Vermonters in the Civil War
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 1861-1865. 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) are included; each adds a certain experience and point of view to the whole.
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.
Showing 1281 - 1290 of 1339 Records
Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1862-01-30
- Description: Spafford's brief letter has an underlying tone of being anxious to hear from home. The rainy and muddy weather continue.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1862-04-14
- Description: Topics include not yet being moved from the Mansion House Hospital to one in Washington, his health being with fever and ague, of disposing of his letters from home by burning them and thus needing Homer White’s address again.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Homer White
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1862-04-29
- Description: Now in Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C. topics include military discharge, plans to meet Homer White in New York City and the wounding of Captain Atherton.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Homer White
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1862-09-14
- Description: Writing from Greenbush topics include a description of the regiments being formed and the position assignments of Joseph Spafford’s friends.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1862-10-27
- Description: Very brief letter to his sister, Mary Jane, stating arriving in Washington, D.C. and camping on Capitol Hill.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1862-10-29
- Description: Stationed in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill topics include a brief description of the items Joseph Spafford has in his possession, the living situation at camp, and the good health of the regiment.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Marianne Spafford
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1862-11-24
- Description: Writing from Camp Vermont, topics include a copy of Joseph Spafford’s accounts of camp life from November 10th until November 24th written on stationery with a beautiful color illustration of Richmond, Virginia. Mentions the orphan boys wanting to go along with the soldiers have run away.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1862-12-18
- Description: Writing from camp near Fairfax Court House, Virginia topics include a description of what picket duty entails, an account of the people Joseph Spafford met in Virginia including two families with very different attitudes towards the Northern soldiers. Writes of dining with one family who also had been given the responsibility of keep a dead Confederate officer in a metal lined coffin in their shed, of observing battle remains at the Bull Run site and of picking up bullets, etc from there, the ill health of Ed Hammond, the decision to remain at Camp Vermont and a brief reference to gunfire heard near Fredericksburg.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1863-04-07
- Description: Topics include a description of the area beyond the pickets, rethinking the idea of marriage before next April & idea of possibly going to Mexico after the war made in fun, recreational fun by the men in camp, the expectation of being paid soon, the probability of not returning home before July 23rd, concerns about health of Grandmother.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence
Joseph Spafford to Marianne Spafford
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- Creator: Spafford, Joseph, 1837-1866.
- Date Created: 1863-04-27
- Description: Topics include sending $350 home after being paid $426, a trip into Washington to purchase needed clothing, release date July 23rd, the distribution of the regiment, military pay in "scripts" and the pleasant weather.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Spafford Correspondence