Virginia's Civil
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Virginia’s Civil War A Guide to Manuscripts at the Virginia Historical Society A A., Jim, Letters, 1864. 2 items. Photocopies. Mss2A1b. This collection contains photocopies of two letters home from a member of the 30th Virginia Infantry Regiment. The first letter, 11 April 1864, concerns camp life near Kinston, N.C., and an impending advance of a Confederate ironclad on the Neuse River against New Bern, N.C. The second letter, 11 June 1864, includes family news, a description of life in the trenches on Turkey Hill in Henrico County during the battle of Cold Harbor, and speculation on Ulysses S. Grant's strategy. The collection includes typescript copies of both letters. Aaron, David, Letter, 1864. 1 item. Mss2AA753a1. A letter, 10 November 1864, from David Aaron to Dr. Thomas H. Williams of the Confederate Medical Department concerning Durant da Ponte, a reporter from the Richmond Whig, and medical supplies received by the CSS Stonewall. Albright, James W., Diary, 1862–1865. 1 item. Printed copy. Mss5:1AL155:1. Kept by James W. Albright of the 12th Virginia Artillery Battalion, this diary, 26 June 1862–9 April 1865, contains entries concerning the unit's service in the Seven Days' battles, the Suffolk and Petersburg campaigns, and the Appomattox campaign. The diary was printed in the Asheville Gazette News, 29 August 1908. Alexander, Thomas R., Account Book, 1848–1887. 1 volume. Mss5:3AL276:1. Kept by Thomas R. Alexander (d. 1866?), a Prince William County merchant, this account book, 1848–1887, contains a list, 1862, of merchandise confiscated by an unidentified Union cavalry regiment and the 49th New York Infantry Regiment of the Army of the Potomac. Allen Family Papers, 1850–1910. 106 items. Mss1AL546a. Microfilm reel B1. The Allen family papers consist primarily of materials relating to the operation of the plantation Oral Oaks, in Lunenburg County, of Robert Henderson Allen (1817–1900). Of particular note is Allen’s diary, 1 January 1864–31 December 1877, which contains entries describing Union raids into Lunenburg County, cannonading heard from Petersburg, visits from his son, Robert A. Allen of the 44th Virginia Infantry Battalion, the effect of the war on slave hirings, and the practice of sending slaves to Richmond to help build fortifications (section 2). Allen, John C., Diary, 1864–1865. 164 pp. Mss5:1AL536:1. Microfilm reel C581. Kept by John C. Allen (b. 1833?), this diary outlines his service in Company C of the 7th Virginia Cavalry Regiment and as a prisoner of war. Early entries in the diary offer brief glimpses into Allen's daily life in the lower Shenandoah Valley before his capture near 2 Romney, W.Va., in February 1864. The majority of the entries describe, in minimal detail, his imprisonment at Camp Chase, Ohio, Fort Delaware, Del., and Hilton Head Island, S.C. The information recorded concerns meals, weather, religious events, brief reactions to rumors concerning Confederate military fortunes, and a list of other Confederates incarcerated at Camp Chase. Allen, Orrin Sweet, Letters, 1862–1865. 1 volume. Photocopies. Mss2AL543a1. Consist of photocopies of the wartime letters of Orrin Sweet Allen (1826–1902), a carpenter of Harmony, N.Y., to his wife, Frances E. (Wade) Allen, regarding his service in Company H of the 112th New York Volunteer Infantry, U.S.A. The letters concern life at Camp Brown, Jamestown, N.Y.; the sieges at Suffolk and Petersburg, Va., and Charleston, S.C.; the occupation of Jacksonville, Fla.; the battles of Cold Harbor and the Crater; and fighting at Fort Gilmer and Chaffin's Bluff. Allen also discusses his wounding in battle and recovery in a hospital at Hampton. Other items include copies of Allen's enlistment and discharge papers (pp. iv and 671). The letters (with typed transcriptions) have been compiled as Dear Frank: The War Years, 1862-1865: The Civil War Letters of Orrin S. Allen to His Wife Francis [sic] E. Wade Allen and Family As Transcribed by William L. Rockwell (2001). The Society also has in its collection a manuscript map, 1863, drawn by Orrin Allen concerning the siege of Suffolk (Map F234 S87 1863:1). Included on the map are the positions of Federal troops and the locations of railroads, roads, a parade ground, breastworks, a hospital, forts, and the Nansemond River with Federal gunboats protecting the town of Suffolk. Ambler, Philip Barbour, Scrapbook, 1860–1911. 1 volume. Mss5:7AM165:1. This scrapbook, kept by Philip Barbour Ambler (1834–1902), contains newspaper clippings and coats of arms of the Ambler family. Civil War-related materials include lines of verse about camp life and Turner Ashby; published general orders, 1864–1865, issued to the Army of Northern Virginia concerning reduced rations and the promise of a pardon to first-time deserters upon their return to the army; published biblical passages offering inspiration for soldiers; an undated article from the London Fortnightly Review by Francis Lawley concerning the Army of Northern Virginia during the Appomattox campaign; and a hand-drawn diagram of the initial positions of Confederate brigades before Pickett's Charge at the battle of Gettysburg. Anderson, Charles Jefferies, Letter, 1864. 