Each entry includes the town from which the soldier enlisted, or to which his name was credited--not necessarily his hometown. The summaries also include, in most cases, the highest rank achieved by the soldier during the war, excluding brevet ranks. Both the rank and town of enlistment are derived from Theodore S. Peck’s Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers. The names of all soldiers who authored materials in each collection appear in boldface, as do the names of civilian authors who played official or quasi-official roles. All boldfaced names appear in the indexes; the names of those who are mentioned in the descriptions but who did not write anything in the collection are not indexed.
Maginnis, Matthew
Wallingford
Fifth Vermont Infantry, Co. E; Veteran Reserve Corps, Sergeant
1861 Dec. 22-1864 Nov. 27
11 letters
Matthew Maginnis wrote to family members about personal matters and events at Camp Griffin, Virginia, in the winter of 1861-62, and on the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862. Included are some comments on Confederate prisoners and a raid on the Union camps. He was wounded and captured at Savage’s Station on June 29, and paroled a month later. Discharged later that year because of his wounds, Maginnis later enlisted in the Veteran Reserve Corps. The last three letters were written in 1864 during his service in the VRC in New Hampshire and Boston.
Location: Manuscript files
Manson, Charles A.
Bradford/Topsham
Twelfth Vermont Infantry, Company H,
Seventeenth Vermont Infantry, Company I, Corporal
1862 September 26-1865 July 9
76 letters
Charles A. Manson served as a private in the Twelfth Vermont, and described the continuing guerilla battles with Col. John S. Mosby in the outer defenses of Washington during the winter and spring of 1862/1863. He summarized the regiment’s march to Gettysburg, where it performed guard duty. Re-enlisting in the Seventeenth Vermont in the summer of 1864, Manson spent months at Camp Distribution awaiting transfer to the regiment. He arrived in time for the battle of Poplar Spring Church, where the Seventeenth suffered severely. He described the action and noted that he was left in command of his company after the battle, though only a corporal. In the following winter he mentioned seeing Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens enter Union lines on a peace mission, and wrote about the assault on Petersburg on April 2, 1865, in which he was seriously wounded.
Location: Charles A. Manson Papers
Maranville, Rollin E. (d. 1862)
Poultney
Seventh U.S. Cavalry
1861 Sept. 25-1865 June
22 letters
Rollin Maranville enlisted in a New York cavalry company that was transferred to federal service in the Seventh Cavalry. He wrote home about the trials of camp life and skirmishing with the rebels in the summer of 1862. He was mortally wounded late in the summer. Included in the collection are letters of his three brothers, Egbert L., Albert E., and Merritt P. Maranville, all members of Co. B, Second Vermont Infantry.
Location: Maranville Family Papers
Mathews, Horace P.
Concord
Fifteenth Vermont Infantry, Co. K, Private
1863 Feb. 20
1 item
Letter of Private Mathews to his cousin Londus Haskell in the Eleventh Vermont promising to visit him in camp.
Location: Manuscript files
May, Albert A.
Ludlow
Second Vermont Infantry, Co. I, Corporal
1861 Oct. 8, 1863 Mar. 9
2 letters
May’s first Corporal letter describes the skirmish at Lewinsville, September 28, 1861. The second concerns the improved morale of the Army of the Potomac, and rumors about the regiment being sent home to enforce conscription.
Location: Manuscript files; online
McGough, Cornelius
Barton
Third Vermont Infantry, Cos. D, E, Private
1863 Apr. 20-1864 Nov. 15
6 items
Private McGough’s letters contain brief remarks on military matters, his opinions on the course of the war, and things he would prefer to be doing at home. McGough stated that he had a friend write his letters for him. Included is a bounty statement signed (with an X) by William O’Brien, a seaman from Ireland.
