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)
- Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889 [12]
- Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902 [11]
- Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866 [11]
- Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863 [8]
- Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864 [8]
- Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903 [4]
- Wilder, Henry Harrison [4]
- Bancroft, Charles F., 1835-1862 [3]
- Dillingham, Charles, b. 1837 [3]
- Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905 [3]
- Henry, William Wirt, 1831-1915 [2]
- Holbrook, William Cune, 1842-1904 [2]
- Quimby, George W. [2]
- Stone, John M., 1835-1915 [2]
- Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898 [2]
- Whitmore, Orange S., 1836-1908 [2]
- Bruce, Horatio P., [1]
- Fullam, Volney S. [1]
- Marshall, Ira A., d. 1893 [1]
- Quimby, George W., 1835-1862 [1]
- Smith, Henry A., d. 1864 [1]
- Stannard, George J., 1820-1886 [1]
Recipient(s)
- Barney,Maria, 1833-1884 [13]
- Rutherford, Hannah [10]
- Spafford, Mary Jane [9]
- Farnham, Mary [4]
- , [3]
- Henry, William Wirt [3]
- Towle, Sebra [3]
- Gale,Charles T., 1845-1862 [2]
- Gale,Jonas, 1800-1874 [2]
- Holbrook, Frederick [2]
- Towle, Rufus [2]
- Veazey, Julia A., [2]
- Bancroft,Clarissa E., 1843-1864 [1]
- Bancroft,Smiley, 1808-1874 [1]
- Bancroft,Smiley, 1808-1874; Bancroft [1]
- Barney, Maria [1]
- Butler, B. F. [1]
- Gale,Samantha A., 1832-1892 [1]
- Henry, Mary Jane, [1]
- Henry, William Wirt, [1]
- Henry, Mary Jane [1]
- Henry, William Wirt, [1]
- Masta, Emeline B. [1]
- Spafford, Mary Jane, [1]
- White, Homer [1]
- Williams, Caroline [1]
- Williams,Lois L. [1]
- Williams,Warren [1]
- [Gale,Almeda A., 1835-1876] [1]
Place(s)
- Military campsVirginia [21]
- Military camps -- Virginia [15]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care [10]
- Military camps -- Maryland [6]
- Vermont -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [5]
- Military camps -- Louisiana [4]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Casualties [4]
- Chicago (Ill.) [3]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [3]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Medical care [3]
- Fort Monroe (Va.) [2]
- Military camps -- Vermont [2]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons [2]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Casualties [2]
- VermontHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [2]
- Camp Douglas (Ill.) [1]
- Culpeper County (Va.) [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Military reconnaissance [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Social aspects [1]
- Winchester (Va.) [1]
Format(s)
- text [85]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [85]
Topic(s)
- Diseases [85]
- United StatesArmy Military life [35]
- Armed Forces Officers [15]
- War casualties [15]
- Families of military personnel [11]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 8th (1861-1865) [7]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 9th (1862-1865) [7]
- Food [6]
- Medicine, Military [6]
- Military hospitals [6]
- Battle casualties [5]
- Military leaves and furloughs [5]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 1st (1861) [5]
- Drill and minor tactics [4]
- Picketing [4]
- Postal service [4]
- Operational rations (Military supplies) [3]
- African Americans [2]
- Confederate States of AmericaArmy [2]
- Farnham, Roswell1827-1903 [2]
- Intrenchments [2]
- McClellan, George Brinton1826-1885 [2]
- Military chaplains [2]
- Military pay [2]
- Pillage [2]
- Promotions, Military [2]
- Richmond (Va.) [2]
- Skirmishing [2]
- Slaves [2]
- Soldiers Alcohol use [2]
- Sutlers [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 10th (1862-1865) [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 3rd (1861-1865) [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 5th (1861-1865) [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 5th (1861-1865)Company F [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 6th (1861-1864) [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 7th (1862-1866) [2]
- Veazey, Wheelock G. (Wheelock Graves)1835-1898 [2]
- Vicksburg (Miss.) [2]
- African American soldiers [1]
- Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant)1818-1893 [1]
- Butler, (Benjamin Franklin)Mr1818-1893 [1]
- Contraband of war [1]
- Courts-martial and courts of inquiry United States [1]
- Desertion, Military [1]
- Fair Oaks, Battle of, Va., 1862 [1]
- Fort Henry, Battle of, Tenn., 1862 [1]
- Fredericksburg, Battle of, Fredericksburg, Va., 1862 [1]
- Fugitive slaves [1]
- Grief [1]
- Hancock, Winfield Scott1824-1886 [1]
- Love-letters [1]
- Marching [1]
- Military deserters [1]
- Military discharge [1]
- Military discipline [1]
- Newspapers [1]
- Patriotism [1]
- Peninsular Campaign, 1862 [1]
- Prisoner-of-war camps [1]
- Recruiting and enlistment [1]
- Religion [1]
- Ship Island (Miss.) [1]
- Soldiers Suicidal behavior [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 7th (1862-1866).Company C [1]
- Women in war [1]
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Browsing by:
Genre: ("correspondence")
Topic: ("Diseases")
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford12_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1862-11-25
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the possibility of action, ammunition and the mini ball, of high morale among the soldiers, of John Piper being described as the best marksman and now being Rutherford's body guard, an order from the War Department for Surgeons to remove themselves from action as much as possible, a case of Typhoid and the improbability of Rutherford taking a leave of absence at this time.
