American Civil War Documents, Manuscripts, Letters and Diaries and Grand Army of the Republic Collections

Abstract

Material in this collection predominantly relates to the American Civil War—its battles, rank and file soldiers, leaders and veterans. A large portion of this material focuses on the experience of soldiers and leaders from Illinois through letters and diaries. Other major topics in this collection include slavery throughout the world in the centuries leading up to the Civil War; Abraham Lincoln; and the veterans’ group, the Grand Army of the Republic, especially its Illinois Departments. Further documentation of the Civil War appears in ephemera, songs and poems, patriotic envelopes and currency. Selected items from this collection are available in the Library's Wayne Whalen Digital Archive of the Grand Army of the Republic and Civil War Collections.

Biographical/Historical

Near the end of 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Within a few months, ten more states had seceded. The American Civil War officially began April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Illinois participated on the Union side by sending hundreds of thousands of troops into battle. Many military and political leaders trace their roots to Illinois. The war lasted nearly four years, ending on April 9, 1865, when the Confederacy surrendered. A few days later, on April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Not long after the war ended, veterans began forming organizations. One of the longest-lasting was the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), begun in April 1866 in Decatur, Illinois. Posts were established in different places, grouped under state-level departments, in turn grouped under a national commandery-in-chief. The GAR disbanded in 1956 when the last veteran died.

In Chicago, the GAR Memorial Hall Association shared space with Chicago Public Library (CPL). In 1883, the Library Board chose the corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street as the location for its future building. At the time, the site was vacant and known as Dearborn Park, named for its proximity to the site of Fort Dearborn. Because of this, many people believed the land was reserved for the GAR. Ultimately, legal action determined the library could have the land, but it had to make room for the GAR, which wanted a memorial hall for its members. CPL gave the GAR extensive rooms and signed a fifty-year lease that expired in 1947. At that time, the Library took over caring for the GAR's significant collection of art, artifacts, papers, weapons and more. With the GAR’s material as a base, the library has continued to build its Civil War collection over the years, with a focus on the Illinois experience.

Scope and Contents

Material in this collection predominantly relates to the American Civil War—its battles, rank and file soldiers, leaders and veterans. A large portion of this material focuses on the experience of soldiers and leaders from Illinois. Included are letters and diaries that capture not only important information about troop movements, battle strategies and leaders’ decisions, but also the often difficult and mundane life of the rank-and-file soldier marching great distances, waiting for something to happen and missing life back home.

Other major topics in this collection include slavery throughout the world in the centuries leading up to the Civil War; Abraham Lincoln; and the veterans’ group, the Grand Army of the Republic, especially its Illinois Departments. These subjects are documented through official papers and publications. Further documentation of the Civil War appears in ephemera, songs and poems, images, patriotic envelopes and currency.

Arrangement

Items have been arranged into two series: Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951 and Series 2: Documents and other Materials, 1785-2005, undated.

Subject Headings

• Grand Army of the Republic
• Grand Army of the Republic. Department of Illinois
• Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
• Logan, John A. (John Alexander), 1908-1987
• Porter, Fitz-John, 1822-1901
• Realf, Richard, 1834-1878
• Root & Cady
• Rosecrans, William S. (William Starke), 1819-1898
• Ruggles, Daniel, 1810-1897
• Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888
• Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
• Smith, John Corson, 1832-1911
• Stanley, David Sloane, 1828-1902
• Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments (Philadelphia, Pa.)
• United States. Army. Illinois Cavalry Regiment, 9th (1861-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 11th (1861-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 14th (1861-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 24th (1861-1864)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 31st (1861-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 36th (1861-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 51st (1861-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 63rd (1862-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 74th (1862-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 77th (1862-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 88th (1862-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 96th (1862-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 101st (1862-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 102nd (1862-1865)
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 126th (1862-1865)
• United States. Army. Indiana Infantry Regiment, 35th (1861-1865)
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Pamphlets
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Poetry
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Songs and music

Related Collections

• American Civil War Era Newspapers
• American Civil War Era Sheet Music Collection
• American Civil War Photographs and Images and Grand Army of the Republic Photographs and Images
• Army of the Potomac Reports
• Grand Army of the Republic, Wilcox Post No. 668 Records
• Henry Bass Papers
• Civil War Round Table Records
• Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865, Records
• Otto Eisenschiml Papers

Container List

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Scope and Contents

Series 1 contains many letters and diaries that were acquired in sets because of a central, common author or recipient. Sometimes items that are neither letters nor diaries are included because they relate to the same individual and were acquired as part of the sets. Occasionally, items related to the same individuals were acquired not as part of the same set. Those have been included with the individual.

Letters and diaries that are not part of a larger set have been grouped under “Subseries CC: General Letters” and “Subseries DD: General Diaries, Narrative Accounts and Minute Books.”