Location: Manuscript files
Mead, Charles E. (d. 1863)
Hinesburg
Fourteenth Vermont Infantry, Co. G, Corporal
1862-1863
3 folders
The Mead family papers contain twelve letters from Charles E. Mead to his brother Elisha describing the work and living conditions of the Fourteenth Vermont. Numerous letters to Elisha Mead from other family members include comments on the war and Charles’s death at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Two telegrams from U.S. Congressman George F. Edmunds are also included. In addition, the collection holds two letters to Elisha Mead from William Hulsart, an officer in an unidentified Union regiment, in which he tells of his arrest for a minor offense, and the possibility of being court-martialed for refusing to return a fugitive slave.
Location: Mead Family Papers
Merriam, Dudley C.
Westford
Second Vermont Infantry, Co. G, Hospital Steward
1861 July 8-1865 Apr. 15
11 items
Letters of Dudley C. Merriam to J. H. Macomber of Westford. Merriam's seven letters concern army activities and morale, including the mood of the army after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Three letters from Corporal Frank B. Macomber of the First Vermont Cavalry mention training in Annapolis, Maryland, General Meade’s Mine Run Campaign, and Macomber’s admiration for General George A. Custer. A single letter from Private Haskell A. Henry of the Second Vermont Infantry gives a description of camp in Washington shortly after the regiment arrived in early July 1862.
Location: Macomber/Mower Family Papers
Miles, Lorenzo
Albany
Third Vermont Infantry, Co. E, Private
1861, September 14, 1863, September 19
2 letters
The first of Private Miles’s letters to his family refers to the building of Fort Ethan Allen in the outskirts of Washington, a foraging expedition, and the engagement at Lewinsville on September 11, 1861. The second letter was written from the camp of Battery F, 5th Artillery (whether it is a state or federal unit is not indicated) in the Army of the Potomac; Miles was apparently detached from the Third for artillery service.
Location: Manuscript files
Morey, Arthur P.
Norwich
Twenty-Second U.S. Colored Troops, Co. F Captain
1864 Feb. 4
1 letter
Captain Morey’s letter reveals his impressions of the black soldiers under his command in highly patronizing terms. He praised their soldierly abilities but thought very little of their intelligence.
Location: Manuscript files
Morey, Charles C. (d. 1865)
Royalton
Second Vermont Infantry, Cos. C, E, Sergeant
1864 Jan. 21-Apr. 25
2 items
Two letters Charles C. Morey wrote to his sister Mamie, giving a brief view of his duties as sergeant. Soon after, Morey was appointed lieutenant, then captain of his company. He was killed in action at Petersburg, April 2, 1865. Photocopies of Morey’s Civil War diaries can be found in the Stuart Goldman collection at the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Location: Manuscript files
Nash, Horace C. (d. 1864)
Jericho
Second Vermont Infantry, Co. G, Private
1862 November 7-1863 July 28
3 items
Three letters from Private Nash to his wife Flavia, two written from a hospital at Fortress Monroe, with some commentary on the prospects for an end to the war.
Location: Manuscript files
Northrop, Samuel J.
Shoreham
Fourteenth Vermont Infantry, Co. D, Private
1863 June 28-July 7
3 items
Three letters to Private Northrpp from family members in Shoreham, Vermont, expressing hopes and anxieties about his health and the outcome of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Location: Manuscript files
Norton, Andrew H.
Barnard
Third Vermont Infantry, Co. K, Third Vermont Battery, Light Artillery, Private
1864 January 2-1865 May 28
3 folders
Andrew H. Norton was transferred to the Veteran reserve Corps early in 1864 after his release from a Confederate prison camp. He was discharged in September but soon enlisted in the Third Vermont Battery. Most of his letters (addressed to his sweetheart, Sarah Martha Jones) date between January and June 1865. He commented on the character of the men in conscript camp at Fairhaven, Connecticut, and mentioned that the Vermonters among them were disliked by the others because the officers chose only Vermont men for guards. Norton described the Third Battery’s involvement in the fighting near Petersburg at the end of March, 1865, and speculated about his eventual discharge. The collection includes fifteen letters to Martha from her brother, Charles D. Jones, a private in Company D of the Sixth Vermont Infantry. Jones was also transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps in 1864 and wrote many of his letters from hospitals in Brattleboro and Burlington. He asked his sister to advise their brother not to enlist, and sent patriotic verses. Includes an 11-page memoir of Jones’s first several months in the Sixth Vermont.
