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)
- Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866 [8]
- Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889 [4]
- Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903 [4]
- Wilder, Henry Harrison [3]
- Smith, Henry A., d. 1864 [2]
- Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864 [2]
- , [1]
- Bancroft, Charles F., 1835-1862 [1]
- Heaton, Solomon G. [1]
- Quimby, George W., 1835-1862 [1]
Recipient(s)
- Spafford, Mary Jane [6]
- Barney,Maria, 1833-1884 [4]
- Farnham, Mary [3]
- Towle, Rufus [2]
- Towle, Sebra [2]
- Williams,Lois L. [2]
- , [1]
- Bancroft,Smiley, 1808-1874; Bancroft [1]
- Masta, Emeline B. [1]
- Smith,Clarissa, d. 1891 [1]
- Spafford, Mary Jane, [1]
- Spafford, Marianne [1]
- Veazey, Julia A., [1]
Place(s)
- Military camps -- Virginia [7]
- Military campsVirginia [6]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [3]
- Vermont -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [3]
- Fort Monroe (Va.) [2]
- Military camps -- Vermont [1]
- Military campsMaryland [1]
- Richmond (Va.) [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Casualties [1]
Format(s)
- text [29]
Genre(s)
- correspondence [29]
Topic(s)
- Postal service [29]
- United StatesArmy Military life [9]
- Families of military personnel [6]
- Morale [6]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 9th (1862-1865) [6]
- Military hospitals [3]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 1st (1861) [3]
- Confederate States of AmericaArmy [2]
- Marching [2]
- Military discipline [2]
- Military leaves and furloughs [2]
- Prisoners of war [2]
- Soldiers Alcohol use [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 4th (1861-1865) [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 9th (1862-1865).Company B [2]
- War Economic aspects [2]
- Battle casualties [1]
- Bull Run, 2nd Battle of, Va., 1862 [1]
- Capitulations, Military [1]
- Homesickness [1]
- McClellan, George Brinton1826-1885 [1]
- Pillage [1]
- Pope, John1822-1892 [1]
- Promotions, Military [1]
- Soldiers Suicidal behavior [1]
- Sutlers [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 14th (1862-1863) [1]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 15th (1862-1863) [1]
- Veazey, Wheelock G. (Wheelock Graves)1835-1898 [1]
- War Psychological aspects [1]
- War casualties [1]
- Women in war [1]
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Topic: ("Postal service")
Title: Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
Creator: Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889
Date: 1862-08-28
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the capturing of some Rebels at Newtown who stated Rebels do not go hungry as long a Union troops are around from which to steal food, issues with the postal mail service, the difficulty of getting rest in camp, and the sickness of the regiment.
Title: Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
Creator: Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889
Date: 1862-08-03
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from Camp Seigle near Winchester, Va. topics include having a good meal, postal service finally getting the mail on the road only to be handed off and the rider now missing, the burning of the city (Winchester?), being invited to take refreshments by city residents but declining as he did not want to risk being poisoned, Lieutenant Jewett on picket duty, attended worship service, misses his young children, and the hope that the 10th regiment will arrive in camp.
Title: Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
Creator: Barney, Valentine G., 1834-1889
Date: 1862-09-10
Resource type: correspondence
Writing from Bolivar Heights, West Virginia topics include not hearing from the men left at "W" (Winchester? or Washington?) and the regiment encamping with the 60th Ohio Regiment and the 126th New York Regiment, not hearing or having any word of what military actions are taking place unless troops hear the firing of guns, reference to prisoners being paroled, of soldier committing suicide and Barney encouraging troops to partake in evening singing to keep up morale. Maryland Campaign Sept 3-15, 1862.
Title: Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey
Creator: Veazey, Wheelock G., 1835-1898
Date: 1862-07-13
Resource type: correspondence
Still at Harrison's Landing and writing to Julia now in Boston topics include improved health of the men, the resignation of Major Seaver and Major Proctor, and Wheelock Veazey saying when he leaves the army he will not yet be fit for business, laments that if he does not get a regiment he will resign from service, is distraught about the politicians, corruption of the army, and gives a brief mention of women with the army.
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