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
Pages
- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics including marching out to support a cavalry raid on February 27, 1864 and returning to camp exhausted by the march through mud. He also writes about his wife, Mary Gorton Williams, hopes that his room would be empty when he returns from the army, so that he and Mary might live there....
Show moreTopics including marching out to support a cavalry raid on February 27, 1864 and returning to camp exhausted by the march through mud. He also writes about his wife, Mary Gorton Williams, hopes that his room would be empty when he returns from the army, so that he and Mary might live there. Requests postage stamps.
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- Title
- Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Writing to his father topics include receiving the $50.00 he asked for from him, a list of the expenses incurred buying equipment needed as 2nd Lieutenant, his hope that his brother Nathan will recover his health now that he has left the Service, and the confidence of the Army in Ulysses S. Grant...
Show moreWriting to his father topics include receiving the $50.00 he asked for from him, a list of the expenses incurred buying equipment needed as 2nd Lieutenant, his hope that his brother Nathan will recover his health now that he has left the Service, and the confidence of the Army in Ulysses S. Grant and their hope that hard fighting is done now.
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- Title
- Lyman S.Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics include the improving health of the regiment, the deaths of John Roland and Walter Osburn, and a scouting expedition.
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- Mary E. Farnham to Henry
- Description
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Mary Farnham writes from Wolf Shoals Creek, Va. on the Occoquan River to brother Henry about desserts and other food the troops are enjoying eating, her instructions for food to be sent to brother Zeke in the 10th Regiment, terrible traveling conditions due to deep muddy roads, horses having to...
Show moreMary Farnham writes from Wolf Shoals Creek, Va. on the Occoquan River to brother Henry about desserts and other food the troops are enjoying eating, her instructions for food to be sent to brother Zeke in the 10th Regiment, terrible traveling conditions due to deep muddy roads, horses having to be walked, she riding with other officers' wives, and her feeling uncomfortable with the looks of the Southerns (Secesh)
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- Title
- Mary E. Farnham to Henry
- Description
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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...
Show moreMary 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.
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- Title
- Mary E. Farnham to Henry
- Description
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From Mary Farnham to Henry topics include letters received and responded to, military action among the men, pickets and taking of Rebel soldiers, fighting engagement at Kelly’s Ford, her thoughts on the unhealthy environment she is in, the varying degrees of health or illness of the men in camp,...
Show moreFrom Mary Farnham to Henry topics include letters received and responded to, military action among the men, pickets and taking of Rebel soldiers, fighting engagement at Kelly’s Ford, her thoughts on the unhealthy environment she is in, the varying degrees of health or illness of the men in camp, her horse ride even though the weather has been inclement, her comments on what the military trained horses will do, the ill health and death of some horses.
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- Title
- Mary E. Farnham to Laura
- Description
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From Mary Farnham to sister Laura with topics including a detailed description of Mary Farnham’s visit to camp, a visit to Washington visiting the Capitol & Senate buildings ; Farnham's horses sick with horse distemper, one of them being Burnie ; Mary's discomfort traveling in the ambulance ; her...
Show moreFrom Mary Farnham to sister Laura with topics including a detailed description of Mary Farnham’s visit to camp, a visit to Washington visiting the Capitol & Senate buildings ; Farnham's horses sick with horse distemper, one of them being Burnie ; Mary's discomfort traveling in the ambulance ; her embarrassing slip and fall in the ambulance ; her horse ride back ; the good health of the regiment ; weight gain of Lt. Herrick ; her affection for horse Jenny.
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- Title
- Mary Farnham Diary, 1862-1863
- Date Created
- 1862-1863
- Description
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Mary Elizabeth (Johnson) Farnham, the daughter of Ezekiel and Nancy (Rodgers) Johnson, was born in Bath, NH, on January 19, 1828. She came to Bradford with her parents at a young age and was educated at Bradford Academy and the Newbury Seminary. On December 25, 1849, she married Roswell Farnham ...
Show moreMary Elizabeth (Johnson) Farnham, the daughter of Ezekiel and Nancy (Rodgers) Johnson, was born in Bath, NH, on January 19, 1828. She came to Bradford with her parents at a young age and was educated at Bradford Academy and the Newbury Seminary. On December 25, 1849, she married Roswell Farnham (1827-1903) in St. Albans, Vt. They returned to Bradford to teach in the Bradford Academy, Farnham as the teacher of painting and French, and her husband as principal of the academy. The couple joined the Bradford Congregational Church in 1854 and participated in a number of its activities: both Farnhams taught in the church’s Sunday school, and Mary Farnham held a chair on its music committee and was active in its missionary efforts.Farnham spent several months during the winter of 1862-63 in Union camps near Fairfax Court House and Wolf Run Shoals, VA, with her husband, who had been appointed Lieutenant Colonel and placed in command of the 12th Vermont Volunteer Regiment. Farnham returned to Vermont in April 1863 and her husband was discharged later that year, after which he entered into a career in politics. When Roswell Farnham was elected governor of Vermont in 1880, Mary Farnham became the state’s first lady and played an active role in gubernatorial social events.
