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)
- Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864 [18]
- Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866 [5]
- Holbrook, W. C. [2]
- Quimby, George W., 1835-1862 [2]
- Bancroft, Charles F., 1835-1862 [1]
- Bliss, Warren E., 1840-1930 [1]
- Davis, George F., 1815-1901 [1]
- Holbrook, Frederick [1]
- Terry, Henry L., 1820-1885 [1]
Recipient(s)
- Towle, Sebra [6]
- Phelps, John Wolcott [3]
- Bancroft,Smiley, 1808-1874 [2]
- Spafford, Mary Jane [2]
- White, Homer [2]
- Bancroft,Clarissa E., 1843-1864 [1]
- Campbell, John W. [1]
- Masta, Emeline B. [1]
- Spafford, Marianne [1]
- Towle, Rufus [1]
Place(s)
- Military campsVirginia [14]
- Military camps -- Virginia [4]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns [3]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Casualties [2]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Destruction and pillage [2]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Medical care [2]
- Vermont -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [2]
- Fort Monroe (Va.) [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Casualties [1]
Format(s)
- text [32]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [32]
Topic(s)
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 4th (1861-1865) [32]
- Armed Forces Officers [11]
- United StatesArmy Military life [11]
- Morale [9]
- Diseases [7]
- Picketing [3]
- Battle casualties [2]
- McClellan, George Brinton1826-1885 [2]
- Postal service [2]
- Butler, (Benjamin Franklin)Mr1818-1893 [1]
- Carver General Hospital (Washington, D.C.) [1]
- Fair Oaks, Battle of, Va., 1862 [1]
- Freedmen [1]
- Hancock, Winfield Scott1824-1886 [1]
- Homesickness [1]
- Intrenchments [1]
- Military discharge [1]
- Military discipline [1]
- Operational rations (Military supplies) [1]
- Pillage [1]
- Prisoners of war [1]
- Promotions, Military [1]
- Recruiting and enlistment [1]
- Slaves [1]
- Sutlers [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 7th (1862-1866) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 7th (1862-1866).Company C [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 8th (1861-1865) [1]
- Women in war [1]
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Topic: ("United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 4th (1861-1865)")
Title: Charles F. Bancroft to Clarissa Bancroft
Creator: Bancroft, Charles F., 1835-1862
Date: 1862-01-15
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include drills, a prediction that the fighting will end by June, and inquiries about home. In addition to myriad details regarding weather, food, and correspondence, Bancroft inserts thoughtful questions, e.g.: "Clara do folks in our neighborhood manifest much interest in my being out here? do they seem to care a great deal about it?" He also refers to the lull in fighting--and resulting boredom-- that precedes Lincoln's general order of Jan. 27 for federal armies to advance.
Title: Frederick Holbrook to John Wolcott Phelps
Creator: Holbrook, Frederick
Date: 1862-03-10
Resource type: correspondence
Upbeat letter delivered to Gen. Phelps by the writer's son, William C. Holbrook, who apparently turned down an offer to join Phelps's staff. The writer, Gov. Holbrook, lavishes praise on Vermont officers and soldiers (including his son), and sends warm wishes for success to Phelps, sharing his conviction that "the Union Cause must triumph." Holbrook concludes with some reflections on the difficulty of being a wartime governor.
Title: George F. Davis to Smiley Bancroft
Creator: Davis, George F., 1815-1901
Date: 1862-05-07
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the death of Charles Bancroft while on the "Propeller Richard Willing" and an account of his possessions. The quartermaster's tone is remarkably sympathetic even while addressing official business.
Title: George W. Quimby to Emeline B. Masta
Creator: Quimby, George W., 1835-1862
Date: 1862-03-22
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the anticipation of marching to Alexandria in just over a week’s time, the resignation of Captain Tucker, and the promotion of George W. Quimby to captaincy. Mentions the slow moving Grand Army of the Potomac and the feeling that it may never see any fighting.
Title: George W. Quimby to Tucker
Creator: Quimby, George W., 1835-1862
Date: 1862-04-25
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the location of the company and a brief account of the battle of Lee's Mill. Also a comment about one legislator "Morrels" (Justin Morrill?) stating that Gen. William Smith was drunk. A summary of promotions.
