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)
- Smith, Henry A., d. 1864 [4]
- Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863 [3]
- Holbrook, William Cune, 1842-1904 [2]
- Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889 [1]
- Barton, Theodore [1]
- Bruidnell, William, b. 1842; Morey [1]
- Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898 [1]
- Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905 [1]
Recipient(s)
- , [4]
- Holbrook, Frederick [2]
- Barney,Maria, 1833-1884 [1]
- Barton,Melissa [1]
- Gale,Charles T., 1845-1862 [1]
- Gale,Jonas, 1800-1874 [1]
- Henry, William Wirt, [1]
- Veazey, Julia A., [1]
- Williams,Warren [1]
- [Gale,Samantha A., 1832-1892] [1]
Place(s)
- New Orleans (La.) -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [2]
- Vicksburg (Miss.) [2]
- Culpeper County (Va.) [1]
- Fort Pike (La.) [1]
- Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) [1]
- Military camps -- Louisiana [1]
- Military camps -- Mississippi [1]
- Military camps -- Vermont [1]
- Military camps -- Virginia [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns [1]
Format(s)
- text [14]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [14]
Topic(s)
- Skirmishing [14]
- Confederate States of AmericaArmy [7]
- Battle casualties [6]
- Armed Forces Officers [3]
- Marching [3]
- Peninsular Campaign, 1862 [2]
- United StatesArmy Military life [2]
- Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss1816-1894 [1]
- Families of military personnel [1]
- Food [1]
- Fort Henry, Battle of, Tenn., 1862 [1]
- Guerrilla warfare [1]
- McClellan, George Brinton1826-1885 [1]
- Military discipline [1]
- Military pay [1]
- Promotions, Military [1]
- Steamboats [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 6th (1861-1864) [1]
- Veazey, Wheelock G. (Wheelock Graves)1835-1898 [1]
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Topic: ("Skirmishing")
Title: Henry A. Smith to Family
Creator: Smith, Henry A., d. 1864
Date: 1862-09-24
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Henry Smith losing his horse, camp punishment of John H. Willard for disobeying an order, and the numerous men who were wounded and killed.
Title: Henry A. Smith to Family
Creator: Smith, Henry A., d. 1864
Date: 1862-05-16
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include General Banks' Division falling back to Strasburgh, the frequent skirmishes with Ashbys Cavalry, an account of a man in Company I who shot a rebel, Smith's hand wounded by a fellow soldier playing carelessly with a sabre, men eating well, mention of Oliver Cushman of Hartland who was promoted to second Lieutenant, reference to military pay.
Title: Henry A. Smith to Family
Creator: Smith, Henry A., d. 1864
Date: 1862-08-14
Resource type: correspondence
Six miles south of Culpeper (Virginia) two letters included dated Aug 15 and Aug 15. Topics include an exchange of fire near the Orange Court House, the numerous rebel deaths, injuries, and prisoners, and another terrible battle at Culpeper with references to Jackson, Banks and John Pope.
Title: Henry A. Smith to Family
Creator: Smith, Henry A., d. 1864
Date: 1862-11-06
Resource type: correspondence
Two letters dated Nov 6 and Nov 11.Topics include a skirmish at Thoroughfare Gap, Henry Smith out riding the rebels thus avoiding almost being captured, a number of Union soldiers captured, lots of honey and fowl to eat and the burning of Haymarket.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Brother
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-02-07
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from Brattleboro, Vermont, topics include news of bombardment of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River (February 6, 1862) by Commodore Andrew Hull Foote (officer of the U.S. Navy) and General Ulysses S. Grant, a skirmish that resulted in finding a barrel of rum, food sometimes good but not the hash made in camp and the vaccination of the company for pox.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Father
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-11-07
Resource type: correspondence
Gale writes of his regiment and the rebels, of other troops encountering the enemy who left much camp supplies, cannon, etc. behind, receiving the Green Mountain Freeman, trying to appease both parents concerning the farm and deeding it back to his father, his concerns about his father having another woman in his life and how that affects him, and the expectation that the regiment will return to Algiers.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Sister
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-05-22
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include trying to figure out where letters may have gone missing, letters taking several weeks to arrive, not receiving the Green Mountain Freeman, the lack of details about the taking of New Orleans, and Justus Gale being on guard last night.
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."
Title: Theodore Barton to Sister
Creator: Barton, Theodore
Date: 1862-09-29
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the journey from Harrison's Landing to Boliver via Newport News and Alexandria. Names several wounded and deceased soldiers, perhaps known by his sister. Concludes with a somewhat gruesome description of "picnic."
Title: Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
Creator: Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889
Date: 1862-09-22
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from Camp Parole topics include a hard march to the camp near Annapolis, being paroled and possibly being sent out West to fight the Indians or sent to home state and a detailed description of an engagement at Harpers Ferry (West Virginia) that included heavy fire, skirmishing Rebels, Union soldiers abandoning their posts, troops falling back, white flag raised by the Union soldiers, men discarding their revolvers and swords, mingling of the Confederates with the Union men as comrades in arms.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: 1862-04-17
Resource type: correspondence
From Camp Winfield Scott topics include Motts battery engaging the rebels, an account of Wheelock Veazey’s regiment driving the rebels back, references to several officers and their men and the losses during the skirmishes.
Title: William Bruidnell and Samuel Morey to William Wirt Henry
Creator: Bruidnell, William, b. 1842; Morey
Date: 1862-07-19
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a description of the Battle of Mechanicsville (June 26-27, 1862), part of the Seven Days campaign near Richmond.
Title: William C. Holbrook to Frederick Holbrook
Creator: Holbrook, William Cune, 1842-1904
Date: 1862-07-01
Resource type: correspondence
Writing to his father, Gov. Holbrook, from the steamer, Morning Sight near Vicksburg topics include asking if he can have a battery to command, mentions Fort Pike, the desire to join the artillery service, the hope to be given captaincy, and the slow bombardments by the rebels but there was an attack by 3000 Confederates thinking to board the Union mortar boats only to be beaten back when fired upon.
Title: William C. Holbrook to Frederick Holbrook
Creator: Holbrook, William Cune, 1842-1904
Date: 1862-07-07
Resource type: correspondence
Written on illustrated letter head stationery from near Vicksburg William writes to his father, Gov. Holbrook and topics include Colonel Roberts coming to New Orleans, the rebels erecting their batteries in Grand Gulf and firing upon the Union boats coming up the river, and the possibility that the regiment will be ordered to Baton Rouge.
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