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)
Place(s)
- Military camps -- Virginia [14]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns [7]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [5]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Casualties [3]
- Vermont -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [3]
- Military camps -- Vermont [2]
- Military camps -- Washington (D.C.) [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Military reconnaissance [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Women [1]
Format(s)
- text [29]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [29]
Topic(s)
- United StatesArmy Military life [10]
- Families of military personnel [9]
- Battle casualties [7]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 5th (1861-1865) [7]
- Diseases [4]
- Grief [2]
- Guerrilla warfare [2]
- McClellan, George Brinton1826-1885 [2]
- Morale [2]
- Pillage [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 9th (1862-1865) [2]
- War casualties [2]
- Desertion, Military [1]
- Drill and minor tactics [1]
- Hardtack [1]
- Intrenchments [1]
- Military chaplains [1]
- Military discipline [1]
- Military hospitals [1]
- Operational rations (Military supplies) [1]
- Photographers [1]
- Picketing [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 9th (1862-1865).Company B [1]
- War Economic aspects [1]
- War Psychological aspects [1]
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Author: ("Wilder, Henry Harrison")
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-?-29
Resource type: correspondence
Henry writes from Camp Griffin, Va. of being in good health, of having gained ten pounds, of sleeping well, of having a comfortable bed and coverings, of the burial service of two men held by the Chaplain and of Fenton ill with the measles.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-01-17
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a request for Wilder's mother to send him papers, envelopes, butter, cheese, sausage, and any other essential items.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-01-26
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include marching orders, the cold weather, and the way the regiment sets up their guns so they are always ready. The order to march probably refers to Lincoln's General War Order No. 1, an attempt to prod his generals to act. By "Chatilerz" Wilder may have meant "chattelers," or those assigned the duty of moving war materiel.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-03-13
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include marching from Camp Griffin to camp near Flint Hill and the news that the regiment will continue on to Washington. This is the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-03-16
Resource type: correspondence
Wilder's location is titled "Sesesh Church," in Alexandria. "Sesesh," Wilder's phonetic spelling of "secesh," or "secessionist," suggests that the members of the church were Confederate sympathizers. Mentions Gen. George B. McClellan (recently relieved of his supreme command but still in charge of the Army of the Potomac) and the beginnings of the Peninsula Campaign, which involved patrolling the James and York rivers. Wilder expresses determination to fight for the Union cause.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-05-07
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a description of the Union Victory since that at Yorktown, which may include the Battle of Williamsburg (May 5, 1862).
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-06-11
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include clarifying things that were written home about Merrill, what Wilder will do once he leaves the army alive, and a man named Damon Hunter returning home after having his leg amputated. One Civil War chronology notes on this date "little or no action on the main front in Virginia along the Chickahominy."
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-10-12
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include advancing on the Rebels to Prospect Hill, a battle at Hatteras Inlet where the Rebels lost many men, and two Rebels at Camp Advance that were taken prisoners. Reference to Gen. Scott, to Bull Run, to plenty of chestnuts available to eat. Also mentions the opinion that many believe the war will be short (six months)
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-10-20
Resource type: correspondence
Henry Harrison Wilder writes to his mother about his sickness and the treatment he is receiving from Doctor Russel. Mentions Captain Stowell, also receiving a box of cheese and pickles, minor illness among the men, anticipated discipline (to be shot) for a soldier found asleep at his post.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-12-17
Resource type: correspondence
Henry requests food items of sausages, a chicken pie, and cheese, writes that Merrill wants his mother to stuff 5 chickens, bake them and freeze them and send them in a box, of he and Merrill going to be tent mates.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-01-30
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Wilder asking his mother to send the items he requested as soon as possible.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-02-11
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the regiment remaining at Camp Griffin and Wilder asking his mother's opinion on him and Merrion entering the regular scouts for five years.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-02-13
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Wilder getting his army picture taken, his plan to send it to his mother, and a victory at Roanoke Island, No. Carolina (Feb. 8), in which over 2,000 prisoners were taken.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-03-?
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the preparations to march and then the order was countermanded. Mentions "the box" of supplies from home.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-04-01
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the route the regiment marched to arrive at camp near Newport News and a skirmish with the rebels coming down the river, firing at the coast.
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: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-04-23
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a request for Wilder's mother to send him stamps, Wilder's predictions that he may never return home, and a description of the battle at Yorktown. Poignant thoughts about friends and loved ones near and far away.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-04-28
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include two officers from the New York regiment joining the rebel army and a description of a rebel attack. Wilder is writing at the time of the Siege of Yorktown, Va.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-12-07
Resource type: correspondence
Henry writes from Camp Griffin, Va. of a scouting and foraging expedition of 30,000 men whereby corn, hay and wood were obtained, of the death of Fenton on November 29th, of few meetings held by the Chaplain who is not very well thought of and of visiting the sick in the hospital.
Title: Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1862-06-25
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Captain E. S. Stowell heading for Vermont to become a Major in the 9th Regiment, the death of Wilder's Aunt, and Wilder receiving his pay the next day. June 25 marks the beginning of the failed campaign against Richmond known as The Seven Days.
![Thumbnail: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to ?](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmwilder01_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to ?
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-09-19
Resource type: correspondence
Henry writes from Camp Holbrooke in St. Albans (5th Regiment Vt Volunteers Co. B) that he is taking a route on the east side of the mountain instead of the Rutland and Burlington Railroad.
![Thumbnail: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmwilder03_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-09-30
Resource type: correspondence
Henry writes from his camp at Chain Bridge of his journey made by the 5th Regiment of Vermont Volunteers from Springfield to Washington D.C. and on to Marellian Hill and then to Chain Bridge. Speaks of soldiers being shot almost everyday by the Rebels and of orders to march to Fairfax Court, requests postage stamps.
![Thumbnail: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmwilder02_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-09-22
Resource type: correspondence
Henry writes from Camp Holbrooke in St. Albans of the 5th Vt Vol Regiment to his mother about rainy weather, acting as Corporal of the Guard, and receiving pay for his services and talks about how his pay should be handled.
![Thumbnail: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmwilder07_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-11-08
Resource type: correspondence
Henry writes from Camp Griffin, Virginia of the difficulty of camp life, of Fenton being very ill and taken to Georgetown to the General Hospital.
![Thumbnail: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmwilder11_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: [Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother
Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison
Date: 1861-12-11
Resource type: correspondence
Henry writes from Camp Griffin, Va of the regiment's scouting expedition, of Capt. Stowell's company, of obtaining two hogs from a pen, of the fact that the captain is not very liked and that Lt. Hamilton is well liked by the company. Cautions his mother against being bothered about hear say.
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