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 131 - 140 of 1339 Records
Ransom W. Towle to Parents and Friends
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- Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864.
- Date Created: 1862-05-23
- Description: Topics include Towle’s not receiving wages, the high prices of food, poverty in camp, the destruction of the countryside by the Rebels, how the Union soldiers are forbidden to even touch any property, the movement of the regiment in Virginia, and the attitude of the slaves towards the Yankees.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Ransom W. Towle Correspondence
Ransom W. Towle to Sister and Friends
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- Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864.
- Date Created: 1862-06-22
- Description: Camping in the field near Richmond topics include the weather in Virginia with food crops growing well in the hot temperatures, pickets conversing and trading papers, coffee, whiskey, fighting resulting in losses, reference to Rifle Pits, preparations for the Battle of Richmond, sickness among the soldiers.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Ransom W. Towle Correspondence
Ransom W. Towle to Friends
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- Creator: Towle, Ransom W., d. 1864.
- Date Created: 1862-06-26
- Description: Towle writes of what he hears about the living conditions of the Rebels including forced service, some without enough food and about the Battle of Richmond having been going on for a month with artillery shelling and likely to continue.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Ransom W. Towle Correspondence
[Henry Harrison Wilder] to ?
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- Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison.
- Date Created: 1861-09-19
- Description: Henry writes from Camp Holbrooke in St. Albans (5th Regiment Vt Volunteers Co. B) that he is taking a route on the east side of the mountain instead of the Rutland and Burlington Railroad.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Henry Harrison Wilder Correspondence
[Henry Harrison Wilder] to Mother
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- Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison.
- Date Created: 1861-09-22
- Description: Henry writes from Camp Holbrooke in St. Albans of the 5th Vt Vol Regiment to his mother about rainy weather, acting as Corporal of the Guard, and receiving pay for his services and talks about how his pay should be handled.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Henry Harrison Wilder Correspondence
Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
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- Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison.
- Date Created: 1862-03-?
- Description: Topics include the preparations to march and then the order was countermanded. Mentions "the box" of supplies from home.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Henry Harrison Wilder Correspondence
Henry Harrison Wilder to Mother
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- Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison.
- Date Created: 1862-06-11
- Description: Topics include clarifying things that were written home about Merrill, what Wilder will do once he leaves the army alive, and a man named Damon Hunter returning home after having his leg amputated. One Civil War chronology notes on this date "little or no action on the main front in Virginia along the Chickahominy."
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Henry Harrison Wilder Correspondence
Henry Harrison Wilder to ?
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- Creator: Wilder, Henry Harrison.
- Date Created: ?-?-?
- Description: Topics include Wilder's uncertainties regarding if he shall ever see his family again and if the regiment is going to advance, as well as sending items home.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Henry Harrison Wilder Correspondence
Lyman S. Williams to Warren Williams
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- Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905.
- Date Created: 1862-04-20
- Description: Topics include Lyman Williams coming down with a fever, an encounter with the rebels that left four men wounded, and the rebels' description of the Vermont regiment as dare devils. Stationery has an illustration of a "Vermont Boy," plus two verses of a song with the title "Vermont Soldier." The refrain, "Away down in Dixie," suggests an attempt to compete with the immortal southern song "Dixie."
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Lyman S. Williams Correspondence
Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
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- Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905.
- Date Created: 1863-08-22
- Description: Writing from New York City, Williams recounts trip via train and steamboat from Warrenton, Va to the city. Purpose of the trip is thought to be to enforce the draft. Accident involving the steamboat and a schooner en route resulted in two men killed and one lost overboard. Military pay received spent partly on weapons to give to the officers out of respect.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Lyman S. Williams Correspondence