Arrangement

Series 1 is arranged alphabetically into 30 subseries by author or correspondent’s last name followed by general letters and diaries:

• Subseries A: Henry Backus, 14th Illinois Infantry, Company D, 1861-1864
• Subseries B: Marshall Chase, 63rd Illinois Infantry, Company A, 1864-1865, 1912, 1919, undated
• Subseries C: George P. Cumming, 102nd Illinois Infantry, Company H, 1862-1864, undated
• Subseries D: James M. Doig, 17th New York Infantry, 1861-1863
• Subseries E: Frank W. Fuller, 74th Illinois Infantry, Company I, 1862-1865
• Subseries F: Ulysses S. Grant, General and United States President, 1861-1880, undated
• Subseries G: Rosell M. Hough, 9th Illinois Cavalry, 1861-1882
• Subseries H: William T. Humphrey, 101st Illinois Infantry, 1863-1865, undated
• Subseries I: Nathaniel Colver Kenyon, 11th Illinois Infantry, 1862-1865
• Subseries J: Robert Nathaniel McCutcheon, 36th Illinois Infantry, Company B, 1862-1863
• Subseries K: Geza Mihalotzy, 24th Illinois Infantry, 1861-1864, undated
• Subseries L: David W. Morris, 126th Illinois Infantry, Company H, 1862-1867
• Subseries M: Annie F. Noble (Otis M. Moody, 51st Illinois Infantry, Headquarters detachment), 1852-1905, undated
• Subseries N: E.N. Palley, Army of the Potomac, 1862-1863
• Subseries O: R.D. Parker, Civilian, 1896-1901
• Subseries P: Fitz-John Porter, General, 1869-1951
• Subseries Q: John W. Potter, 35th Indiana Infantry, Company B, 1865
• Subseries R: Richard Realf, 88th Illinois Infantry, 1861-1864, undated
• Subseries S: William Starke Rosecrans, General, 1862-1863, 1907
• Subseries T: Philip Henry Sheridan, General, 1872-1879, undated
• Subseries U: William T. Sherman, General, 1863-1874
• Subseries V: John Corson Smith, 96th Illinois Infantry, 1862-1865
• Subseries W: John B. Spiller, 31st Illinois Infantry, Company C, 1862-1863
• Subseries X: David S. Stanley, General, 1862-1864
• Subseries Y: Jonathan Stewart, 74th Illinois Infantry, Company I, 1863-1865
• Subseries Z: Flora Weaver, 1862-1865, undated
• Subseries AA: James M. Welch, 16th Illinois Infantry, Company D, 1862-1865
• Subseries BB: William R. Wilder, 9th Illinois Cavalry, Company F, 1862-1865
• Subseries CC: General Letters, 1847-1924, undated, bulk 1861-1865
• Subseries DD: General Diaries, Narrative Accounts and Minute Books, 1860-1886

Subseries A: Henry Backus, 14th Illinois Infantry, Company D, 1861-1864

Scope and Contents

Subseries A contains seven diaries by Henry Backus. Backus was from Green County, Illinois, and enlisted in June 1861 and his diaries account for the 14th Illinois Infantry’s movements throughout the war, from Missouri to Mississippi. The diaries are marked by Backus’s bitter sentiments about his fellow soldiers and officers. A serious sense of duty to the Union’s cause and to his tasks as a soldier is also apparent in his writings.

Backus describes the difficult winter of 1862-1863, when the 14th was camped in Lafayette, Tennessee before entering Mississippi in May 1863 to participate in the Vicksburg Campaign. Once there, Backus describes the siege of Vicksburg, which lasted until early July. From there, he tells of the march to Jackson, Mississippi. After a furlough in August, Backus joined the Meridian Campaign under Sherman, which employed some of the brutal techniques later on display in the March to the Sea. Backus did not reenlist, and, after thirty-seven months of service, he returned home to Illinois.

Arrangement

Subseries A is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries B: Marshall Chase, 63rd Illinois Infantry, Company A, 1864-1865, 1912, 1919, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries B contains a diary, a personal history and two items on or about Marshall Chase. Chase’s diary covers 1864-1865 and includes accounts of the battle at Missionary Ridge, Tennessee; Sherman’s March to the Sea; Savannah, Georgia; and a good deal on the end of the war. Also included in this series are a personal book Chase wrote some years later as his memoirs of the war and A History of the Civil War, written by Benson Lossing in 1912, with a hand-painted portrait of Marshall Chase pasted inside the front cover.

Arrangement

Subseries B is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries C: George P. Cumming, 102nd Illinois Infantry, Company H, 1862-1864, undated

Biographical/Historical

George P. Cumming was born around 1832 in Tennessee. He was a married farmer when he enlisted on August 13, 1862 at Truro, Illinois. He mustered into the 102nd Illinois Infantry, Company H on September 2, 1862. Cumming was wounded at the front line before the siege of Atlanta (July 22, 1864-August 25, 1864) and was subsequently given a furlough. He was killed in a train accident near Lafayette, Indiana on October 31, 1864 while going home, survived by his widow and three children.

Scope and Contents

Subseries C contains fifteen letters, mostly addressed to his mother and sisters, dated between September 1862 and September 1864.

Arrangement

Subseries C is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries D: James M. Doig, 17th New York Infantry, 1861-1863

Scope and Contents

Subseries D contains three letters written by James M. Doig that describe camp life among the “Conklin Rifles,” as Doig’s regiment was called, and comment on war.

