Civil War and Reconstruction Resources in Special Collections & Archives

Typescript copy of the diary of Owen W. Davis, Jr., from June 17, 1862, to September 27, 1862, recording his experience as an enlisted soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. Topics include minor skirmishes, court marial duties, capture and parole, and routine duties while stationed in northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland. Davis (Bowdoin College Class of 1864) left college to enlist with the 7th Squadron, Rhode Island Cavalry

Journal January 29, 1861-September 6, 1862. Deering enlisted in the 13th Maine in December 1861 and was medically discharged in July 1862.

An 18 page essay on the actions of the 54th Massachusetts, commanded by Robert Gould Shaw. The volume appears to be an exercise book, and is tentatively identified as the work of orator and author Anna Dickinson (1842-1932).

John Calvin Dodge's handwritten autobiography and its typed transcription, as well as his "Daily Records" from 1850-1866 noting personal activities and news of the day, particularly concerning the Civil War (from July 4, 1863). There is correspondence between Dodge and his brothers, letters from Dodge to his family from Europe, and daguerreotypes of the Dodge family. Other family material includes papers concerning the probate of Isaac Dodge's estate, and sermons dating from 1781.

Five pocket diaries (1863-1865) kept by Edwin Emery during his military service in the Civil War, as well as a transcription of four pages from an 1864 diary that is lacking from the collection. Also includes an undated memoir written by Edwin Emery and related accounts by Emery's son, William M. Emery. The diaries provide brief details of life with the 17th Maine Regiment during Civil War campaigns, including troop movements, battles, injuries, driving an ambulance, promotions, religious life, gambling, a victory parade, meeting General Grant, and hearing of President Lincoln's assassination; the transcribed pages from the missing diary concern Emery's wounding during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Edwin Emery's memoir describes the Battle of the Wilderness, and the account by William M. Emery expands on, and clarifies, his father's memoir, particularly with regard to a letter by Captain George W. Verrill concerning the retreat of the 17th Maine at the Battle of the Wilderness. Also available online.

Evans (Bowdoin 1860) was a hospital steward for the 13th Maine in 1861, and became Assistant Surgeon of the 14th Maine in 1863. His reminiscences contains a large section on his experiences during the Civil War, especially in the Port Hudson (La.) and Petersburg (Va.) campaigns, and, briefly, post-war civilian life in New Hampshire. Occasional correspondence, newspaper clippings, and Civil War documents laid in.

Augustus B. Farnham (1839-1918), a native of Bangor, Maine, began his Civil War military service with the 2nd Maine Regiment. He transferred to the 16th Maine and served until 1865. Farnham also served as inspector general and chief of staff within the Fifth Corps until he was severely wounded at Five Forks. He was breveted colonel for his bravery. Letters (1861-1916), Civil War journals (1862 and 1864), documents and clippings (1863-1905), and photographs, mostly relating to Farnham's military career.

Correspondence, professional and personal records, publications, articles, addresses, reports, lectures, memoirs, a diary, documents, receipts, accounts, clippings, images, genealogies, and biographical material related to the Fessenden family. The collection focuses on the family and professional life of William Pitt Fessenden (1806-69), Senator from Maine and Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury from July 1864 to March 1865. Fessenden (Bowdoin 1823) was a lawyer in Bridgton, Bangor and Portland; a Maine legislator (1832,1840, 1845-46, 1853-54), member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1841-43); and Senator from Maine (1854-64, 1865-69). An early member of the Republican Party, he opposed slavery. In the Senate he served as chair of the Finance Committee and, as a member of the Reconstruction Committee, voted against the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Several other family members are also represented in the collection. William Pitt’s son, James Deering Fessenden (Class of 1852), was involved in organizing the first Union regiment of African American soldiers. Francis Fessenden's album of carte-de-visite photographs of uniformed officers is also part of the collection.

Bound volume listing officers and enlisted men of an unassigned Maine volunteer infantry battalion, indicating physical details, home towns, and muster dates.