Location: Sarah M. Jones Papers
Paddock, Augustus (1839-1906)
Corporal
Craftsbury
First Vermont Cavalry, Co. I
1862 Sept. 3-1864 Dec. 27
1 box
Augustus Paddock enlisted in the First Vermont Cavalry in July, 1862, and was severely wounded in a skirmish with Mosby’s guerillas at Broad Run on April 1, 1863. He spent the rest of his service in military hospitals, first as a patient, later as a ward master. He was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps in March 1864 and mustered out in July 1865. His letters while with the regiment concern camp life, family matters, and the regiment’s repeated run-ins with Mosby. Later correspondence concerns activities in a New York Hospital and the U.S. General Hospital in Brattleboro, Vermont. Paddock described his duties in the latter hospital, the attitudes of doctors and patients, and activities in Brattleboro, such as the appearance of numerous black Vermont men bound for the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry. The Augustus Paddock letters are part of a voluminous correspondence with family members. Letters from home contain much information on home-front views of the war.
Location: Augustus Paddock Papers
Paige, Harlan (b. 1838)
Royalton
Fourth Vermont Infantry, Co. C, Lieutenant
1861 September 15-1865 May 14
258 letters
Harlan Paige enlisted in the Fourth Vermont at its inception and was made corporal in Company E. He was promoted to sergeant and received a commission as First Lieutenant in Company C in January, 1865. His frequent letters home provide a running account of the soldier’s life, thoughts, and expectations. Paige courted his wife-to-be, Carrie, through correspondence, and kept up on family events as well as issues affecting friends at home. While he usually downplayed his own participation in battles he briefly described his experiences at the battles of Lee’s Mill, Crampton’s Gap, Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor (where he was slightly wounded), the Shenandoah campaign of fall, 1864, and the capture of Petersburg. Commenting frequently in favor of the draft, he promised Carrie and others that he had no intention of re-enlisting. On nearly the last day of eligibility, however, he signed up for another three years, explaining that the bonuses would give him a start on life as a civilian, as well as a good chance at a commission. The re-enlistment deal also gave him a thirty-day furlough, allowing him to return home and marry Carrie, and coincidentally to miss the worst of Grant’s Overland Campaign. The collection includes a great many letters to Harlan Paige from his brothers and others, some of which contain interesting commentary on war issues from the civilian perspective. In particular, several letters in April and May 1861, describe war fever and the progress of enlistments in Boston. One letter from a fellow soldier, Private Jones M. Smith of the Third Vermont Infantry, is also included.
Location: Harlan Paige Papers
Parcher, Tabor H.
Waterbury
Tenth Vermont Infantry, Co. B, Corporal
1862 Aug.-1864 Sept.
12 folders
Letters and letter fragments of Tabor Parcher to his wife Sarah, and part of a loose leaf diary. Parcher wrote about daily activities in camp, the availability of food and liquor, the interaction between soldiers and civilians, and military engagements of the regiment. In addition to frequent salacious remarks to his wife, Parcher made occasional comments about the sexual activity of soldiers and civilians. Some of the letters he wrote while in the line of battle, or shortly after battles, specifically Orange Grove, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. He also gave an account of the Tenth Vermont’s role in the pursuit of Lee’s army after the battle of Gettysburg. The diary gives brief summaries of daily activities from January through May 1864. The collection includes one letter (Jan. 18, 1864) to Parcher from Private Ezra W. Conant (Tenth Vermont Infantry) of Waterbury, Vermont, written from a military hospital.
