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)
- Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898 [7]
- Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902 [3]
- Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903 [2]
- Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864 [2]
- Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889 [1]
- Beard, Albin [1]
- Quimby, George W., 1835-1862 [1]
- Smith, Henry A., d. 1864 [1]
- Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866 [1]
- Terry, Henry L., 1820-1885 [1]
Recipient(s)
- Veazey, Julia A. [6]
- Farnham, Mary [2]
- Rutherford, Hannah [2]
- Towle, Rufus [2]
- Towle, Sebra [2]
- , [1]
- Barney, Maria [1]
- Beard, Albin [1]
- Campbell, John W. [1]
- Howe, Maria E. [1]
Place(s)
- United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [8]
- VermontHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865 [8]
- Military campsVirginia [7]
- Military camps -- Virginia [3]
- Military camps -- Maryland [1]
- Military campsWashington (D.C.) [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Casualties [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Military reconnaissance [1]
Format(s)
- text [21]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [21]
Topic(s)
- Military discipline [21]
- Drill and minor tactics [6]
- United StatesArmy Military life [6]
- Veazey, Wheelock G. (Wheelock Graves)1835-1898 [6]
- Armed Forces Officers [5]
- Postal service [2]
- United StatesArmy Surgeons [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 1st (1861) [2]
- Armies Medical and sanitary affairs [1]
- Confederate States of AmericaArmy [1]
- Diseases [1]
- Executions and executioners [1]
- Families of military personnel [1]
- Farnham, Roswell1827-1903 [1]
- Horses [1]
- Military chaplains [1]
- Military pay [1]
- Prisoners of war [1]
- Skirmishing [1]
- Soldiers Alcohol use [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 2nd (1861-1865) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 4th (1861-1865) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 5th (1861-1865) [1]
- War Psychological aspects [1]
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Browsing by:
Topic: ("Military discipline")
Title: Daniel S. White to Maria E. Howe
Creator: White, Daniel S., 1837-1912
Date: 1861-08-03
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the witnessing of a hanging execution of a man from the New Hampshire 2nd Regiment who had killed an innocent woman (wife of a rebel soldier), his reaction to the hanging, of military tactics to deter the rebels advance, of breakfast awaiting consisting of fried pork bread and coffee.
Title: George W. Quimby to Emeline B. Masta
Creator: Quimby, George W., 1835-1862
Date: 1862-02-10
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include descriptions of George W. Quimby’s superior officers, plus an incident that led to the arrest of a commanding officer, who was later exonerated.
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 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 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.
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford13_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1862-11-27
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Rutherford’s hope to send money home to his wife Hannah, of anticipation of having a Thanksgiving dinner in camp, the good health of the entire family, of the Colonel praising Rutherford for his performance of medical duties and of the man Murk who wrote slanderous reports of the surgeons being put on trial.
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford30_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1863-04-11
Resource type: correspondence
Two letters dated April 10 and 11 topics include the possibility of moving to Poolesville due to weather, reference back to the man named Pleasants sentenced to prison and hard labor for harboring the enemy, the arrest and conviction of the hospital steward for stealing from the dead, and the few number of men who are sick in the regiment compared to other regiments, sudden preparations for going into the field with possibility of engaging the enemy.
![Thumbnail: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmrutherford32_01-thumb.jpg)
Title: Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902
Date: 1863-04-06
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include having upset Hannah in an earlier letter regarding dangers Rutherford may face, his reassurance to her that a surgeon faces much less danger due to being a doctor, a terrible snow storm in camp, waiting for the weather to clear so the regiment can move to Poolesville, a maple sugar party given by Col. Henry, the anticipation of getting military pay (due $600 but will only get $400) and the return of Captain Steele to duty and his being reprimanded by Rutherford, Jewett and Henry.
Title: Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866
Date: 1861-09-20
Resource type: correspondence
Writes of possible departure soon, of being told men to be mustered into service soon, of confrontation between the Colonel and men to be enlisted, of Guard House being full of men "who had run the Guard".
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: 1861-12-07
Resource type: correspondence
December 7, 1861. Topics include Ransom W. Towle's responsibilities in the regiment, discipline if duties not carried out, foraging for food, marching in preparation to join an attack, request for newspapers and the location of the camp.
![Thumbnail: Roswell Farnham to Mary [Farnham]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmfarnham02_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: Roswell Farnham to Mary [Farnham]
Creator: Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903
Date: 1861-05-05
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include camp life, food (lack of some items, abundance of others), daily routine, occasional discomforts. Farnham mentions rumors that the Regiment won't be sent to the South but more likely to New York, even though most of the men are looking forward to battle. Some discussion about postal service, i.e. how long a letter will take for sender and recipient. Col. Phelps is lauded as a good disciplinarian.
![Thumbnail: Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmfarnham24_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]
Creator: Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903
Date: 1861-06-13
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the battle the previous Monday and the death of George Lougee from Vershire, Vermont. Farnham concerned that some of his letters may be misinterpreted and printed (presumably in the local press). Mentions Col. Phelps's anxiety, imminent court-martial of Mass. general, and some of the hardships of the campaign.
Title: Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
Creator: Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889
Date: [1861]-07-23
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the plan for the journey home, the death of Whitney of the Woodstock Co. by the hands of forty or fifty rebels, the capture of two rebels, and of only a few men ill in the hospital.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Albin Beard, Albin Beard to Wheelock G. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898; Beard, Albin
Date: [1861]-09-08
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the assignment of Wheelock G. Veazey’s regiment to the post of honor within their division of the army.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: [1861]-07-19
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include orders to march to Baltimore under General Banks on Tuesday.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: 1861-07-21
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a description of a riot Wheelock G. Veazey was in charge of dissipating because of the absence of Colonel Hyde.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: [1861]-09-14
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include Wheelock G. Veazey’s position as field officer of the day, the lack of sleep the soldiers are experiencing, and the ease with which the Rebels could attack the Regiment.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: [1861]-10-04
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include General Hancock being in command of the 1st Brigade.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: 1861-08-27
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the promotion of Lt. Col. Hyde to Col., Wheelock G. Veazey to Lt. Col., and Seaver to Major.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: [1861]-11-14
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a few items Wheelock G. Veazey would like his wife Julia to send him and concern that his horse will die.
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