Arrangement

Subseries D is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries E: Frank W. Fuller, Sergeant, 74th Illinois Infantry, Company I, 1862-1865

Scope and Contents

Subseries E contains the 23 letters, 7 diaries and 2 account books that tell of Frank W. Fuller’s time in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama and include details on battles and camp life. Fuller was a member of Company I, 74th Illinois Infantry and 4th Corps Ammo Train. He was from Freeport, Illinois and mustered in at Rockford, Illinois. His letters are primarily written to his fiancée, Mary M. Cable. His diaries include several drawings. His writings are lengthy and give in-depth descriptions of events, battles and deaths. These writings really give a sense of Fuller, especially because they include time before and after the war.

Arrangement

Subseries E is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries F: Ulysses S. Grant, General and United States President, 1861-1880, undated

Biographical/Historical

Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio in 1822. He went to West Point and served in the Mexican-American War under General Zachary Taylor (who later became President in 1849). When the Civil War broke out, Grant was working for his father in Galena, Illinois. He was appointed to command a volunteer regiment. By September 1861, he had been promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers.

In February 1862, Grant led successful campaigns against Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, earning him another promotion to Major General of Volunteers. He was less successful at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, but he continued to enjoy President Lincoln’s support. Grant went on to win major battles at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Lincoln appointed him General in Chief in March 1864.

In this role, Grant directed General Sherman to march through the south while he commanded the Army of the Potomac in Northern Virginia. On April 9, 1865, he accepted the Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender. Grant went on to serve as United States President from 1869 to 1877. He died in 1885.

Scope and Contents

Subseries F contains one autograph, one application to a veterans’ group, and 14 letters, one of which was written by Grant’s father. Those written by Grant himself were composed during the Civil War and after it. The letters written during the Civil War discuss tactics in great detail.

Arrangement

Subseries F is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries G: Rosell M. Hough, 9th Illinois Cavalry, 1861-1882

Scope and Contents

Subseries G contains twelve letters and orders related to Rosell M. (R.M.) Hough, aide-de-camp of General David Hunter. Hunter was Commander of the Department of the South, and his father-in-law was John Kinzie, an early resident of Chicago. In civilian life, Major Hough was a prominent Chicago meatpacker. Many of his letters are concerned with such business matters. According to the Illinois muster records, Hough resigned from the military in April 1862.

Arrangement

Subseries G is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries H: William T. Humphrey, 101st Illinois Infantry, 1863-1865, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries H contains a diary and four letters by William T. Humphrey, as well as orders and certificates related to Humphrey’s service. Humphrey was a fife major with the 101st Illinois Volunteers. He joined the military in Jacksonville, Illinois, in August 1862. He served as a musician until he mustered out in June 1865.

Arrangement

Subseries H is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries I: Nathaniel Colver Kenyon, 11th Illinois Infantry, 1862-1865

Biographical/Historical

Nathaniel Colver Kenyon was born in Salem, New York. He joined the military as a sergeant in 1861 in LaSalle, Illinois. He was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant a few months later. In 1863, he attained the rank of Captain while serving in Lake Providence, Louisiana. In 1864, he became Lieutenant Colonel, the rank at which he mustered out in 1865. During his service, he was taken prisoner at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, and suffered a head wound at Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Scope and Contents

Subseries I contains two diaries written by Nathaniel Colver Kenyon.

Arrangement

Subseries I is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries J: Robert Nathaniel McCutcheon, 36th Illinois Infantry, Company B, 1862-1863

Biographical/Historical

Robert Nathaniel McCutcheon (February 3, 1838-September 19, 1863) was born in Adams County, Ohio. According to The Monmouth College Oracle, a publication of Illinois’s Monmouth College, McCutcheon entered the College in 1858. He enlisted in the 36th Illinois Infantry at Monmouth and traveled with the troops to Aurora, Illinois, where they were mustered into United States service on September 23, 1861. McCutcheon served in the 36th’s Missouri campaign and at the battle of Stones River near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He was killed in the opening battle of Chickamauga, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on September 19, 1863. His body was never recovered.

He had two brothers, John A. McCutcheon and James Fulton McCutcheon, who also served in the Civil War. John also died in battle. James, to whom most of these letters are written, survived the war. He went on to become a surgeon and mayor of Monmouth, Illinois. He died in 1911 in Indiana.

Throughout various official records, his name is spelled differently, sometimes “McCutcheon,” sometimes “McCutchan,” sometimes “McCutchen.” Further, he is listed in the Illinois muster as “Nathaniel P.”

Scope and Contents

Subseries J contains twelve letters written by Robert Nathaniel McCutcheon, mostly to his brother James F. who was also fighting at the time, and they describe his experiences as a soldier.

Arrangement

Subseries J is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries K: Geza Mihalotzy, 24th Illinois Infantry, 1861-1864, undated

Biographical/Historical

Geza Mihalotzy was born in Buda, Hungary sometime in the mid-1820s. He immigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago, where he joined the military to fight in the Civil War. He eventually served as colonel of the 24th Illinois Infantry. He died in battle in late February or early March 1864.

