Skip to main content

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives

 Subject
Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings

Found in 74 Collections and/or Records:

James W. Cole papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS693f
Scope and Content This collection contains correspondence, military records, and pension records for James W. Cole and John B. Cole. The bulk of the papers relate to bounties and pensions paid to heirs of James W. Cole, as well as details of James' military service during the Civil War. There are two letters from John B. Cole and Aaron Shaw written to James during their service. There is also a letter and blank form from the law offices of Harvey Spalding and Sons soliciting cases for claims of pensions or...
Dates: 1862-1941, undated

James W. Courtney Civil War letter

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS560f
Scope and Content This collection consists of a letter written by James W. Courtney to his sister from a "Camp near Atlanta Georgia." Courtney discusses the lack of correspondence between the two of them and hopes that missing letters will eventually arrive. He writes that he hopes he will soon be finished with this "unholey war" and expects to capture Atlanta, Georgia, and return home within three months or so. Courtney claims that the Confederates lost 10,000 soldiers in a single charge against Union...
Dates: 1864 August 5

John A. Caho papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS605f
Scope and Content This collection contains a diary kept by John A. Caho from October 16, 1863 to March 2, 1864. It also contains photocopies of his parents’ marriage certificate, pension applications filed by Ann Jones Caho, medical examination records for both Charles H. Caho and John A. Caho, affidavits from neighbors and medical professionals verifying the conditions of Charles and John Caho’s illnesses, and company muster rolls for John A. Caho. The diary was written while John Caho was in Louisiana and...
Dates: 1861-1875

John Craig Evans civil war letters

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS105f
Scope and Contents of the Records This collection contains transcripts of letters written by John Craig Evans to his wife, Annie, from December 1864- June 1865. Most of the letters were written in Petersburg, Virginia and consist of questions about his children, family, and home life. Evans letters also note an increasing amount of desertions as troop conditions become harsher, and mention his involvement in the Battle of Hatchers Run and the Battle of Fort Stedman. On April 1, 1865 John Craig Evans was captured at the...
Dates: 1864-1865

John Dunlap civil war letter

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS97f
Scope and Contents of the Records This collection contains a typed copy of a letter written by John Dunlap to his father William Dunlap during the Atlanta Campaign in the Civil War on July 30, 1864. His letter states that he expects that the Union will overtake the Confederacy in the next battle. The next letter was written on June 13, 1969 by Jack C. Delius and thanks John Dunlap’s great- grandson, Garland S. Wells, Jr., for donating the original letter to the Cyclorama in Atlanta, Georgia. Also included in the collection,...
Dates: 1864

John K. Murdoch letter

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS671f
Scope and Content

This collection consists of a letter to John K. Murdoch from his parents and sister in Ithaca, New York. The letter discusses the health and activities of family and friends; civic affairs, including an election in which a candidate purchased votes for two dollars; and the return of the bodies of dead soldiers. Murdoch’s sister, Mary, tells a story about the husband of an acquaintance stealing jewelry from a dead Confederate soldier in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Dates: 1864 March 6

John Viles Civil War correspondence

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS771f
Scope and Content

This collection consists of letters between John Vile and his wife Frances. Most of the letters were written by Frances and contain information about life on the homefront in Massachussets during the Civil War.

Dates: 1861-1862, undated

John White Geary letters

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.mss55
Scope and Content

These papers consist mainly of photocopies (and some transcriptions) of letters written by John W. Geary to his second wife, Mary Geary, while he served in the Union Army during the Civil War between 1861 and 1865. Some letters predate the war, and others are written by John's son, Edward R. Geary, and sent to his stepmother Mary. The collection also includes an index of correspondence and information on the corps that Geary led.

Dates: 1858-1865, 1977, undated; Majority of material found within 1858 - 1865

Kontz family papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS545
Scope and Content This collection contains correspondence, land deeds, legal documents, military documents, programs, invitations, and scrapbooks pertaining to the Kontz family. Of particular interest is an 1859 slave receipt as well as Christian Kontz' 1848 formal statement of intent to become a citizen of the United States and his 1866 certificate of citizenship. Also of interest is correspondence between Kontz and the War Department regarding the use of the Kontz residence as headquarters of the Third...
Dates: 1847-1940, undated

Leonard H. Eicholtz Civil War letter

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS101f
Scope and Content This collection contains a letter sent from Leonard H. Eicholtz to Washington Townsend. Eicholtz discusses his change in base from Saint Mary's to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and explains that he is "engaged in the Construction Corps, rebuilding bridges and track in the rear of Sherman's Army." He discusses his work rebuilding a 600 foot long and seventy-five foot high bridge in six days. Eicholtz notes that Sherman has Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston on the run and predicts that the...
Dates: 1864 June 27

