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.
Show less
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 - 20 of 28)
Pages
- Title
- Asa P. Blunt
- Description
-
Pass for Roswell Farnham to go to Washington for 48 hours approved by Asa P. Blunt, Colonel Commander of Brigade ; extended 48 hours by Maj. Genl. Heintzelman.
- Title
- Asa P. Blunt
- Description
-
A pass for Roswell Farnham to go to Washington to return in 48 hours approved by Asa P. Blunt, Colonel Commanding 2nd Brigade Casey's Division.
- Title
- Asa P. Blunt to Roswell Farnham
- Description
-
Topics include a pass allowing Roswell Farnham to and from Washington D.C.
- Title
- Charles Dillingham to William Wirt Henry
- Description
-
August 26, 1861 from Great Falls Maryland. Writes of furloughs and discharges not being granted without good cause, illness among the men including measles, duty guarding the river, good fishing, having acquired a horse, quarters in an old hotel with creature comforts.
- Title
- Edward P. Stone to Family
- Description
-
New Year's greeting given to family, getting his tent settled, men under marching orders, no passes to be approved until Gen. Brooks returns.
- Title
- Edward P. Stone to Family
- Description
-
Two letters dated Dec 28 and New Year's Day [1863] ; relates procedure and process by which allowed pass to travel to Washington with a soldier’s body, travel to Washington on the steamer Zepher, receiving parcels from home ; asking if $400 received.
- Title
- F. V. Randall
- Description
-
Topics include a pass for Roswell Farnham to go to Alexandria and return in 48 hours.
- Title
- Henry A. Smith to Friends
- Description
-
Topics include the snow in Burlington and the difficulties caused by the weather.
- Title
- Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
- Description
-
From White's Ford, MD topics include Rutherford in charge of hospital while Dr. Willard Augustus Childe returns home to get married, sickness among the men less than in other regiments, a visit from the Inspector General with excellent reports on how he runs his department, expresses his anger...
Show moreFrom White's Ford, MD topics include Rutherford in charge of hospital while Dr. Willard Augustus Childe returns home to get married, sickness among the men less than in other regiments, a visit from the Inspector General with excellent reports on how he runs his department, expresses his anger and outrage at the complaining of people back home about having to pay taxes because of the war.
Show less
- Title
- Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
- Description
-
Topics include the failure to receive a leave of absence, not wishing to pay any old debts, a close call with Major White's brigade near Leesburgh, and a journey to Portsville (Poolesville??), saw a sham fight (war game?) in which his mare performed splendidly, his health is good but smallpox in...
Show moreTopics include the failure to receive a leave of absence, not wishing to pay any old debts, a close call with Major White's brigade near Leesburgh, and a journey to Portsville (Poolesville??), saw a sham fight (war game?) in which his mare performed splendidly, his health is good but smallpox in the brigade with a request for his wife to save the scabs from his children's arms so that he may have matter for vaccine.
Show less
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Still writing from Carver Hospital in Washington D.C. topics include hoping to get his papers to go home to surprise his family, plans to meet Homer White in New York City and hopes that his friend Homer will come to Vermont with him.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Marianne Spafford
- Description
-
Writing to his mother from the Mansion House Hospital topics include being left behind by the Regiment due to his illness, impossibility of getting a furlough, number of men from the 4th Vermont in the hospital, Ellsworth’s house, and possibility of being sent to another hospital.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Writing from Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C. topics include waiting for his military discharge papers and sightseeing in Washington.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Spafford continues to write from the Mansion House Hospital on topics that include worrying about his mother’s health, difficulty of getting a furlough, commenting on his preference to be a 2nd lieutenant and not a captain, detailed description of a day in the hospital, rules posted in the...
Show moreSpafford continues to write from the Mansion House Hospital on topics that include worrying about his mother’s health, difficulty of getting a furlough, commenting on his preference to be a 2nd lieutenant and not a captain, detailed description of a day in the hospital, rules posted in the hospital, a dialogue he had with a drunken soldier from a California regiment, and description of a visit by a Vermonter from Windsor.
Show less
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Writing from Carver Hospital in Washington D.C. topics include his waiting for his military discharge papers and plans for getting home to Vermont.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
A brief writing from Mansion House Hospital include possibility of getting a furlough and an incident at Yorktown with one soldier from the 4th Vermont being wounded slightly and a rebel soldier being "keeled" over.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Topics include waiting for his military discharge papers, his plans for returning to Vermont, and his plan to travel with Sergeant Peabody of the 2nd Vermont.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Spafford writes from Camp Griffin, Virginia on topics including the difficulty in getting a furlough, mud and rain, arrival of a New York regiment and their drunkeness because of the mud, a woman living in camp that came with the New York regiment, camp life, and asking for news from home.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Writing from the Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria VA, topics include difficulty in getting a furlough at the present time, illness among others at the hospital from the Regiment, and the keeping and responsibility of using the Company's money for needed purchases for the men.
- Title
- Report
- Description
-
A pass for Roswell Farnham to go to Washington for 48 hours signed by Col Commanding Asa P. Blunt.