Farnham was involved in a number of civic organizations in her town, including Bradford’s Relief Corps. She helped found the Ladies’ Public Library and was its librarian for many years. Her interest in literature led her to enroll in the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Course, from which she graduated in 1884. She went on to earn one hundred and forty seals on her diploma and was recognized for this achievement at the 1906 Chautauqua Assembly in Chautauqua, NY. Three of Farnham’s four children lived to adulthood: Charles Cyrus Farnham (1864–1937), Florence Mary Osgood (1866–1958), and William M. Farnham (1869–1927). Her first child, Roswell Phelps Farnham Jr., died in infancy in 1861. Mary Farnham died on June 13, 1913, having suffered a stroke two weeks prior.
Topics in Farnham’s diary include living conditions in Union camps and towns near the front lines, the roles and expectations of women during the American Civil War, Washington D.C. in the 1860s, mid-century modes of travel, and health and medicine during the Civil War.
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- Title
- Miscellaneous
- Description
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Permission for "the Negro Dawson Speedley" to leave camp. Signed by Col. Phelps.
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- N. S. Leffnis
- Description
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Topics include a pass instructing guards to allow Mrs. Blunt and Mrs. Mary Farnham to cross Long Bridge and enter camp of the 12th Vermont Volunteers by order of General Casey .
- Title
- N. S. Leffnis to Roswell Farnham
- Description
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Orders to guards to allow Roswell Farnham to travel to and from Washington and Alexandria via Long Bridge by order of General Casey ; N.S. Jeffries, Assist. Adjt. General.
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- Nathan A. Williams to Lois L. Williams
- Description
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Topics include the expectation of a battle and reinforcements. The anticipated battle was probably the 2nd Manassas or Bull Run campaign (Aug. 26-30, another win for the Confederates).
- Title
- Ransom W. Towle to [Family and Friends]
- Description
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Topics include the Massachusetts 16th Regiment pushing the rebels back in heavy fighting with the Rebels in rifle pits, soldiers killed (74), prisoners taken (16) and preparations being made to move out in anticipation of battle the next day.
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- Ransom W. Towle to [Family and Friends]
- Description
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Writing seven miles from Richmond topics include packing up camp and marching at 10pm, a terrible rain storm that soaked the men, of sick soldiers including Towle.
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- Ransom W. Towle to Family
- Description
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Towle writes in some detail of the hardships of and the way foraging expeditions are conducted, of the cold weather, of rumors of a recall of Vermont troops and of news from home.
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- Ransom W. Towle to Family
- Description
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Towle writes from his Virginia camp to his parents and sister on the mud while out on picket duty, fearfulness of some of the soldiers, list of items to send from home including a reference to his much needed new boots, sickness and deaths in the Regiment, and news of the Rochester boys.
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- Ransom W. Towle to Family and Friends
- Description
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Towle writes to parents and friends from Camp Griffin in Virginia about foraging for wood by tearing down fences, desolation of the countryside due to the war, Southerners pretending Union sympathies so as to not be driven from their homes, of the mud, and of making a pipe for smoking from the...
Show moreTowle writes to parents and friends from Camp Griffin in Virginia about foraging for wood by tearing down fences, desolation of the countryside due to the war, Southerners pretending Union sympathies so as to not be driven from their homes, of the mud, and of making a pipe for smoking from the root of a Laurel tree.
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- Title
- Ransom W. Towle to Friends
- Description
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Topics include Towle’s sickness Saturday night, of illness and death within the company and regiment, praise for officer Lieut. Pingree, reference to rumor of the capture of Savannah (does he refer to Georgia?), and a brief reference to the possible firing of guns at Fort Ethan Allen for some...
Show moreTopics include Towle’s sickness Saturday night, of illness and death within the company and regiment, praise for officer Lieut. Pingree, reference to rumor of the capture of Savannah (does he refer to Georgia?), and a brief reference to the possible firing of guns at Fort Ethan Allen for some victory somewhere.
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- Title
- Ransom W. Towle to Friends
- Description
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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.
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- Ransom W. Towle to Friends
- Description
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Writing seven miles from Richmond, Virginia topics include the mention of the Chickahominy River, a prediction of a battle and a description of skirmishes.