Title: Henry L. Terry to John W. Campbell
Creator: Terry, Henry L., 1820-1885
Date: 1861-10-21
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include encamping at Lee's Mill, twelve miles from Washington, close to the Rebels.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Homer White
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-02-07
Resource type: correspondence
Spafford writes to his friend Homer on topics including Typhoid Fever in the Regiment, friendship, camp life, Hancock’s Brigade [Winfield Scott Hancock], and answering his friend’s questions about joining the Regiment and fear of dying.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Homer White
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-04-29
Resource type: correspondence
Now in Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C. topics include military discharge, plans to meet Homer White in New York City and the wounding of Captain Atherton.
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: 1862-03-25
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: Ransom W. Towle to Family
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-01-09
Resource type: correspondence
Towle writes in some detail of the hardships of and the way foraging expeditions are conducted, of the cold weather, of rumors of a recall of Vermont troops and of news from home.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Family
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: [1862]-01-20
Resource type: correspondence
Towle writes from his Virginia camp to his parents and sister on the mud while out on picket duty, fearfulness of some of the soldiers, list of items to send from home including a reference to his much needed new boots, sickness and deaths in the Regiment, and news of the Rochester boys.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Family and Friends
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-01-29
Resource type: correspondence
Towle writes to parents and friends from Camp Griffin in Virginia about foraging for wood by tearing down fences, desolation of the countryside due to the war, Southerners pretending Union sympathies so as to not be driven from their homes, of the mud, and of making a pipe for smoking from the root of a Laurel tree.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Family and Friends
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-02-02
Resource type: correspondence
Towle writes of missing his newspaper and his wish to remain informed on both foreign and army news and of some of the men's morale writing home about the hardships of war and a desire to see it end. He writes of Col. Stoughton resignation, of officers' wives attending the camp's religious service and how the service differs from the traditional church worship.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Friends
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-02-17
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Towle’s sickness Saturday night, of illness and death within the company and regiment, praise for officer Lieut. Pingree, reference to rumor of the capture of Savannah (does he refer to Georgia?), and a brief reference to the possible firing of guns at Fort Ethan Allen for some victory somewhere.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Friends
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1861-02-27
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from his Virgina camp Griffin, Towle gives a description of a Battalion Drill and the ill health effects on the soldiers, of a gale storm damaging tents and overturning an ambulance with a sick soldier inside. He writes of orders from General McClellan to be ready to move, and states men are sick and death count to date for his regiment is 66.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Friends
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: [1862]-03-05
Resource type: correspondence
From Camp Griffin, Towle writes of a brigade and bayonet drill, the increasing number of sick men with the death count for the regiment at 77, and of the monotony of camp life.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Friends
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1861-03-22
Resource type: correspondence
From his camp near Alexandria, Virginia Towle writes of the rainy weather, muddy conditions, sleeping conditions wet and tents inadequate for keeping the soldiers dry and of the number of troops camped out in the area. Towle makes a brief reference to his father’s misfortunes [ill health?].
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: Ransom W. Towle to Parents and Friends
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-05-23
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Towle’s not receiving wages, the high prices of food, poverty in camp, the destruction of the countryside by the Rebels, how the Union soldiers are forbidden to even touch any property, the movement of the regiment in Virginia, and the attitude of the slaves towards the Yankees.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Rufus and Sebra Towle
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-01-11
Resource type: correspondence
Towle writes from his Virginia camp to his parents about drill, military life, resignation of officers due to being unfit physically or mentally, of still needing new boots, illness, and his positive opinion of Colonel Stoughton.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Rufus and Sebra Towle
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-02-05
Resource type: correspondence
Towle responds to his parents' letter that expresses low morale at home, financial difficulties at home and Towle encourages the doing without luxuries on the home front as much as possible. He writes of a 30 hour picket trip, the capture of rebel two scouts, drills being only two a day and of a self inflicted wounding of a Union soldier requiring amputation of the wounded soldier's leg.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Rufus and Sebra Towle
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-02-23
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a Brigade Parade and a farewell address of Washington, he relates some of the soldiers opinions and predictions that the war will end in three weeks. Mention of 109 six mule teams passing through his camp; exact purpose unknown.
Title: Ransom W. Towle to Rufus and Sebra Towle
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1862-02-27
Resource type: correspondence
A brief letter to his parents from Camp Griffin in Virginia of marching orders with three days rations and the hope to encounter the Rebels. He makes a brief reference to Brigade surgeon Dr. Phelps. Towle expresses his dismay that the troops in the west are fighting and gaining glory while the army of the Potomac lays idle.
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