The Frick Lincoln Autograph Album contains ten ALS and DS by Abraham Lincoln, members of his cabinet, and prominent contemporaries, including Stephen Douglas and Ulysses S. Grant. These are bound into a copy of Carl Schurz's "Lincoln: A Biographical Essay...." The Frick Presidential Autograph Album contains autographs of presidents of the United States, from Washington to Wilson (1789-1917). Both albums were compiled by Henry Clay Frick.

This collection, compiled by Robert D. Gault in 1997, documents the family history and genealogy of the Garcelon family and closely related families such as the Ames and Chase families, chiefly from Lewiston, Lisbon, and Harpswell, Maine. There is also a small cache of Civil War documents, especially letters pertaining to Julius M. Swain and his regiment.

Family papers including letters written to celebrated musician and composer William Wallace Gilchrist, Sr. while he was a drummer in the Civil War.

John Van Surlay de Grasse (Med. Sch. 1849), one of the U.S. Army's eight African American surgeons, who attended the Medical College of Maine (administered by Bowdoin College) and served with the 35th United States Colored Troops; and, Henry Goddard Thomas (Class of 1852), a U.S.C.T. officer.

Letters, articles, addresses, and diaries including material on the Civil Wa related to Charles Henry Howard (Bowdoin 1859), the brother of Oliver Otis Howard. The collection includes ca. 150 Civil War era letters. Howard's service included the 3rd Maine (1861) and the 61st New York (1862-1864). He was Colonel of the 128th U.S. Colored Troops and held command of the United States Colored Troop training camp at Beaufort, S.C.. He rose to Bvt. Brigadier General in 1865. Howard also served as an assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. The collection is fully available online.

Howard (Class of 1850), a career officer in the U.S. Army, was also commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen’s Bureau) during Reconstruction, held commands in the American West after 1874, was superintendent at the U.S. Military Academy, and was instrumental in founding Howard and Lincoln Memorial universities. Among his voluminous papers are correspondence, articles, addresses, lectures, publications, diaries, clippings, indexes, photographs, and other material. The collection includes his Civil War correspondence as well as articles and addresses, many on Civil War events and individuals, and a volume of copies of his outgoing correspondence, daily action reports, orders, etc. (1861-1865). The collection also includes his semi-official exchanges with Freedmen’s Bureau agents, letters concerning the operation of and investigations into the Bureau, as well as correspondence with freedmen and African American leaders, including southern black Reconstruction era politicians: Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, William Still, Booker T. Washington, Blanche Kelso Bruce, and numerous freed blacks seeking aid and guidance in their new lives. He took a special interest in James Webster Smith, the first African American cadet at West Point, and maintained substantial correspondence with Charles B. Purvis about training African American physicians. The collection is fully available online.

Letters, diaries, journals, pamphlets, sermons, clippings and speeches from the personal papers of Rowland Bailey Howard (Bowdoin 1856). Howard was a member of the U.S. Christian Commission during the Civil War and many letters date during that time. The collection is fully available online.

Approximately 26 linear feet of correspondence, diaries, addresses, clippings, etc., 1789 to 1917. Included are Civil War letters, a letter-book (Jan-Jun 1863), a Special Orders volume (Oct 1862-Feb 1864) and indices, all by John Barrett Hubbard (Bowd. 1857); Civil War letters and journals (Nov 29, 1863 - Mar 31, 1864; Mar 15-Jun 18, 1865), and reports and brigade files of Thomas Hamlin Hubbard (Bowdoin 1857). Their correspondence and that of other family members, including Albert Reed Barrett, is also of interest. John B. Hubbard rose to Captain and Asst. Adjutant General in the 1st Maine Battery, and died in service May 27, 1863 at Port Hudson, Louisiana. Thomas H. Hubbard served with the 25th Maine, the 30th Maine and the 1st Brigade, rising to Bvt. Brigadier General by 1865. Albert R. Barrett was with the 7th New York (1861) and the 1st Sharpshooters (1862-1864) and with the Quartermasters Department (1864); he rose to the rank of Lieutenant.

