Roswell Farnham Correspondence
Collection Overview
An 1849 graduate of the University of Vermont, Farnham taught school in lower Canada and northern Vermont while studying law. He was admitted to the Orange County Bar in 1857 and began a private practice. Farnham was commissioned from Bradford on May 1, 1861 as a 2nd lietenant in Co.D, 1st Vt. Infantry and mustered out August 15, 1861. He was later commissioned as a lieutenant colonel of the 12 Vt. on September 19, 1862. After returning to Vermont, Farnham was elected to the Vermont State Senate in 1868 and elected governor in 1880.
The collection includes letters to family and friends during Farnham's service in the First and Twelfth Vermont Infantry regiments. The letters contain detailed descriptions of regimental activities, including a narrative of the Battle of Big Bethel, camp life at Wolf Run Shoals in Virginia, and the hard march to Gettysburg in June 1863. Some sketches and maps are included.
Also included are four letters from Sergeant (later First Lieutenant) Ezekiel T. Johnson (Tenth Vermont Infantry) of Windsor, Vermont, three written from Camp Washburn, Brattleboro, where his regiment was mustered into U.S. service, and one (June 13, 1863) from White's Ford, Maryland, giving an account of a cavalry skirmish. A letter (May 31, 1863) to Mrs. Mary Farnham from Private Nelson J. Rogers (Twelfth Vermont Infantry) describes regimental activities and the Confederate attack on a train near the camp of the Twelfth Vermont.
Time Period Covered: May 24, 1861 - August 15, 1861
Parent Collections
Related Archival Collection(s)
Published: March 10, 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 [2]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Social aspects [1]
Topic(s)
- Battle casualties [2]
- Farnham, Roswell1827-1903 [2]
- Drill and minor tactics [1]
- Homesickness [1]
- Prisoners of war [1]
-
- | 1 - 2 of 2 |
-
- Thumbnails | List
Browsing by:
Topic: ("Battle casualties")
Title: Mary E. Farnham to Henry
Creator: Farnham, Mary E.
Date: 1862-12-24
Resource type: correspondence
Mary Farnham writes from near Fairfax Court House in Virginia to her brother, Henry, of soldiers being taken prisoners, of the wounded, of casualties, of checking rabbit traps for food. She mentions the weather, of her tour of camp, of sickness among the troops, of her excellent dinner at camp with Mrs. Blunt, Mrs. Stearns and others, and writes of family back home.
![Thumbnail: Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]](http://cdi.uvm.edu/archives/civilwar/cwuvmfarnham29_1-thumb.jpg)
Title: Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]
Creator: Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903
Date: 1861-06-16
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include: gratitude among the men for gifts of food (incl. maple sugar) and other "luxuries"; Major Worthen's scouting expedition, which led to a small skirmish and some casualties among some St. Albans and Swanton soldiers; press inaccuracies; life at camp; how he misses his books and reading; other domestic matters.
-
- | 1 - 2 of 2 |
-
- Thumbnails | List