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford22_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1863-01-20
Resource type: correspondence
Writes of medical treatment for diphtheria if his children ever come down with the illness, a possible leave of absence for Dr. Willard Augustus Childe as he has been in service for 20 months without one, expresses his anger at criticism from folks back home about what the military ought to be doing and states the need for the Union to conquer the South.
![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.
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford28_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1863-03-31
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include ways to help deal with small pox and keeping the face from pitting, how Rutherford entertains himself in camp that includes reading, writing and playing card game Euchre, the treatment of a secessionist, Mr. Trundle, for erysipelas (infection and redness of the skin) with the result that Rutherford is even more well respected by fellow officers, meeting Dr. Willard Augustus Childe's new wife, reference to a black regiment.
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 Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-11-17
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include an expected package from home, lack of military pay, death of three men in the company from the fever, of a father retrieving his son's body..
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-01-15
Resource type: correspondence
Written to his sister from his camp in Virginia, topics include description of a large foraging expedition, getting mumps, and rumors about Captain Henry B. Atherton.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-11-04
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Battalion and Regiment drills, having had a photograph taken of him, arrangements for Joseph Spafford's mother and sister to send him items and food from home, has received gloves from home, getting writing materials from the sutler, illness among the men, death from disease, personal family matter, wants lyrics sent to the song "Rock me to sleep".
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-12-19
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the arrival of a box from Weathersfield containing bedding, stockings, mittens, discussion of who is most likely to get promotions, illness among the men including hernias, heart and consumption, .
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-01-28
Resource type: correspondence
A very brief letter mentions continued rainy weather and deep mud; also a comrade has typhoid fever and not expected to live.
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: 1862-01-26
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include resignation of officers and promotions of new officers, pay, visiting the 3rd Vermont, sickness in the Regiment, getting vaccinated for small pox, and rumors of marching orders.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1862-03-15
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include being unable to march with the Regiment when orders came down to move out, of his dislike of how the hospital was run in Camp Griffin and him leaving that hospital, of living in tent with soldier who also had not moved out with the earlier call to march, being sent by ambulance to the Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria, being diagnosed with pleurisy and a detailed description of hospital life and medical care at the Mansion.
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: 1862-12-23
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a hard battle and defeat at Fredericksburg, the death of S. E. Connor from pneumonia, his opinion of how the war is conducted, the illness of two of the officers, of having the Commissary Sergeant among them with the result living conditions are good.
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 Brother
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-08-01
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the sickness and deaths in the regiment including that of Lucias M Benson of Worcester from diphtheria whom Gale was caring for in the hospital, inquiries about home and family members, the lack of news from Richmond, and the hot weather in Algiers.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Family
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-07-24
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the sickness and deaths in the regiment due to Typhoid Fever and poor water, a report that Vicksburg was burned, and the call for the 11th and 12th regiments from Vermont.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Father
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-08-08
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the good health of Justus Gale, a description of the land in Algiers including deep mud, swamp and tall grasses, and the sickness in the regiment.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Father
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-07-10
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the medicating himself after seeing the doctor twice to rid his diarrhea, taking of Richmond and rebel prisoners, the weather in Algiers, high price of provisions, inquires about family and the plan to go visit friends 4 miles away.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Sister
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-01-11
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the snow at Camp Holbrook, St. Albans, the living arrangements, the 25 men sick with the measles, and the move to Ship Island in 2 or 3 weeks.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Sister
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-04-21
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the improvement in Justus Gale's health, the cost of food items in camp, the death of three men in the regiment, the attempted suicide of a man in Company F, mentions "sugar place" back home in Elmore and writes about the lack of information in camp about the rest of the Union Army.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Sister
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-07-18
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the good health of Justus Gale, the food available at Algiers including confiscated beef from the locals, standing guard for 12 hour shifts, killing alligators, writes of some of his comrades, the sickness of Sargent 2nd Class.Chas. C. Martin with inflammation of the bowels, the capture of Richmond and Vicksburg, mentions Confederate Gen. G. T. Beauregard, receiving a copy of the Green Mountain Freeman and refers to his religious faith.
Title: Letter to Rufus and Sebra Towle
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1861-11-25
Resource type: correspondence
From Camp Griffen, Va. Topics include the health of the regiment (measles, Typhoid fever), requests for food, tea, clothing and the cold weather.
Title: Letter to Rufus and Sebra Towle
Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864
Date: 1861-12-29
Resource type: correspondence
December 29, 1861. Topics include the health of the regiment in the cold weather (rheumatism, boils, homesickness), camp inspection, lack of presence of Chaplain except at religious services, and the prospect of battle.
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