Scope and Contents

Subseries K contains letters that are mostly written to Mihalotzy and document the administrative duties of a military leader. They include receipts for supplies, papers about equipment shipments, letters excusing soldiers from service for medical reasons and letters of discharge and resignation. Also included are communications to his wife, Hannah, when he was wounded and eventually died.

Arrangement

Subseries K is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries L: David W. Morris, 126th Illinois Infantry, Company H, 1862-1867

Scope and Contents

Subseries L contains thirty-six letters and a diary written by David W. Morris. Morris joined Company H, 126th Illinois Volunteer Infantry in Coal Valley, Illinois. He wrote most frequently to Mary Thomas of Coal Valley, whom he eventually married. He sent letters from various locations, including Camp Douglas in Chicago, Bolivar, Tennessee, and DeValls Bluff, Arkansas, where he described a July 1864 battle. Morris described activities and experiences in camp and at war.

Arrangement

Subseries L is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries M: Annie F. Noble (Otis M. Moody, Company K, 51st Illinois Infantry, Headquarters detachment), 1852-1905, undated

Biographical/Historical

Born in Massachusetts in 1829, Otis Moody moved to Chicago and enlisted in the 51st Illinois Volunteers on September 20, 1861. He became 1st lieutenant of Company K. He later became acting assistant adjutant general of the brigade under Luther Bradley and performed largely administrative duties. On September 19, 1863, Bradley led his troops into the battle at Chickamauga, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. On his way to dispatching Bradley’s orders, Moody was shot, and he died September 20, 1863.

Annie Fenwick Noble was born in England, on September 8, 1838. After her father, a Royal Navy commander, died during the Opium Wars in China, Annie and her mother moved to the United States in 1859. Annie lived in Brooklyn, New York, and was involved in Henry Ward Beecher's Plymouth Church. It is not known how Annie and Otis met, but their letters imply a religious connection. Annie married Charles Eliphalet Walbridge, a Civil War veteran and businessman in 1868, and they settled in Buffalo, New York. Annie died on September 28, 1910.

The religious connection Otis and Annie shared explains the use of the epithets “sister” and “brother” among the correspondents, despite sharing no blood relation. Additional correspondents in this set of letters are difficult to identify as they rarely include their last names. One additional letter of note in this set is written to Annie from Luther P. Bradley, colonel of the 51st Illinois, offering condolences on the death of Otis, and providing a description of the events surrounding his death.

Scope and Contents

Subseries M contains a set of thirty letters that were written primarily to Annie F. Noble, mainly by Otis M. Moody, though letters between other correspondents and letters to Noble from other correspondents also appear. The Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection at Allen County Public Library in Indiana holds an additional set of 31 letters, mostly between Annie and Otis. The finding aid they created provides information about that collection.

Arrangement

Subseries M is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries N: E.N. Palley, Army of the Potomac, 1862-1863

Scope and Contents

Subseries N contains a set of four letters that were written to Palley’s wife and children from various locations in Virginia. His letters describe the hardship of war, including illness, night watch and marching.

Arrangement

Subseries N is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries O: R.D. Parker, Civilian, 1896-1901

Scope and Contents

Subseries O contains 31 letters written to R.D. Parker of Downers Grove, Illinois, that relate individual remembrances of the Battle of Sharpsburg in Maryland, more commonly known as Antietam. It appears that R.D4. Parker was seeking firsthand accounts of the Battle of Antietam. Parker placed advertisements in a publication in Alabama requesting information on the Battle. Many responded to this ad, while others wrote to Parker because friends referred them. In correspondence back and forth, Parker would frequently send a map he was compiling and ask them to contribute information to the movements of troops on the map. Occasionally the letters are from soldiers who did not serve at Sharpsburg due to illness or injury in an earlier battle. These letters provide interesting Confederate perspective on actions they had participated in roughly 30 years earlier.

Arrangement

Subseries O is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries P: Fitz-John Porter, General, 1869-1951

Biographical/Historical

Fitz-John Porter was born in New Hampshire in 1822. He graduated from West Point and served in the Mexican-American War. Porter began the Civil War as a colonel in the 15th U.S. Infantry. He was quickly promoted to Brigadier General in command of a division of the Army of the Potomac. In July 1862, Porter was promoted again to Major General of Volunteers. He was sent to reinforce Major General John Pope’s Army of Virginia.

Pope and Porter did not get along. They repeatedly disagreed about the disposition of troops at the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run). The battle ended in disaster for the Union, and Porter was relieved of duties in November 1862. In January 1863, Porter lost his court martial, resulting in dismissal from the Army.

Porter worked for the rest of his life to have this decision reversed and his rank reinstated. He also spent time as New York City Commissioner of Public Works, Police Commissioner and Fire Commissioner. In 1878, a special government commission exonerated Porter, finding his actions very likely saved the Army from suffering further damages. In 1886, President Chester A. Arthur reversed the 1863 decision, and Porter’s original rank as colonel was reinstated. He died in New Jersey in 1901.

Scope and Contents

Subseries P contains four letters and a report, written after the Civil War, that are a part of Porter’s efforts to clear his name.

