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
(421 - 440 of 1,336)
Pages
- Title
- Joseph Spafford Correspondence
- Description
-
Joseph Spafford served in the 4th and 16th Vermont Infantry Regiments. His letters are written to his mother and to his sister, M. Jane Spafford, in Upper Falls, Vt. (a village in Weathersfield), as well as to a friend, Homer White, in New York City. In his letters, Joseph Spafford writes of camp...
Show moreJoseph Spafford served in the 4th and 16th Vermont Infantry Regiments. His letters are written to his mother and to his sister, M. Jane Spafford, in Upper Falls, Vt. (a village in Weathersfield), as well as to a friend, Homer White, in New York City. In his letters, Joseph Spafford writes of camp life including information about men from Weathersfield and surrounding towns. In a letter dated January 2, 1862 and marked confidential, Spafford writes very frankly about officers and the politics of promotion. He also writes of an opium user with the initial C. In other letters he describes troop movements, and gives information on sickness in the Regiment. He also writes of having his picture taken and of receiving newspapers and other items from home. In one of his letters while in the 16th Regiment, he describes how some soldiers collect souvenirs from battlefields, including human remains.
Show less
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Spafford writes to his friend Homer on topics including Typhoid Fever in the Regiment, friendship, camp life, Hancock’s Brigade [Winfield Scott Hancock], and answering his friend’s questions about joining the Regiment and fear of dying.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Writing from Greenbush topics include a description of the regiments being formed and the position assignments of Joseph Spafford’s friends.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Now in Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C. topics include military discharge, plans to meet Homer White in New York City and the wounding of Captain Atherton.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Writes of being in the military for 9 months and not knowing what the future will bring, of moving from Camp Vermont to Fairfax Court House, of having done picket duties at Bull Run, of doing drills, writes of the personality of a man named Az as well as mentioning other men he is with, of the...
Show moreWrites of being in the military for 9 months and not knowing what the future will bring, of moving from Camp Vermont to Fairfax Court House, of having done picket duties at Bull Run, of doing drills, writes of the personality of a man named Az as well as mentioning other men he is with, of the promotion of George Clark to 2nd Lieutenant in Company D.
Show less
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Brief letter to friend Homer White (of New York City) informing him of Spafford's soon discharge from the army, heading to New York, the heavy losses at Gettysburg with those killed & wounded, opinions of newspaper editors.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Topics include stating having moved from Bristoe Station to Union Mills, Virginia, quoting an article from the Washington Chronicle about the battle of Port Hudson, reference to a Captain Craigue being wounded, setting up camp, and the plan to be paid the next day.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Topics include receiving marching orders for possible move out on Feb 27th but not knowing in what direction or where the soldiers are headed, whether the Army of the Potomac will move during heavy rain, a sick soldier's brother is providing medical care, and a visitor from Cavendish, Vt.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Homer White
- Description
-
Writing from Windham, Vt to his friend Homer White topics include Joseph Spafford deciding to enlist and reference to others who have decided to enlist.
- 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 Marianne Spafford
- Description
-
Writing from Camp Vermont, topics include a copy of Joseph Spafford’s accounts of camp life from November 10th until November 24th written on stationery with a beautiful color illustration of Richmond, Virginia. Mentions the orphan boys wanting to go along with the soldiers have run away.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Marianne Spafford
- Description
-
Very brief letter about military pay in "scripts" being sent home to sister Mary Jane.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Marianne Spafford
- Description
-
Topics include sending $350 home after being paid $426, a trip into Washington to purchase needed clothing, release date July 23rd, the distribution of the regiment, military pay in "scripts" and the pleasant weather.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Time doing battalion drills, the capture of Stoughts, Rebels capturing Brig. Gen without a gunshot, digging pits, inquiries about a letter that perhaps was inappropriate with questions about who wrote it & how disgruntled privates can give misconceptions, and a few officers in Company E becoming...
Show moreTime doing battalion drills, the capture of Stoughts, Rebels capturing Brig. Gen without a gunshot, digging pits, inquiries about a letter that perhaps was inappropriate with questions about who wrote it & how disgruntled privates can give misconceptions, and a few officers in Company E becoming intoxicated.
Show less
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Writes of possible departure soon, of being told men to be mustered into service soon, of confrontation between the Colonel and men to be enlisted, of Guard House being full of men "who had run the Guard".
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Topics include rumors that the 15th and 16th regiments may move to New York and go with the Texas Expedition, the health of the regiment and the matter of shipping a tub of butter to Spafford.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Still in Brattleboro but anticipating the company moving out, topics include the men who are going home, George declining the assistant surgeon position, and the expectation of being paid.
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Writing from camp near Fairfax Court House, Virginia topics include a description of what picket duty entails, an account of the people Joseph Spafford met in Virginia including two families with very different attitudes towards the Northern soldiers. Writes of dining with one family who also had...
Show moreWriting from camp near Fairfax Court House, Virginia topics include a description of what picket duty entails, an account of the people Joseph Spafford met in Virginia including two families with very different attitudes towards the Northern soldiers. Writes of dining with one family who also had been given the responsibility of keep a dead Confederate officer in a metal lined coffin in their shed, of observing battle remains at the Bull Run site and of picking up bullets, etc from there, the ill health of Ed Hammond, the decision to remain at Camp Vermont and a brief reference to gunfire heard near Fredericksburg.
Show less
- Title
- Joseph Spafford to Mary Jane Spafford
- Description
-
Writing from Company E. 16th Vt. Picket Reserve, Centerville Virginia, topics include the regiment marching to Fairfax Court House, Virginia, the picket line out on battlefield of Second Battle of Bull Run, battle casualties observed including those of horses and that of a man's head.