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)
- Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866 [9]
- Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902 [2]
- Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889 [1]
- Blunt, Asa P. [1]
- Dillingham, Charles, b. 1837 [1]
- Smith, Henry A., d. 1864 [1]
- Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898 [1]
Recipient(s)
- Spafford, Mary Jane [7]
- Rutherford, Hannah [2]
- Barney,Maria, 1833-1884 [1]
- Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903 [1]
- Henry, William Wirt [1]
- Spafford, Marianne [1]
- Veazey, Julia A. [1]
- White, Homer [1]
Place(s)
- Military camps -- Maryland [2]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [2]
- VermontHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [2]
- Chicago (Ill.) [1]
- Military camps -- Washington (D.C.) [1]
- Military campsVirginia [1]
- SecessionSouthern States [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Casualties [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [1]
Format(s)
- text [16]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [16]
Topic(s)
- Military leaves and furloughs [16]
- Diseases [5]
- United StatesArmy Military life [5]
- Families of military personnel [4]
- Military hospitals [4]
- Farnham, Roswell1827-1903 [1]
- Medicine, Military [1]
- Morale [1]
- Patriotism [1]
- Prisoners of war [1]
- United StatesArmy Surgeons [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 10th (1862-1865) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 12th (1862-1863) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 3rd (1861-1865) [1]
- Veazey, Wheelock G. (Wheelock Graves)1835-1898 [1]
- War Economic aspects [1]
- War casualties [1]
- Women in war [1]
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Browsing by:
Topic: ("Military leaves and furloughs")
Title: Asa P. Blunt to Roswell Farnham
Creator: Blunt, Asa P.
Date: 1862-10-13
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a pass allowing Roswell Farnham to and from Washington D.C.
Title: Charles Dillingham to William Wirt Henry
Creator: Dillingham, Charles, b. 1837
Date: 1861-08-26
Resource type: correspondence
August 26, 1861 from Great Falls Maryland. Writes of furloughs and discharges not being granted without good cause, illness among the men including measles, duty guarding the river, good fishing, having acquired a horse, quarters in an old hotel with creature comforts.
Title: Henry A. Smith to Friends
Creator: Smith, Henry A., d. 1864
Date: 1861-11-16
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the snow in Burlington and the difficulties caused by the weather.
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford24_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1863-02-03
Resource type: correspondence
From White's Ford, MD topics include Rutherford in charge of hospital while Dr. Willard Augustus Childe returns home to get married, sickness among the men less than in other regiments, a visit from the Inspector General with excellent reports on how he runs his department, expresses his anger and outrage at the complaining of people back home about having to pay taxes because of the war.
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford26_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1863-03-02
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the failure to receive a leave of absence, not wishing to pay any old debts, a close call with Major White's brigade near Leesburgh, and a journey to Portsville (Poolesville??), saw a sham fight (war game?) in which his mare performed splendidly, his health is good but smallpox in the brigade with a request for his wife to save the scabs from his children's arms so that he may have matter for vaccine.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Homer White
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-05-07
Resource type: correspondence
Still writing from Carver Hospital in Washington D.C. topics include hoping to get his papers to go home to surprise his family, plans to meet Homer White in New York City and hopes that his friend Homer will come to Vermont with him.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Marianne Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-03-29
Resource type: correspondence
Writing to his mother from the Mansion House Hospital topics include being left behind by the Regiment due to his illness, impossibility of getting a furlough, number of men from the 4th Vermont in the hospital, Ellsworth’s house, and possibility of being sent to another hospital.
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: 1862-01-21
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: 1862-04-02
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: 1862-03-25
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from the Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria VA, topics include difficulty in getting a furlough at the present time, illness among others at the hospital from the Regiment, and the keeping and responsibility of using the Company's money for needed purchases for the men.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-05-14
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include waiting for his military discharge papers, his plans for returning to Vermont, and his plan to travel with Sergeant Peabody of the 2nd Vermont.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-05-11
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from Carver Hospital in Washington D.C. topics include his waiting for his military discharge papers and plans for getting home to Vermont.
Title: Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
Creator: Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889
Date: 1862-11-09
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the continued improvement of Barney’s health from jaundice though his legs tire quickly, the need for money from home, thoughts of a furlough and the sickness and deaths in the regiment.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: [1861]-12-01
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a brief description of the Thanksgiving celebrations and a description of a trip to Washington.
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