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...
Show moreVermont 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.
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Sub-collections
- Daniel S. White Correspondence
- Edward P. Stone Correspondence
- George W. Quimby Correspondence
- Henry A. Smith Correspondence
- Henry Harrison Wilder Correspondence
- Horace Barlow Diary
- John Lester Barstow Correspondence
- John W. Campbell Correspondence
- John Wolcott Phelps Correspondence
- Joseph Chase Rutherford Correspondence
- Joseph L. Perkins Correspondence
- Joseph Spafford Correspondence
- Justus F. Gale Correspondence
- Lyman S. Williams Correspondence
- Orlando S. Turner Correspondence
- Ransom W. Towle Correspondence
- Roswell Farnham Correspondence
- Solomon G. Heaton Correspondence
- Valentine G. Barney Correspondence
- Wheelock Graves Veazey Correspondence
- William C. Holbrook Correspondence
- William Wirt Henry Correspondence
Lesson Plans
(1 - 14 of 14)
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- Francis C. Williams to Frederick Holbrook
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Topics include the regiment being situated at Camp on Ship Island, the establishment of (religious?) services on Tuesdays, and the intellectual capacity of the men of the Vermont regiments.
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- Frederick Holbrook to John Wolcott Phelps
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In his letter to General Phelps, Frederick Holbrook, Governor of Vermont (1861-1863), expresses his admiration for several Union officers from Vermont and his pride in the 8th Vt. Regiment. He informs the general that two infantry regiments and two artillery companies are ready to serve. (This is...
Show moreIn his letter to General Phelps, Frederick Holbrook, Governor of Vermont (1861-1863), expresses his admiration for several Union officers from Vermont and his pride in the 8th Vt. Regiment. He informs the general that two infantry regiments and two artillery companies are ready to serve. (This is about one month before the Union attack on New Orleans, launched in part from Ship Island, just off the coast of Mississippi.) Holbrook explains that they would have been sent a month earlier "had Government been ready with funds." He looks forward to seeing Phelps again after the war.
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- Title
- Frederick Holbrook to John Wolcott Phelps
- Description
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Topics include the arrival of the 7th and 8th Vermont Regiments at Ship Island, off the coast of Miss., and arrangements with the War Department for wounded troops to be sent home. Holbrook mentions the Battle of Yorktown (April 5-May 4, 1862), esp. the "affair" on April 16 that left ca. 100...
Show moreTopics include the arrival of the 7th and 8th Vermont Regiments at Ship Island, off the coast of Miss., and arrangements with the War Department for wounded troops to be sent home. Holbrook mentions the Battle of Yorktown (April 5-May 4, 1862), esp. the "affair" on April 16 that left ca. 100 Vermont soldiers wounded. Holbrook is in charge of the U.S. Marine Hospital in Burlington, Vt.
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- Title
- John Lester Barstow to ?
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Comfortable lodgings of the regiment in New Orleans, the cost of food items, and the ruined state of New Orleans when the Vermont Regiment arrived, interaction with the Negroes.
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- John Lester Barstow to Laura
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Topics include an overview of the daily schedule in camp, firing on Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philips by General Butler, General Phelps, and about 10,000 men that lasted for three days, and orders for the rest of the regiment to head for New Orleans.
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- John Lester Barstow to Laura
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Being aboard the ship “Jamis Hovey” on the Mississippi River on the way to New Orleans, the difficulty of the journey from Ship Island to New Orleans, and the initial observations upon the arrival in New Orleans.
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- Justus E. Gale to Father
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Two letters one dated March 28th and one April 6th.Topics include a description of the journey to Ship Island, Mississippi, being seasick, about the food and hard bread, poor quality water and little of it, writes of his faith in God and his sighting of the island.
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- Justus F. Gale to Brother
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Topics include the improvement of Justus Gale’s health, over $60 of military pay sent home, trading for a watch and the anticipated journey to New York and then on to Ship Island, Mississippi.
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- Justus F. Gale to Brother
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Two letters dated April 24th and 25th. Topics include the capture of Fort Jackson(?) ; fort south of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, [battle April 18-28], the food at camp good except greasy pork meat, and the schedule for the day including battalion drills and dress parade.
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- Justus F. Gale to Sister
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Writing to his sister topics include the journey from Camp Holbrook to Ship Island through New York via train car, mentions 45 rebel officers being taken prisoner at Fort Donelson, hopes the war to be over soon, thinks of his family back home and puts his faith in God to rule over all.
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- Justus F. Gale to Sister
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Topics include the improvement in Justus Gale's health, the cost of food items in camp, the death of three men in the regiment, the attempted suicide of a man in Company F, mentions "sugar place" back home in Elmore and writes about the lack of information in camp about the rest of the Union Army.
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- William C. Holbrook to Frank
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Writing from Ship Island to his brother Frank topics include the barbarian style of living, drills going well, good news about the Battle at Shiloh (April 6 & 7) and Yorktown (April 5 to May 4), gunboats and general good sanitary conditions of the Regiment.
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- William C. Holbrook to Frederick Holbrook
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Writing to his father (Gov. Holbrook) topics include arriving at Ship Harbor Island by Ship Brenner, a description of the islands that included coconut trees, meeting with Gen. Butler and Gen. Phelps, and the location of David Dixon Porter’s fleet at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
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- William C. Holbrook to Frederick Holbrook
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Topics include working with the naval forces to occupy Fort Pike, La. which fell April 27, 1862. Holbrook describes the fort, the artillery left behind, and the process for allowing vessels to pass by this strategic entrance to Lake Pontchartrain, at New Orleans.