Arrangement

Subseries P is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries Q: John W. Potter, 35th Indiana Infantry, Company B, 1865

Biographical/Historical

John W. Potter was born around 1826. A carpenter from Kendallville, Indiana, Potter began his military service in November 1864. He was sent to join the 35th Indiana Infantry in Tennessee, where it had been reduced to inactivity by heavy losses. The revitalized regiment fought in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, and pursued the Confederate General John Bell Hood. At the war's end, the 35th was sent to Texas where it was mustered out in September 1865.

Scope and Contents

Subseries Q contains seventeen letters that are written mostly to Potter’s wife, between 4 January and 14 July 1865. Potter, 37 at the time of his enlistment, had several children, and his letters reveal anxiety over his absence from home and the difficulty of communication.

Arrangement

Subseries Q is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries R: Richard Realf, 88th Illinois Infantry, 1861-1864, undated

Biographical/Historical

Richard Realf, the son of a police constable, was born in 1834 and grew up in Sussex, Great Britain. He began writing poetry as a child, and, at 17 he became secretary to a Brighton physician and his wife, who introduced him to the literary circle of Lady Byron. In 1852, they arranged for the publication of his Guesses at the Beautiful, apparently the only volume of Realf's poetry to appear in his lifetime. In 1854, following a scandal, he immigrated to America, where he held a wide variety of jobs but continued writing throughout his life.

Upon his arrival, he became a teacher and administrator in New York, working with social outcasts and orphans. In 1856, he traveled to Kansas where he met John Brown and drilled with Brown's anti-slavery “army” until shortly before Harper's Ferry. In July 1862, he joined the 88th Illinois Infantry Volunteers at Chicago and served through the Civil War. He then served briefly as an officer in the 50th U.S. Colored Troops, which was disbanded after six months. He taught in a school for freed slaves and worked for the Internal Revenue Service in South Carolina. Between 1869 and 1875, Realf was on the editorial staff of the Pittsburgh Commercial. He lectured on slavery, the Civil War, temperance and literature. Realf frequently spoke at GAR reunions, and wrote the lyrics to the GAR anthem, “Rally.” In his later life, the behavior of his ex-wife, who followed him from town to town and caused public scenes, tormented him. In 1878, he moved to San Francisco, but his ex-wife followed him and stole or destroyed many of his papers. Realf committed suicide.

Scope and Contents

Subseries R contains twelve letters and poems that were composed during Realf’s service in the Civil War.

Arrangement

Subseries R is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries S: William Starke Rosecrans, General, 1862-1863, 1907

Biographical/Historical

William Starke Rosecrans was born in Ohio in 1819. He graduated from West Point and went on to teach there for several years. He was successful in civilian business life before returning to the military during the Civil War, beginning in the 23rd Ohio Infantry. He quickly climbed in rank, earning general by May 1861.

Rosecrans’s leadership was on display at many important battles including Rich Mountain, Iuka, Corinth, Stones River, Tullahoma and Chickamauga. Strategic and communication difficulties resulted in a major Union defeat at Chickamauga in September 1863, and Rosecrans was effectively removed from power. He was moved to Missouri in 1864 and helped resist some Confederate campaigns. He mustered out of service in 1866. Rosecrans moved to California in later life and was elected Congressman 1881-1885. He also served as the federal Register of the Treasury 1885-1893. He died in 1898.

Scope and Contents

Subseries S contains four letters that primarily relate to an encoded message sent by Rosecrans to General A.E. Burnside at the beginning of the Battle of Chickamauga. A 1907 translation of the encoded message is included.

Arrangement

Subseries S is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries T: Philip Henry Sheridan, General, 1872-1879, undated

Biographical/Historical

Philip Henry Sheridan was born in Albany, New York, in 1831, and grew up in Ohio. He graduated from West Point. He fought in the Civil War, rising to command the Union’s Cavalry by the time the war ended. He led a campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia called “The Burning.” The tactics were brutal, but successful in decimating the Confederates’ supply lines and stores. He later helped win a decisive victory at Petersburg that hastened Lee’s surrender.

Following the Civil War, Sheridan went west and fought many battles against Native Americans on the plains. He was known for punishing tactics similar to those he employed during the Civil War. In 1871, he oversaw relief efforts following the Chicago Fire. He became Commanding General of the United States Army in 1883, and, just a few months before he died in 1888, he was promoted to General of the United States Army.

Scope and Contents

Subseries T contains two letters that were written following the Civil War and an autograph.

Arrangement

Subseries T is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries U: William T. Sherman, General, 1863-1874

Biographical/Historical

William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Ohio in 1820. He graduated from the United States Military Academy. He resigned from the military in 1853 to pursue banking and law. When the Civil War broke out, he reenlisted and entered the 13th U.S. Infantry in 1861. Sherman rose through the ranks, leading troops at important battles such as First Bull Run, Shiloh, Vicksburg and Chattanooga.

Sherman is probably most famous for his devastating attack on Atlanta and his subsequent “March to the Sea,” during which he cut across Georgia to Savannah, burning anything he encountered. He turned north and continued his brutal tactics into the Carolinas, helping bring about the surrender of large numbers of Confederate soldiers.

