Vermonters in the Civil War
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 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.
Showing 31 - 40 of 118 Records
Justus F. Gale to Sister
-
Image nop
- Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863.
- Date Created: 1863-02-21
- Description: Topics include news about his father’s recent marriage, dinner at the home of a Massachusetts family that had been driven off a plantation they owned north of New Orleans, the money owed him by the government, and his speculation in watches.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Justus F. Gale Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
Theodore Barton to Melissa Barton
-
Image nop
- Creator: Barton, Theodore, 1842-1926.
- Date Created: 1863-01-25
- Description: Theodore Lyman writes of seeing his brother Lyman, Company K, 8th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, who is camped only two miles away. He also writes of the attempt by General Burnside to cross the Rappahannock and how the Confederate soldiers jeered and set up a sign saying “Burnside stuck in the mud.”
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Barton Family Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
Justus F. Gale to Brother
-
Image nop
- Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863.
- Date Created: 1862-05-25
- Description: Topics include the process of choosing new officers and police in New Orleans, Gen. Butler's orders to the N.O. police being refused, illness among some of the soldiers, fruit berries available, other provisions few and expensive, summary of all the letters that have been received by Justus Gale, and how welcome the Vermont regiment is in New Orleans.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Justus F. Gale Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
Justus F. Gale to Father
-
Image nop
- Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863.
- Date Created: 1862-06-06
- Description: Topics include the good living conditions in New Orleans, the Indiana regiment taking meat from the rebels, been on cooking duty, good meals, fresh beef, waiting for military pay and the possibility of leaving soon.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Justus F. Gale Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
Justus F. Gale to Brother
-
Image nop
- Creator: Gale, Justus F., 1837-1863.
- Date Created: 1862-01-24
- Description: Two letters in one dated Jan 24th and Jan 26th. Topics include the expectation that the war will end in a couple of months, waiting for military pay, anxious to hear from home, Sergeant U. A. Woodbury drilling the company, the stormy weather at camp, the bad food being served except for good bread from a local bakery, the good health of Gale and of him sending a picture in this letter.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Justus F. Gale Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
Henry A. Smith to Family
-
Image nop
- Creator: Smith, Henry A., d. 1864.
- Date Created: 1864-01-10
- Description: Topics include how he is the only one left of his company that has not been exchanged and a list of the items he wants sent to him in a box.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Henry A. Smith Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
Lyman S. Williams to Lois L. Williams
-
Image nop
- Creator: Williams, Lyman S., 1839-1905.
- Date Created: 1863-08-06
- Description: Writes his health is good, the weather is hot, the men have a good camp ground and good water close by. States he has received letters from home and tells of the different types of food crops grown in Virginia ; gives his opinion of some men folk at home, of men drafted but who run away and refuse to fight, and sends this letter with no postage stamp as his request for some has not yet been fulfilled.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Lyman S. Williams Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
John Lester Barstow to Laura
-
Image nop
- Creator: Barstow, John Lester, 1832-1913.
- Date Created: 1862-11-23
- Description: Written in the field he writes of idleness of the Regiment since its arrival on the banks of the Bayon and the help the Negroes are receiving from the government, the lack of coffee, poor quality flour, no salt, spoiled meat causing disease, exorbitant prices for food.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, John Lester Barstow Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
Roswell Farnham to Laura
-
Image nop
- Creator: Farnham, Roswell, 1827-1903.
- Date Created: 1863-06-08
- Description: Discomforts of camp life including bug bites and the discomfort they cause, food, the Court of Inquiry regarding the conduct of Lieutenant Hartshorn while commanding the guard on the train that was destroyed (May 30th), the good chance of having to spend forty-eight hours on picket line by the end of the week.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Roswell Farnham Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War
Joseph Rutherford to [Hannah Rutherford]
-
Image nop
- Creator: Rutherford, Joseph Chase, 1818-1902.
- Date Created: 1863-01-02
- Description: Writing from camp at White's Ford (over the Potomac River) two letters dated Jan 2 and Jan 6 include topics of a description of the night of the expected fight, of having enough food to eat that he is gaining weight, of the camp's glee club singing, of being homesick and wanting a leave but may be on the eve of "some great event", a description of the camp ground, promotions within the camp including himself as Acting Surgeon and the possibility of a brigade hospital being created with himself most likely being put in charge of it.
- Parent Collections: Vermonters in the Civil War, Joseph Chase Rutherford Correspondence
Part of: Vermonters in the Civil War