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 - 12 of 12)
- Title
- Mary E. Farnham to Laura
- Description
-
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.
Show less
- Title
- Ransom W. Towle to Family and Friends
- Description
-
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.
Show less
- Title
- Roswell Farnham to [C. H.] Harding
- Description
-
Topics include arriving at Fort Monroe, just on the border of "the secession." Farnham briefly describes character of various officers: Capt. Andross, Col. Phelps, Lieut Stearns, and Lieut Peckett. Some discussion about how they spend their spare time. Description of overnight watch without...
Show moreTopics include arriving at Fort Monroe, just on the border of "the secession." Farnham briefly describes character of various officers: Capt. Andross, Col. Phelps, Lieut Stearns, and Lieut Peckett. Some discussion about how they spend their spare time. Description of overnight watch without shelter and being relieved the following morning. Other names: Col. Washburn, John Prichard, George Woods, George Flanders, Dan Flanders, Ben Underwood. Ships: Cumberland, Minnesota. Also: Scientific American.
Show less
- Title
- Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]
- Description
-
June 20, 1861. Topics include setting rumors straight. Farnham assures his wife that his chances of being killed are minimal. Notes that his provost marshal duties have lessened, possibly because fewer "negroes" are arriving, for fear that the North won't succeed! Reference to Dan Johnson and his...
Show moreJune 20, 1861. Topics include setting rumors straight. Farnham assures his wife that his chances of being killed are minimal. Notes that his provost marshal duties have lessened, possibly because fewer "negroes" are arriving, for fear that the North won't succeed! Reference to Dan Johnson and his rumors; also the secret why he returned home. Compliments for Capt. Andross, again, during Battle of Big (or Great) Bethel.
Show less
- Title
- Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]
- Description
-
Topics include the food that the soldiers eat, and that pilfering from local farms--even "secessionist"--is forbidden. Farnham assures his wife that newspaper reports of the war are highly exaggerated. A rebel attack is unlikely before they return to Vt. A German scouting party caused a stir with...
Show moreTopics include the food that the soldiers eat, and that pilfering from local farms--even "secessionist"--is forbidden. Farnham assures his wife that newspaper reports of the war are highly exaggerated. A rebel attack is unlikely before they return to Vt. A German scouting party caused a stir with an accidental gun discharge. Col. Phelps assigns Farnham a camp security position--provost marshall. One concern is the slaves that have just left their masters, who arrive at Ft. Monroe with food to sell but may also be spies. The able-bodied are put to work; all others are considered for deportation to Liberia. Names: Officers Phelps, Peckett; Everett Shaw.
Show less
- Title
- Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]
- Description
-
Topics include: gratitude among the men for gifts of food (incl. maple sugar) and other "luxuries"; Major Worthen's scouting expedition, which led to a small skirmish and some casualties among some St. Albans and Swanton soldiers; press inaccuracies; life at camp; how he misses his books and...
Show moreTopics include: gratitude among the men for gifts of food (incl. maple sugar) and other "luxuries"; Major Worthen's scouting expedition, which led to a small skirmish and some casualties among some St. Albans and Swanton soldiers; press inaccuracies; life at camp; how he misses his books and reading; other domestic matters.
Show less
- Title
- Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]
- Description
-
August 2, 1861. Topics include Roswell telling his wife of the delay for the departure home, another description of Fort Monroe and Hygeia Hotel on Old Point Comfort similar to one written in the July 31 letter, of the incident of shooting of a drunken soldier, of the drunken condition of the 1st...
Show moreAugust 2, 1861. Topics include Roswell telling his wife of the delay for the departure home, another description of Fort Monroe and Hygeia Hotel on Old Point Comfort similar to one written in the July 31 letter, of the incident of shooting of a drunken soldier, of the drunken condition of the 1st N Y regiment.
Show less
- Title
- Roswell Farnham to Laura
- Description
-
July 31, 1861. Topics include a description of Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort in reference to the letter head picture, of the Hygeia Hotel currently be used as a hospital, of the houses once occupied by Southerners now housing officers of the army, of a minor attack by the Rebels upon picket...
Show moreJuly 31, 1861. Topics include a description of Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort in reference to the letter head picture, of the Hygeia Hotel currently be used as a hospital, of the houses once occupied by Southerners now housing officers of the army, of a minor attack by the Rebels upon picket guard but none hit, a captain in the 1st N.Y. Regiment shooting one of his men believed to be drunk.
Show less
- Title
- Roswell Farnham to Mary [Farnham]
- Description
-
Topics include the movement from Hampton to Newport News, Virginia, the beginning of the first entrenchment at Camp Butler, some details about camp dentistry, and the appointment of John Wolcott Phelps as Brigadier General. Mentions Vt. military units: Northfield Co., Bradford Guards, Vt....
Show moreTopics include the movement from Hampton to Newport News, Virginia, the beginning of the first entrenchment at Camp Butler, some details about camp dentistry, and the appointment of John Wolcott Phelps as Brigadier General. Mentions Vt. military units: Northfield Co., Bradford Guards, Vt. Regiment ; a Virginia unit: Old Dominion Dragoons (ODD) ; ships: Catalina, Monticello ; and a newspaper (Vt.?): "the Telegraph."
Show less
- Title
- Solomon G. Heaton to Mother
- Description
-
With Heaton's words, "the great Army of the Potomac has at last started," we get a sense of impatience, on the soldier's part, with Gen. George McClellan's well-known reluctance to send men into battle. The date of this letter coincides within the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign, which...
Show moreWith Heaton's words, "the great Army of the Potomac has at last started," we get a sense of impatience, on the soldier's part, with Gen. George McClellan's well-known reluctance to send men into battle. The date of this letter coincides within the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign, which deployed over 121,000 Union soldiers. Perhaps Heaton's regiment, camped somewhere in Virginia, is about to meet up with this "offul Army down on the co[a]st it numbers 90 thousand men" as part of the Campaign. He notes some of the destruction left behind by retreating rebels, most notably the burned homes near Fairfax courthouse, supposedly where George and Martha Washington were married. (The home owned by Martha Custis, Washington's betrothed, was indeed burned in 1862 because of the war. This is believed to have been a likely site of the marriage in early January, 1759.) Other place names mentioned: Mannassas, Centerville.
Show less
- Title
- Unidentified Map
- Description
-
Map that shows major landmarks such as Fortress Monroe, Hampton, and Camp Butler on the James River; and sites having to do with the Battle of Big Bethel, e.g. Big & Little Bethel (meeting houses), "Battlefield," and "Collision between U.S. forces," just south of Little Bethel.
- Title
- Valentine G. Barney to Maria Barney
- Description
-
Topics include working on building forts, his surprise at the resignation of Colonel Stowell, that he was finally able to send his box back to Vermont, and mentions photographs for his album at home. He also refers to the wedding of Silas L. Griffith and Libby M. Staples on May 20th in Danby,...
Show moreTopics include working on building forts, his surprise at the resignation of Colonel Stowell, that he was finally able to send his box back to Vermont, and mentions photographs for his album at home. He also refers to the wedding of Silas L. Griffith and Libby M. Staples on May 20th in Danby, Vermont.
Show less