Following the Civil War, Sherman commanded operations in the Missouri District that encompassed all land between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. In this capacity and in his later position as Commanding General of the United States Army, he waged many brutal battles against the Native Americans of the plains. He retired from the military in 1884 and died in New York City in 1891.

Scope and Contents

Subseries U contains six letters that were written during and after the Civil War and an autograph.

Arrangement

Subseries U is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries V: John Corson Smith, 96th Illinois Infantry, 1862-1865

Biographical/Historical

John Corson Smith was born in Philadelphia in 1832. He trained in carpentry and building and moved to Galena, Illinois, in 1854. He married and worked there leading construction projects until 1862 when he enlisted as a private in a volunteer company. The unit was mustered into the 96th Illinois Infantry as Company I, with Smith at the rank of major. In 1863, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1865, he was again promoted to brevet brigadier general for meritorious service.

After the war, he was appointed assessor for the Department of Revenue until 1872. In 1870 he moved to Chicago. He was elected Illinois State Treasurer in 1878 and 1882. He was Illinois Lieutenant Governor 1885-1889. He died in Chicago in 1910.

Scope and Contents

Subseries V contains four diaries by John Corson Smith written during the Civil War. These diaries cover battles, marches, administrative duties and national events such as the assassination of President Lincoln. Especially noteworthy is his account of the Atlanta Campaign, during which he was wounded.

Arrangement

Subseries V is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries W: John B. Spiller, 31st Illinois Infantry, Company C, 1862-1863

Biographical/Historical

John B. Spiller was a private with the 31st Illinois Volunteer Infantry’s Company C. Spiller, enlisted in the 31st on August 30, 1862. A farmer from Williamson County, Illinois, the 44-year-old traveled from Camp Yates, Springfield, Illinois, to Jackson, Tennessee, to meet his regiment.

Scope and Contents

Subseries W contains nine letters written during the Civil War by John B. Spiller. His letters were sent from LaGrange, Tennessee and Vista Plantation, Louisiana. The last two letters include important mention of the Vicksburg campaign, including a description of the supply boats running the batteries. While Spiller’s accounts of military events are useful, the letters also provide a fascinating view into the details of Spiller’s domestic economy. The letters include frequent discussions of money—how much he is owed, methods by which he is sending it to his wife, how she should spend it—revealing that Spiller’s volunteering to serve was not simply motivated by patriotism. Spiller died at Young’s Point, Louisiana, on August 3, 1863.

Arrangement

Subseries W is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries X: David S. Stanley, General, 1862-1864

Scope and Contents

Subseries X contains three letters written by David S. Stanley. Evidently, a Mrs. Binney had asked General Stanley for some official document, possibly to raise money for a sanitary fair. One of these letters is from Stanley to Mrs. Binney stating that he does not have his official papers with him in the field but has asked his wife in Ohio to send a document to her. Another of the letters is from Mrs. Stanley to Mrs. Binney and includes the third item, a detailed report of the Battle of Iuka, written four days after the event by Stanley who served as division commander during the battle.

Arrangement

Subseries X is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries Y: Jonathan Stewart, 74th Illinois Infantry, Company I, 1863-1865

Biographical/Historical

Jonathan Stewart was living in Rock Run, Illinois, with his wife Nancy and his two daughters Ida and Jane when he enlisted in 1862. Sometime in the first half of 1863, he was either sick or injured and spent time in a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. His recovery was never complete because in July of 1863 he was transferred to the Veterans Reserve Corps (VRC), which had formerly been named the Invalid Corps and was largely comprised or soldiers too disabled to fight on the front lines, but still able to fulfill some duties. As part of the VRC, Stewart served as a prison guard in Washington, D.C. in 1865. He returned to Illinois following the war.

Scope and Contents

Subseries Y contains two diaries by Jonathan Stewart. The diaries have sparse entries that mostly comment on the weather and the mail he sent and received, with some mention of his health, activities and events of the war.

Arrangement

Subseries Y is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries Z: Flora Weaver, 1862-1865, undated

Biographical/Historical

Flora A. Weaver was born in Ohio around 1848, the eldest of four sisters and two brothers. By 1860, the family had moved to Lena, Illinois. Weaver married William Winter in Lena in 1870 with whom she had a son and daughter. In the early 1900s, she and her husband lived with their grown children in Rockford, Illinois. It is uncertain when she died.

Denison J. Griffing, a farmer born in Massachusetts, mustered into the 67th Illinois Infantry, Company H, as a private, on June 13, 1862 at Freeport, Illinois. His residence is listed as Lena, Illinois. He reenlisted on December 31, 1863, in Minnesota as a Private in the 1st Independent Battery Light Artillery. His name is spelled differently in different military databases.

John S. Pickard was born in Ohio around 1843. Later, living in Lena, Illinois, as a farmer, he mustered into the 67th Illinois Infantry, Company H, as a private, on June 13, 1862, in Chicago, Illinois. He reenlisted as a Private in the 14th Illinois U.S. Cavalry on November 6, 1862, in Lena, Illinois, and was mustered in on January 7, 1863 in Peoria, Illinois. He died on March 29, 1863, in Peoria.

