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)
- Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903 [3]
- Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889 [2]
- Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898 [2]
- Holbrook, William Cune, 1842-1904 [1]
- Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864 [1]
- Wilder, Henry Harrison [1]
Recipient(s)
- Barney,Maria, 1833-1884 [2]
- Farnham, Mary [2]
- Veazey, Julia A. [2]
- Holbrook, Frederick [1]
Place(s)
- Military camps -- Virginia [3]
- Vermont -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [3]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [2]
- Fort Pike (La.) [1]
- Military camps -- Louisiana [1]
- Military campsVirginia [1]
- New Orleans (La.) -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [1]
- Ship Island (Miss.) [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Military reconnaissance [1]
Format(s)
- text [10]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [10]
Topic(s)
- Intrenchments [10]
- Armed Forces Officers [3]
- Morale [3]
- Battle casualties [2]
- Diseases [2]
- African Americans [1]
- Capitulations, Military [1]
- Desertion, Military [1]
- Drill and minor tactics [1]
- Holbrook, Frederickt1813-1909 [1]
- Marching [1]
- Medicine, Military [1]
- Military pay [1]
- Operational rations (Military supplies) [1]
- Picketing [1]
- Prisoners of war [1]
- Promotions, Military [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 4th (1861-1865) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 7th (1862-1866) [1]
- Veazey, Wheelock G. (Wheelock Graves)1835-1898 [1]
- War casualties [1]
- War victims [1]
- Women in war [1]
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Topic: ("Intrenchments")
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-04-09
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the rebels being strongly fortified at Lee's Mill, the preparations for a hard battle (the month-long siege of Yorktown), and Merrill's sickness. Detailed description of some dead and wounded soldiers.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Friends
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-04-18
Resource type: correspondence
Writing after a battle near Yorktown, Towle recalls those wounded and killed. States preparations continue to be made for more fighting, that provisions for the men sometimes are difficult to get, that Col Stoughton performs admirably but that General Smith was drunk and has been arrested .
Title: Roswell Farnham to Laura
Creator: Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903
Date: 1861-06-29
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include two Louisiana Zouaves who were brought in by Col. Hawkins, accounts of their desertion and capture, rumors of an advancing Confederate force, and the anticipation of an enemy attack that never occurs. .
![Thumbnail: Roswell Farnham to Mary [Farnham]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmfarnham14_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: Roswell Farnham to Mary [Farnham]
Creator: Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903
Date: 1861-05-27
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the movement from Hampton to Newport News, Virginia, the beginning of the first entrenchment at Camp Butler, some details about camp dentistry, and the appointment of John Wolcott Phelps as Brigadier General. Mentions Vt. military units: Northfield Co., Bradford Guards, Vt. Regiment ; a Virginia unit: Old Dominion Dragoons (ODD) ; ships: Catalina, Monticello ; and a newspaper (Vt.?): "the Telegraph."
![Thumbnail: Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmfarnham35_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]
Creator: Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903
Date: 1861-06-27
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include an account of the sick, the return of Parker of the Woodstock Company from enemy prison, and asking Mrs. Farnham to save newspapers.
Title: Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
Creator: Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889
Date: 1862-08-09
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the progress made on the fort, the cutting down of many trees within a mile of the fort, of orchards and shade trees also cut down nearby buildings to the great dismay of local residents, an outbreak of dysentery, and the hope to be able to send some military pay home soon.
Title: Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
Creator: Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889
Date: 1862-08-15
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include moving to a camp near the east corner of the fort, a description of the fort including how many guns and what types of guns, and the appointment of Eaton as the major of the 10th regiment.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: 1861-08-09
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the measures taken by the camp to secure their safety.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: 1861-10-20
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the toll the war is taking on the wives, mothers, and sisters of soldiers, the lack of awareness by Northerners, and a discussion of Gen. McClellan.
Title: William C. Holbrook to Frederick Holbrook
Creator: Holbrook, William Cune, 1842-1904
Date: 1862-05-09
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include working with the naval forces to occupy Fort Pike, La. which fell April 27, 1862. Holbrook describes the fort, the artillery left behind, and the process for allowing vessels to pass by this strategic entrance to Lake Pontchartrain, at New Orleans.
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