Location: Tabor Parcher Papers
Parker, Rev. Charles Carroll
Waterbury
United States Christian Commission, Civilian
1864 Feb. 1-March 29
19 items
Seventeen letters of Rev. Charles C. Parker of Waterbury, Vermont, to his family, written during Parker’s service in the U.S. Christian Commission at Brandy Station, Virginia. Parker wrote of his visits to various Vermont regimental camps and hospitals, describing the state of interest in religion among the soldiers and officers. In his last letter he gave an account of a reception with President and Mrs. Lincoln at the White House. The Parker Family papers also contain two letters from Edward N. Phelps, a corporal in the Ninth Vermont. One (Sept. 23, 1862) mentions his activities as a paroled prisoner, and the other (May? 27, 1863) was written from the field near Suffolk, Virginia.
Location: Parker/Fleming Family Papers
Parker, Charles E. (1839-1924)
Vergennes
Seventh Vermont Infantry, Co. E. Captain
1861-1863
25 folders
Charles E. Parker served as the first Adjutant of the Seventh Vermont and received a commission as captain of Company E in December 1862. Letters to his family and friends describe the regiment's voyage from New York to Ship Island, Louisiana, camp life in Louisiana and Florida, and reactions to such issues as sickness in the camps, conscription, and the censure of the Seventh Vermont by Gen. Benjamin Butler. Parker received a furlough for sickness in the summer of 1862, and thus missed the battle of Baton Rouge. Letters from Captain Parker’s mother, Henrietta M. Parker, contain family news and repeated appeals to her son to resign and return home. A loose-leaf journal provides another perspective on Parker’s experience from March through June of 1862, and a pocket diary covers much of 1863. The collection also contains portraits of Captain Parker and hand-drawn maps of the Vicksburg area, and of the battle for Forts Jackson and St. Philip. Correspondents include Seventh Vermont members Col. William C. Holbrook, Captain John Q. Dickinson, Quartermaster George E. Jones, Chaplain William C. Hopkins, and Hospital Steward Henry M. Dorrance.
Location: Charles E. Parker Papers
Parker, Moses A.
Concord
Third Vermont Infantry, Co. C, Second U.S. Sharpshooters, Co. H, Private
Fourth Vermont Infantry
9 folders
The Parker Family Papers contain letters to and from Moses A. Parker and his brother Private Stephen Madison Parker, of Concord, Vermont. Both enlisted in the Third Vermont Infantry in 1861. Stephen Parker died of disease after accidentally shooting off a thumb in the winter of 1862. Moses was wounded and captured at the battle of Savage's Station on June 29, 1862. Released in August, he was discharged from the service. In the fall of 1864 he re-enlisted, in Company H of the Second U.S. Sharpshooters. When the sharpshooter regiments were disbanded early in 1865, company H joined the Fourth Vermont Infantry. Among his early letters, Moses Parker wrote of the high rate of sickness and death among Vermont soldiers at Camp Griffin, and described a skirmish at Lewinsville, Virginia (September 11, 1861). Private Hosea B. Williams wrote to the Parker family to inform them of Moses's wounding and capture. During his second tour of duty, Moses corresponded with his wife-to-be, Eliza D. Hale, and kept her informed about other soldiers from Concord, living conditions in the trenches outside of Petersburg, and his low opinion of conscripts. Between his terms of service, Moses received many letters at home from comrades in the Third Vermont, particularly from Williams. Among the regimental activities he described, Williams gave an account of the second battle of Fredericksburg. Williams and Private Daniel W. Whipple (Third Vermont Infantry) both noted their satisfaction with the resignation of Colonel Breed N. Hyde. Other correspondents include Private Hiram L. Morse (Second U.S. Sharpshooters) and Private Harvey B. Aldrich (Eleventh Vermont Infantry).
Location: Parker Family Papers
Parker, Samuel D.