David E. Rice was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Living in Lena, Illinois, as a young man, he enlisted in the 67th Illinois Infantry, Company H, on June 2, 1862. On October 23, 1862, he joined the 14th Illinois Cavalry, Company E. He later transferred to Company I where he remained until he mustered out on July 31, 1865, in Pulaski, Tennessee.

George S. Roush was born in Center County, Pennsylvania around 1840. He lived in Waddams, Stephenson County, Illinois, with his family in 1850. He enlisted as a corporal on September 10, 1861, in Freeport, Illinois, and was mustered into the 46th Illinois Infantry, Company B, on September 13, 1861, at Camp Butler, Illinois. He was promoted to Full 2nd Lieutenant and Full 1st Lieutenant before he resigned on April 18, 1862. He reenlisted for three years on December 23, 1863, at Camp Cowen, Mississippi. He died December 5, 1909.

Scope and Contents

Subseries Z contains twelve letters addressed to Miss Flora A. Weaver of Lena, Illinois, from six soldiers in various Illinois units, 1862-1865. It appears that the soldiers and Miss Weaver were all friends and schoolmates back home.

Arrangement

Subseries Z is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries AA: James M. Welch, 16th Illinois Infantry, Company D, 1862-1865

Biographical/Historical

James M. Welch of Carthage, Illinois, enlisted in the 16th Illinois Infantry, Company D, on May 24, 1861. He reenlisted December 23, 1863, and rose to the rank of sergeant. He was appointed 2nd Lieutenant July 3, 1865, but was then discharged with his regiment. As a veteran, Welch joined Grand Army of the Republic Post #96 in Quincy, Illinois. He died January 28, 1917.

Scope and Contents

Subseries AA contains two diaries written by James M. Welch. Welch’s diaries represent several different kinds of records, including ledger book, unofficial muster roll and company diary. Welch’s accounts of small unit actions reveal details not easily found elsewhere. He fought in the Siege of Corinth, April-June, 1862; at Farmington, Mississippi on May 3 and May 9, 1862; in Western and Middle Tennessee; and in Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign, including the battles at Averysboro and Bentonville.

Arrangement

Subseries AA is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries BB: William R. Wilder, 9th Illinois Cavalry, Company F, 1862-1865

Biographical/Historical

William R. Wilder enlisted in the 9th Regiment Illinois Cavalry Volunteers on October 7, 1861. He was promoted to bugler in Company F. He mustered out on October 31, 1865.

Scope and Contents

Subseries BB contains twenty-one letters written by William R. Wilder between April 12, 1862 and October 30, 1865. Most of these letters were written to Wilder’s aunt. He discusses troop movements, daily camp life, skirmishes, illness and the dead and dying. He mentions an African American regiment in one letter. Wilder refers to his regiment as Brackels Cavalry, Company F. Brackels was an officer in the unit. The unit moved through Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.

Arrangement

Subseries BB is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries CC: General Letters, 1847-1924, undated, bulk 1861-1865

Scope and Contents

Subseries CC contains forty-three letters from a variety of participants in the Civil War: Union and Confederate, ranked leaders and common soldiers. They cover a number of contexts, as well. Some of the leaders appearing here are John Bragg, James B. McPherson, Andrew Johnson, Franz Sigel, Benjamin Butler, Albert Sidney Johnston, William Denison, James A. Garfield, John Hunt Morgan, Daniel Ruggles, E. Kirby Smith, Abner Doubleday, James Longstreet, Horace Porter and John Alexander McClernand.

Arrangement

Subseries CC is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name.

Series 1: Letters and Diaries, 1852-1951

Subseries DD: General Diaries, Narrative Accounts and Minute Books, 1860-1886

Scope and Contents

Subseries DD contains 13 items that were written mostly by rank-and-file soldiers fighting for the Union during the Civil War. An item that gives a different perspective is a minute book from a Soldiers’ Aid Society formed by women in Ohio.

Arrangement

Subseries DD is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Scope and Contents

Series 2 contains topics of slavery throughout the world in the centuries leading up to the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and the veterans’ group, the Grand Army of the Republic, especially its Illinois Departments. These subjects are documented through official papers and publications. Further documentation of the Civil War appears in ephemera, songs and poems, images, patriotic envelopes and currency.

Arrangement

Series 2 is arranged into 11 subseries:

• Subseries A: Currency, 1856-1864, undated
• Subseries B: Elections, 1862-1877
• Subseries C: Patriotic Envelopes, 1861-1865, undated
• Subseries D: Ephemera, 1861-1911, undated
• Subseries E: Grand Army of the Republic and other Civil War Veterans Groups, 1866-1957, undated
• Subseries F: Grand Army of the Republic Enlistment Forms, 1866
• Subseries G: Abraham Lincoln, 1841-2005, undated
• Subseries H: Publications, Forms, Certificates, Official Documents, 1851-1912, undated
• Subseries I: Slavery, 1785-1884, undated
• Subseries J: Songs and Poems, 1861-1876, undated
• Subseries K: Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments, 1863-1864

Subseries A: Currency, 1856-1864, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries A contains Confederate currency, federal postage/fractional currency and state and regional bank currency issued before and during the Civil War. During the Civil War, coins fell out of use as people and banks held onto them for the value of the metal out of which they were made. As a result, it was difficult to make change under $1.00. Anything of a set value less than $1.00 was accepted to make change, with postage stamps becoming the preferred currency. F.E. Spinner, U.S. Treasurer at the time, adopted the use of postage stamps for fractional currency by pasting them onto slips of paper. The Post Office and Congress both authorized this use of stamps as currency. This postal currency was succeeded by fractional currency, printed money in denominations less than $1.00. Fractional currency was used until 1876 when the widespread issuance of metal to make coins was resumed. Many examples of this postage and fractional currency appear in this collection.