Lin family correspondence

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS849
Scope and Content This collection consists of seventy-two letters written among the various members of the Lin family of Atlanta and their extended relatives during the Civil War. Many of the letters are to Charles B. "Bud" Lin from his mother, Amanda M. Lin, and his three sisters: Mary Ann, Susan B., and Georgia, while he was attending the Georgia Military Institute. Common topics of the letters include the latest news of different relatives serving as soldiers, the hiring of substitutes, conscription of...
Dates: 1859-1887

Luther Nin Civil War letter

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS662f
Scope and Content This collection contains one letter and its transcription. The letter is dated September 13, 1864, and was written from East Point, Georgia, to Luther Nin’s “Little Couz.” This letter contains a detailed account of life in the Federal Army during the Atlanta Campaign from August 25 - 31, 1864. Luther Nin describes his company’s job to cover the retreat of several regiments from skirmish lines on August 25, 1864. He notes that from August 26 -30, 1864, he was continually marching or on picket...
Dates: 1864 September 13

Mangum family papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS217f
Scope and Content This collection consists of military records from the career of Dr. William L. Mangum as well as other family papers. Documents include military orders for Mangum to raise a cavalry company from wounded Confederate soldiers; personal letters; Confederate military passes; account pages, tax, and other receipts; and birth, marriage, and death certificates. The collection also includes weaving draft patterns from "Lizzie," possibly Mangum's sister Elizabeth, which were translated in the 1990s...
Dates: 1825-1991, undated

Mark Anthony Civil War letter

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS658f
Scope and Content This collection contains a letter from Mark Anthony to Miss Lizzie Coleman and its transcription with a reply from Coleman. The letter was written from Kingston, Georgia, and is dated May 22, 1864. Mark Anthony writes to Miss Lizzie Coleman. In this letter he recalls the anniversary of the 2nd assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi. Mark writes briefly of his regiment’s involvement in the Battle of Resaca only mentioning their loss of men to death and injury. He outlines his orders to march to...
Dates: 1864 May 22

Nellie Peters Black papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS32f
Scope and Content

This collection contains reminiscences by Nellie Peters Black about her father, her childhood, and her experience in Atlanta during the Civil War. Also included are newspaper clippings, a short biographical sketch, and a short story regarding Mrs. Black.

Dates: 1896-1907, undated

Peter Marchant Civil War correspondence

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS657f
Scope and Content This collection contains a photocopy of a picture of Peter Marchant dated May 7, 1863, and three letters from July 15 to August 2 of 1864. In his description of the photograph Marchant writes about the ring he wears on his left hand which was crafted by a soldier held prisoner at Camp Chase. The letters in this collection were written to Peter Marchant’s wife Susan and all contain much of the same information due to his fear that the letters were not being received. The letters dated July 15...
Dates: 1863-1864

Robert Carr war correspondence

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS756f
Scope and Content This collection primarily contains letters from Robert Carr to his sister, Virginia (1844-1927), and his mother, Sarah. The letters document his time in the Battery F, First Ohio Light Artillery, including a firsthand account of his involvement in Civil War engagements such as the Battle of Shiloh and the United States Army’s capture of John Hunt Morgan. The collection also contains letter from Ripley, Ohio during World War II. The soldier mentioned in the letter is presumably a descendant...
Dates: 1861-1876, 1943, undated

Roderick Perry papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.mss806
Scope and Content

This collection contains letters written by Roderick Perry and his family and friends of Warsaw, Kentucky. Also included are letters to soldiers requesting help from Kate Perry, Perry's adjutant handbook, and business cards of merchants supplying goods to prisioners of war.

Dates: 1841 - 1926

Sally Garrison's account of the Atlanta Campaign

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS173f
Scope and Content This collection contains a photocopy of Sally Garrison's handwritten account of her recollections of her experiences during the Atlanta Campaign. Her account spans from 1863 to 1864 and includes details of the following; conditions in Atlanta right before the raid, the Battle of Peachtree Creek, the shelling of the city, the surrender of Atlanta, and her experience as an exile fleeing to Macon, then to Dawson, Georgia until the end of the war. It was written at the request of the Thurza...
Dates: 1863-1864

Samuel Bachtell Civil War letter

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS16f
Scope and Content

This collection consists of a letter written by Samuel Bachtell to his wife in which he describes military maneuvers which led to the capture of Atlanta, Georgia. He also describes the destruction of military property by the fleeing Confederate forces and the joy the army felt about capturing Atlanta.

Dates: 1864 September 3