Chelsea
Tenth Vermont Infantry, Co. G, Private
1864-1865
1 folder
Diary of Samuel D. Parker, containing brief entries on daily activities in 1864, and a letter he wrote from an army hospital in October 1864. A letter from Samuel's brother Willard W. Parker, a private in the Sixth Vermont Infantry, describes Willard's trip to a hospital and Samuel's death near Petersburg in April 1865. Also included is part of a letter from Captain Lemuel Abbott of the Tenth Vermont concerning the circumstances of Samuel's death.
Location: Manuscript files
Parkhurst, Alfred S.
Barre
U.S. Navy
1864 Nov. 11-1865 April 18
2 items
Letters of Alfred Parkhurst to his friend George Wheaton. Parkhurst served on several vessels in the South. In his first letter he commented on the presidential election of 1864, the behavior of the sailors, and the arrest of civilians for making salt for the Confederacy. The second letter concerns his eagerness to be out of the Navy.
Location: Manuscript files, Wheaton family.
Parsons, Henry C.
Johnson
Thirteenth Vermont Infantry, Co. E, Corporal
1862 Oct. 27-1863 Feb. 16
3 items
Letters from Corporal Parsons to his brother and sister in Westford, Vermont, describing daily activities in defensive lines around Washington.
Location: George A. Stuart Papers
Peake, Willis Royal (1836-1901) Bristol
Third Vermont Militia, First Lieutenant
1861-1865
1 folder, 5 additional items
Willis R. Peake of Bristol, Vermont served as a recruiting officer in 1861 and 1862, and as drillmaster for a company of the Sixth Vermont Infantry in 1861. He received a commission as first lieutenant of the Third Vermont Militia Regiment in 1864. Neither position took him far from home. A folder of recruitment papers includes a few enlistment documents and muster rolls, and Peake's commission. Peake’s pocket diary for 1861 contains a few entries for September and October on his efforts as a drillmaster. A letter (July 23, 1862) from First Lieutenant (later Captain) Riley A. Bird of the Sixth Vermont Infantry briefly mentions the battle of Savage’s Station. There are three letters from Joseph S. Clark, a merchant in Augusta, Georgia, to Peveril Peake. The first (April 12, 1861) champions the Southern cause upon the bombing of Fort Sumter. The other two (August 10 and September 15, 1965) concern Clark’s efforts to recover from the war.
Location: Peake Family Papers
Perham, William H.
Brookfield
Fifteenth Vermont Infantry, Co. C, Private
1862 Sept.-1863 July 9
18 items
Letters of William Perham to his parents and siblings, and three letters to Perham from female friends at home. Most of the letters concern camp routines and matters at home, include sheep farming, with some comments on the disparaging remarks directed at nine-month volunteers and the Fifteenth’s brief appearance in the battle of Gettysburg. Includes a four-page daily account of life in the mustering-in camp at Brattleboro.
Location: Manuscript files
Perkins, Joseph L.
Burlington
Civilian
1861 April 23
1 letter
Letter of Joseph L. Perkins, a student at the University of Vermont, to his brother, expressing in highly patriotic terms his intention to enlist in the army to fight for the Union.
Location: Manuscript files; online
Perry, John B.
Swanton
Tenth Vermont Infantry, Chaplain
1865 Mar. 6-June 7
1 vol.
Journal of Rev. John B. Perry, chaplain of the Tenth Vermont and a delegate of the United States Christian Commission. Perry went to the military camps in Virginia in March 1865 and returned to Vermont in June. His journal notes the visiting, letter-writing, preaching, and other activities he undertook to improve the lives of the soldiers. It contains some notes on the war, as well as lists of soldier’s names from hospitals and cemeteries.
Location: John B. Perry Papers
Perry, William W., Jr.
Brookline
Eighth Vermont Infantry, Co. H, Corporal
1863 Sept. 18
1 item
The letter of William Perry concerns the failed Union assault on Sabine Pass, Texas, in which a detachment of the Eighth Vermont participated, and the hardships they suffered on the sea passage.
Location: Manuscript files
Petrie, William H.