Arrangement

Subseries A is arranged chronologically within the currency types of Pre-Civil War currency, Confederate currency, and then United States Treasury.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries B: Elections, 1862-1877

Scope and Contents

Subseries B contains material related to presidential elections in the years during and surrounding the Civil War. Included are officially published platforms, instructions to election inspectors and admissions tickets to the 1869 inauguration and the 1877 vote counting session. Of note are the platform listings for the 1864 presidential election in which Abraham Lincoln won reelection with Andrew Johnson as his running mate.

Arrangement

Subseries B is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries C: Patriotic Envelopes, 1861-1865, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries C contains Civil War mailing envelopes that were printed with patriotic images, sayings and poems.

Arrangement

Subseries C is arranged first by Union envelopes and followed by Confederate envelopes.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries D: Ephemera, 1861-1911, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries D contains newspapers, newsletters, newspaper clippings, train tickets, military passes, admission tickets, stamps, recruitment posters, a Negro passport, broadsides, advertisements, railroad timetables and a canceled check. The newspapers and newsletters were often created by soldiers, and of particular note, is an issue of The Prisoner Vidette, produced in Camp Douglas Prison, Chicago, Illinois.

Arrangement

Subseries D is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries E: Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and other Civil War Veterans Groups, 1866-1957, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries E contains information related to the formation and operation of the GAR and other Civil War veterans’ groups. The GAR departments described are usually based in Illinois and Chicago.

Arrangement

Subseries E is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries F: Grand Army of the Republic Enlistment Forms, 1866

Scope and Contents

Subseries F includes 80 enlistment forms for the GAR Out-Post Encampment No. 1 in Decatur, Illinois, the post that first established the GAR.

Arrangement

Subseries F is arranged sequentially by accession number.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries G: Abraham Lincoln, 1841-2005, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries G contains material about Abraham Lincoln. It includes a manuscript property deed from 1841; transcripts of speeches he gave in a variety of settings, including before he became president; published general military orders; scholarly works about Lincoln; information on his funeral events, including orders of procession in a number of cities and addresses and sermons delivered at memorial services; brochures from posthumous birthday celebrations and from the dedication of his presidential library and museum; and schoolwork completed by his grandson.

Arrangement

Subseries G is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries H: Publications, Forms, Certificates, Official Documents, 1851-1912, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries H contains a variety of publications and officially printed forms, certificates and documents. This series includes published military reports; published special and general military orders; soldiers’ discharge papers; certificates of military service; oaths of allegiance; blank forms; published pamphlets of speeches, statements, addresses, correspondence, orders and similar materials compiled on particular subjects; a prayer book; an almanac; scholarly lectures; an historical guidebook to Gettysburg; recommendations and endorsements for promotion, discharge and transfer; logs of supplies and clothing distributed to soldiers; soldier attendance logs; and a log kept by a surgeon with the Iowa 26th of medical treatment and prescriptions, along with a list of casualties.

Arrangement

Subseries H is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries I: Slavery, 1785-1884, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries I contains notices, bills, receipts and correspondence related to the sale and purchase of individual slaves. Also included in this series are a few published speeches and treatises on the topic of slavery all over the world. The publications include items related to slavery in the United States, as well as some pamphlets published in London, Great Britain, discussing slavery in the British colonies, Haiti, Jamaica, France, the West Indies and the Gold Coast in Africa.

Arrangement

Subseries I is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries J: Songs and Poems, circa 1820s-1876, undated

Scope and Contents

Subseries J contains a variety of songs and poems written before, during and about the Civil War or American slavery. Most are published, while some are handwritten.

The songs with the accession numbers beginning “91.17” were purchased together as a set and include eight British ballad broadsides relating to American slavery, circa 1820s-1830s. Woodcut illustrations appear at the top of each, with the text appearing below. Most songs were popular at the time. They include, “Come Back, Massa’s in de Cold Ground;” “Miss Lucy Long;” “The Boatman of the Ohio;” “Billy Pattison;” “I’m Off to Charlestown;” and “Happy Are We Niggers So Gay.”

Other items of note are the “Hopkins’ New Orleans 5 Cent Song Book” and poems by William Lloyd Garrison, Frances Anne Kemble, Kate Putnam Osgood, Frederick George Root, Adeline D.T. Whitney and others.

Arrangement

Subseries J is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Documents and Other Materials, 1785-2005, undated

Subseries K: Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments, 1863-1864

Scope and Contents

Subseries K contains material related to the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments and the affiliated Free Military School. Included are form letters, reports, by-laws and announcements.

Arrangement

Subseries K is arranged chronologically.