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)
- Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863 [2]
- Heaton, Solomon G. [1]
- Holbrook, William Cune, 1842-1904 [1]
- Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902 [1]
- Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898 [1]
Recipient(s)
- , [1]
- Holbrook, Frederick [1]
- Rutherford, Hannah [1]
- Veazey, Julia A. [1]
- [Gale,Samantha A., 1832-1892] [1]
Place(s)
- Military camps -- Virginia [1]
- Military campsVirginia [1]
- New Orleans (La.) -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Destruction and pillage [1]
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Military reconnaissance [1]
Topic(s)
- Contraband of war [6]
- Slaves [3]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 8th (1861-1865) [2]
- Armed Forces Officers [1]
- Butler, (Benjamin Franklin)Mr1818-1893 [1]
- Love-letters [1]
- Morale [1]
- Photographers [1]
- Pillage [1]
- United StatesArmy Military life [1]
- United StatesArmy Surgeons [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 7th (1862-1866) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 7th (1862-1866).Company C [1]
- Veazey, Wheelock G. (Wheelock Graves)1835-1898 [1]
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Topic: ("Contraband of war")
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford07_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1862-10-07
Resource type: correspondence
Rutherford writes to his wife, Hannah, about life in camp along the Potomac River. Many soldiers have fevers, his assistant surgeon is ill but he continues to keep up with all the work needing to be done. He writes of a 17 year old male runaway slave named Moses, who takes care of him and his horse, Lady Lightfoot and complains of how slow the mail is.
Title: Justus E. Gale to Family
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-08-31
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a train crash, confiscating rebel property including horses, cattle, sheep and mules. Writes of having plenty of food on their travel back to camp including dining on lamb. Provided a meal at an old planters house. Mentions Negroes (slaves) and 1500 Blacks at camp, sending troops to Gen. Phelps, the expectation of getting paid, rebels killed in an encounter with the enemy.
Title: Justus F. Gale to Sister
Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863
Date: 1862-11-14
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the poor health of Justus Gale’s sister, having plenty to eat and confiscating anything while in the field including livestock from the rebels, receiving a box from home that was greatly appreciated though disappointed none of Mother's cheese, the expectation of returning to Algiers, and some family affairs including what to do with Charlie's clothes since his death, mentions still needing to get a photographer and have his photo taken, and the possibility of renting the farm.
Title: Solomon G. Heaton to Mother
Creator: Heaton, Solomon G.
Date: 1862-03-17
Resource type: correspondence
With Heaton's words, "the great Army of the Potomac has at last started," we get a sense of impatience, on the soldier's part, with Gen. George McClellan's well-known reluctance to send men into battle. The date of this letter coincides within the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign, which deployed over 121,000 Union soldiers. Perhaps Heaton's regiment, camped somewhere in Virginia, is about to meet up with this "offul Army down on the co[a]st it numbers 90 thousand men" as part of the Campaign. He notes some of the destruction left behind by retreating rebels, most notably the burned homes near Fairfax courthouse, supposedly where George and Martha Washington were married. (The home owned by Martha Custis, Washington's betrothed, was indeed burned in 1862 because of the war. This is believed to have been a likely site of the marriage in early January, 1759.) Other place names mentioned: Mannassas, Centerville.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: 1862-03-09
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include love of his wife, memories of time spent with her and mention of a contraband bringing important information to camp.
Title: William C. Holbrook to Frederick Holbrook
Creator: Holbrook, William Cune, 1842-1904
Date: 1862-05-27
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the Union gaining control of New Orleans, General Shepley becoming Military Commandant of the city, and the news that the Vermont Brigade has been gaining control on the Potomac. Evaluations of Generals Butler and Shepley. Also mentions the "contrabands" or slaves coming within Union lines. (Butler would later start recruiting African Americans to be Union soldiers.)
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