Hartland
Fourth Vermont Infantry, Co. K, Second U.S. Sharpshooters, Co. H, Private
1862 Mar. 1 - July 13
4 items
Four soldiers’ letters addressed to “Wilber,” one each from his Hartland friends William H. Petrie (Apr. 22, 1862) and Henry Holt (private, First Vermont Cavalry; March 1, 1862), and two from Wilber's brother (name and regiment unknown). Petrie's letter concerns the battle of Lee's Mills. Petrie was discharged for disability in January 1863, but enlisted in company H, Second U.S. Sharpshooters in September 1864. Holt wrote about cavalry training and guard duty in Camp Harris near Annapolis, Maryland. He died of disease in October, 1862. The two letters (April 23 and July 13, 1862) from Wilber's brother describe military operations, attitudes of civilians, and daily events in the Shenandoah Valley.
Location: Manuscript files
Phelps, John Wolcott
Brattleboro
First Vermont Infantry, Brigadier General
1861-1884
2 folders
Letters received by John W. Phelps, colonel of the First Vermont Infantry and brigadier general from May 1861 until his resignation in August1862. Phelps commanded the First Vermont during its 3-month enlistment in Virginia under Major General Benjamin F. Butler. He served under Butler again as brigadier general in the Gulf Department, but resigned when Butler refused to sanction the use of black troops Phelps had trained.
The collection includes 17 letters from family friend Gov. Frederick Holbrook and his son William C. Holbrook, major and later colonel of the Seventh Vermont. Gov. Holbrook wrote about the recruitment of the Seventh Vermont, the appointments of Colonel George T. Roberts, William Holbrook, and other officers, the character of Vermont soldiers, and his attempts to influence federal war policy. Both of the Holbrooks corresponded with Phelps about General Butler’s censure of the Seventh Vermont after the battle of Baton Rouge. Gov. Erastus Fairbanks wrote on similar topics, and about allegations of misconduct by surgeons in the First Vermont. Other correspondents include Capt. E.V.N. Hitchcock on the condition of the Seventh Vermont at Santa Rosa Island in March 1863, Major Harry N. Worthen concerning sick soldiers of the First Vermont at Fort Monroe, and Capt. Charles W. Seaton of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters, concerning the promotion of William Ripley to Lieutenant Colonel of that regiment. Also included are letters from U.S. Senators Justin S. Morrill and George F. Edmunds, Congressman F.E. Woodbridge, and businessman Le Grand B. Cannon.
Location: Manuscript files; Online
Pitridge, John W.
Brandon
Fifth Vermont Infantry, Co. H, Private
1863 January 10
1 item
Letter of Private Pitridge about the value soldiers place on letters, and his experience under the artillery barrage at the battle of Fredericksburg.
Location: Manuscript Files
Pond, Henry A.
Castleton
Fourteenth Vermont Infantry, Co. F, Corporal
1863 Apr. 3
1 item
Letter from Henry A. Pond of Castleton, Vermont, concerning family matters and guard duty at Wolf Run Shoals, Virginia.
Location: Manuscript files
Post, Herman A. (d. 1901)
Hinesburg
Fourteenth Vermont Infantry, Co. G, Private
1863
1 volume
Herman Post’s pocket diary for 1863 gives brief and scattered accounts of daily activities, with longer entries for the period of May through July. Post fell sick in the hard march to Gettysburg and wrote about the battle from a hospital in Frederick, Maryland.
Location: Small bound manuscripts
Potter, Charles H.
Malone, NY
One Hundred Forty-second New York
1863 Mar. 31-1864 Dec. 14
4 items
Four letters of Charles H. Potter to his parents in Malone, New York. In the first letter Potter wrote about raids by Confederate general Jeb Stuart, and regimental activities near Chain Bridge in the defenses of Washington. The last two letters were written from Balfour Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, where Potter was recovering from a leg wound.
Location: Manuscript files, Potter Family