1 item. Mss2AN234a1. The letter, 17 May 1864, of a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute, Charles Jefferies Anderson (1848–1925), describes the cadets' role in the battle of New Market. Anderson, Sarah Travers Lewis (Scott), War Record of Doctor James McClure Scott, ca. 1910. 1 item. Photocopy of typescript. Mss7:1SCO845:1. This collection consists of a photocopy of the fifteen-page typescript recollections of James McClure Scott (1841–1913), compiled by Sarah Travers Lewis (Scott) Anderson (1847–1926). The recollections concern Scott's wartime service as a member of the Fredericksburg Artillery Battery and of the 5th and 10th Virginia Cavalry regiments. 3 Scott describes in varying detail his service in western Virginia in 1861, his participation in the battles of Fredericksburg, Brandy Station, and Gettysburg, the Peninsula and Appomattox campaigns, and his capture and imprisonment at Old Capitol Prison, Washington, D.C., and at Point Lookout, Md. Archer, Edward Richard, Diary, 1864–1865. 1 volume. Mss5:1AR234:1. Microfilm reel C514. Kept by Edward Richard Archer (1834–1918) while in Europe, on board various vessels, and in Florida and North Carolina, this diary, 8 September 1864–7 September 1865, primarily contains entries describing his travels in England and France and the sea voyage to America. Of particular note are entries concerning his arrival at Joseph E. Johnston's camp in Greensboro, N.C., in April 1865 and the subsequent surrender of the Confederate Army of Tennessee to Union forces under the command of William Tecumseh Sherman (19–28 April 1865). Archer Family Papers, 1771–1918. 265 items. Mss1AR247a. This collection contains the papers of the Archer family of Amelia County. The correspondence of Richard Thomas Archer (1797–1867) of Claiborne County, Miss., includes letters, 1862, from John Brockenbrough Harvie (1810–1885), Samuel S. Weisiger (b. 1811?), and Benjamin Grubb Humphrey (1808–1882) concerning the Seven Days' battles and the death of Archer's nephew, Edward S. Archer of the 21st Mississippi Infantry Regiment; an undated formal request from Richard Archer to President Andrew Johnson for a pardon; and a letter, 12 October 1862, to James Alexander Seddon asking to have Richard Archer's son, Abram B. Archer of the 4th Mississippi Cavalry, detailed to duty on Archer's plantation in Holmes County, Miss. (section 13). The Benjamin Humphrey letter includes a hand-drawn map of the Seven Days' battlefields. Armistead and Blanton Family Papers, 1856–1900. 155 items. Mss1AR554d. This collection contains the papers of members of the Armistead and Blanton family of Cumberland County. Civil War items include letters, 1862–1863, to Jesse Scott Armistead (1797–1869) from Archibald Bolling (1827–1897) of the Virginia Otey Artillery Battery describing camp life and the battle of Chancellorsville and from John Bolling of the 3d Virginia Cavalry Regiment concerning the condition of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia following the 1862 Maryland campaign and camp life near Hanover Court House in January 1863 (section 1). Armistead-Blanton-Wallace Family Papers, 1790–1911. 180 items. Mss1AR554a. Contains the papers of members of the Armistead, Blanton, and Wallace families of Virginia. The collection includes a letter, 17 July 1864, from Alexander Wellington Wallace (1843–1927) of the 30th Virginia Infantry Regiment offering a description of his participation in the battles of Drewry's Bluff and Cold Harbor (section 16). Armistead-Blanton-Wallace Family Papers, 1827–1919. 96 items. Mss1AR554b. Contains the papers of members of the Armistead family of Cumberland County and the Blanton and Wallace families of Richmond. Civil War materials in the collection include a letter, 27 August 1864, to Nancy Miller (Armistead) Blanton (1829–1902) concerning 4 inflation in wartime Richmond and the use of government clerks as reserve troops in the city's fortifications (section 5), and letters, 1861, from John Bolling (d. 1905) of Company G of the 3d Virginia Cavalry Regiment describing scouting duty on the Peninsula, cavalry ambush tactics, and a skirmish with Union troops (section 7). Armstrong, Sally, Diary, 1863. 1 item. Copy. Mss5:1AR585:1. Kept by Sally Armstrong of Rose Hill, Culpeper County, this diary, 17 March–1 September 1863, contains entries concerning social life in the county, local military operations, and rumors of military events occurring in other parts of the Confederacy. Armstrong's entries offer brief descriptions of Union troop movements in the county, of the battles of Kelly's Ford, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, and of the local reaction to the presence of Union soldiers. This diary is a later transcription of the original. Arter, A. R., Letter, 1864.