [9]
- Families of military personnel [9]
- Military leaves and furloughs [7]
- Postal service [6]
- Operational rations (Military supplies) [3]
- Drill and minor tactics [2]
- Promotions, Military [2]
- Soldiers Alcohol use [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 4th (1861-1865) [2]
- War casualties [2]
- Capitulations, Military [1]
- Homesickness [1]
- Medicine, Military [1]
- Military discharge [1]
- Military discipline [1]
- Morale [1]
- Photographers [1]
- Picketing [1]
- Recruiting and enlistment [1]
- United StatesArmy Surgeons [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 2nd (1861-1865) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 3rd (1861-1865) [1]
- Women in war [1]
-
- | 1 - 25 of 39 |
-
- Thumbnails | List | Timeline
Browsing by:
Recipient: ("Spafford, Mary Jane")
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-09-20
Resource type: correspondence
Spafford writes of possible leave from Brattleboro on September 21, 1861, of giving George all his things except his overcoat that he will keep with him, of his desire to see his sister.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-09-20
Resource type: correspondence
Writes of possible departure soon, of being told men to be mustered into service soon, of confrontation between the Colonel and men to be enlisted, of Guard House being full of men "who had run the Guard".
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-09-15
Resource type: correspondence
Spafford writes from Camp Holbrook in Brattleboro, Vt 4th Vt Vol. M. Atherton Guards to his sister in Upper Falls, Vt. Topics include marching orders for Washington, D.C. on September 16, 1861, of his stolen "valice" (dressing case), of having received military supplies of blankets and forthcoming uniforms and arms.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-09-15
Resource type: correspondence
Spafford writes to his sister about possibly coming to see him at Camp Holbrook in Brattleboro, of Captain A. writing to his wife to have her join him at camp, having received guns and about possible delay in departure.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-09-2?
Resource type: correspondence
Spafford writes of his opinions of some of the men, possibly getting a photograph taken of him to send home, the photographer being very busy taking many photographs for $1.00 each, sending money home.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-10-23
Resource type: correspondence
Writes of muddy conditions at Camp Griffin, Virginia, of seeing Gen. Davis from Cavendish, of learning George is to be married, of being still in good health, of having gone out scouting but seeing no Rebels, asks about Thanksgiving in Vermont, meals of wheat bread and coffee, getting butter from sutler to enhance his meal.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: [1861]-11-22
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac at Ball's Cross Roads, "Old Abe" to see 75,000 troops, scouting excursion, marching, picket guard, mentions Thanksgiving in Vermont.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-11-17
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include an expected package from home, lack of military pay, death of three men in the company from the fever, of a father retrieving his son's body..
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-04-14
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include not yet being moved from the Mansion House Hospital to one in Washington, his health being with fever and ague, of disposing of his letters from home by burning them and thus needing Homer White’s address again.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-04-16
Resource type: correspondence
A brief writing from Mansion House Hospital include possibility of getting a furlough and an incident at Yorktown with one soldier from the 4th Vermont being wounded slightly and a rebel soldier being "keeled" over.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-05-09
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C. topics include waiting for his military discharge papers and sightseeing in Washington.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-01-06
Resource type: correspondence
Written to his sister from his camp in Virginia, topics include inquiring after news from home, a possible visit by his father, cold weather, boxes of bedding sent by the towns of Weathersfield and Windham, and sending hats home so folks can see them.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-01-15
Resource type: correspondence
Written to his sister from his camp in Virginia, topics include description of a large foraging expedition, getting mumps, and rumors about Captain Henry B. Atherton.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-01-21
Resource type: correspondence
Spafford writes from Camp Griffin, Virginia on topics including the difficulty in getting a furlough, mud and rain, arrival of a New York regiment and their drunkeness because of the mud, a woman living in camp that came with the New York regiment, camp life, and asking for news from home.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-03-30
Resource type: correspondence
Still writing from the Mansion House Hospital, topics include listening to the rattling of the soldiers' swords as they pass on the sidewalk outside the hospital, commenting on the number of regiments going down the river, and news of home.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-04-02
Resource type: correspondence
Spafford continues to write from the Mansion House Hospital on topics that include worrying about his mother’s health, difficulty of getting a furlough, commenting on his preference to be a 2nd lieutenant and not a captain, detailed description of a day in the hospital, rules posted in the hospital, a dialogue he had with a drunken soldier from a California regiment, and description of a visit by a Vermonter from Windsor.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-04-20
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from the Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia a very brief note to his sister of leaving for Washington and not for her to write to him again at this address.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-04-27
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C. topics include the probability of a military discharge, hospital nurses, unhealthiness of hospitals, liking his living situation in the barracks, and fiddle playing and dancing heard coming from a nearby house.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-05-06
Resource type: correspondence
Writing his sister from Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C. topics include worry about not receiving letters from home and his general good health.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-10-8
Resource type: correspondence
Writes of good postal service on letter delivery, of Sargent Charley Reed, of Captain Altherton, of wanting a photograph of Homer, general good health of the men, a heavy rain storm that flooded his tent, of going out on Battalion drill.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-10-30
Resource type: correspondence
October 30, 1861. Topics include the postponement of a review of the Army of the Potomac, the numerous regiments at Camp Griffin, Virginia, a prediction of a move to Vienna after a naval strike, requests for stocking yarn, sealing wax and two sealing stamps, a daguerreotype photographer to travel with the regiment, mentions pay, the need to purchase shoes, going to the sutler for butter, general health of the men, praises the surgeon,
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-11-04
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Battalion and Regiment drills, having had a photograph taken of him, arrangements for Joseph Spafford's mother and sister to send him items and food from home, has received gloves from home, getting writing materials from the sutler, illness among the men, death from disease, personal family matter, wants lyrics sent to the song "Rock me to sleep".
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-11-10
Resource type: correspondence
Writes of how a box can be sent, desire for larger size boots, stockings, apples, Meerschaumn pipe
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-12-19
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the arrival of a box from Weathersfield containing bedding, stockings, mittens, discussion of who is most likely to get promotions, illness among the men including hernias, heart and consumption, .
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-12-19
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Joseph Spafford not going to Washington as planned because he did not have a pass, mentions women's sewing circle at home, of being a member of a reading circle and of "being deprived of female society".
-
- | 1 - 25 of 39 |
-
- Thumbnails | List | Timeline