Holograph transcriptions (2 vols.) of correspondence and memoirs of Charles O. Hunt, dated Portland [Me.], December 28, 1898, documenting Hunt's participation in the Civil War. He joined the Union Army upon his graduation in 1861, serving as a sergeant in the 5th Maine Battery, and was made lieutenant in 1863. His service included the second battle of Manassas, the Wilderness Campaign, and Gettysburg, as well as internment as a prisoner of war at Hilton Head, S.C., and Danville, Va. Principal correspondents include his mother and brother, Henry Hastings Hunt, and other Maine acquaintances; and also General Johnson Hagood with whom Hunt carried on a post-bellum correspondence concerning his internment under Hagood's command. Pasted in are various photographs, currency notes, signed orders and other documents, and brochures concerning a memorial at Gettysburg battle field.

The collection contains 30 letters (August 25, 1862 - April 11, 1865) from Henry Hastings Hunt (Bowdoin 1862) to his mother and sister Mary Eliza Hunt Carson, and three diaries (January 6, 1863 - July 11, 1865). Hunt served in the 1st Maine Battery and fought in many battles, including Second Bull Run and Gettysburg.

The Civil War related materials in this collection is primarily correspondence (ca. 35 letters) between Thomas W. Hyde and Annie Hayden. Hyde raised a company for the Seventh Maine Infantry and was elected major. He was present with his regiment at the Siege of Yorktown, the battles of Williamsburg and Mechanicsville, and all of the seven-day battles in front of Richmond. He commanded the regiment at Second Bull Run, Crampton's Gap and Antietam, and was appointed Acting Inspector General of the Left Division, Army of the Potomac. He was with General Sedgwick at Gettysburg and all the battles following in which the Sixth Corps was engaged, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and remained with the Sixth Corps until his three years expired, when he was commissioned colonel of the First Maine Veteran Volunteers. He was present at Sailor's Creek and at the surrender of Lee, and was made brigadier general in 1865.

A typescript copy of Kenniston's (Bowdoin 1861) kept from 1861 July 26 - 1862 Aug 16, recording time spent as a prisoner of war in Virginia, Alabama, and North Carolina subsequent to his capture at the Manassas Campaign (1st Battle of Bull Run). At the time, Kenniston served as 1st Lt., 5th Maine; he was released in August 1862.

A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Needler R. Jennings lived most of his life in New Orleans. He practiced law until 1841, when he was appointed Clerk of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He remained in office after secession, serving until the Union army occupied the city in 1862. His collection includes five letters (1861-63) relating to Jennings and his service to Major in the Confederate Army. Three are letters from Pierre Soulé, two of them introducing Jennings to Edward Everett and P.G.T. Beauregard. Also includes correspondence with Jefferson Davis.

The archive of this Limington, Maine, family documents experiences of brothers who stood on opposite sides during the Civil War. William McArthur (Bowdoin Class of 1853) served with the 8th Maine and rose to the rank of Brevet Brigadier General; brother Arthur (Bowdoin Class of 1850) settled in Louisiana and served as Captain of the 6th Louisiana (C.S.A.); he was killed in battle fighting for the South. Scattered references to African Americans appear throughout these papers. Correspondence, including Civil War letters from Arthur, Jr., and William; family documents and diaries; Civil War military records, mostly containing the muster rolls, payrolls, courts martial adjutant reports and other material relating to the 8th Maine, and student records of Malcolm during his time at West Point.

Military pension and bounty land case files for Maine veterans and their dependents, administered by pension agents Arthur McArthur, Sr. and William McArthur. The bulk of the case files concern Maine veterans of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the War of 1812, and the Civil War (1861-1865), but records for those that served in the Seminole Wars (1st 1818, 2nd 1835-1842), the Mexican War (1846-1848), and the Aroostook "War" are also included. There is a name of pensioners available.

Holman Melcher served in the 20th Mainer and the 5th Corps. The collection contains correspondence (1860-1865), Civil War records, clippings, and other material (1863-1865). Correspondence includes letters to his brother Nathaniel, then a student at Bowdoin, and to his parents, written from the front lines at Fredericksburg, Antietam and other battle sites. Also included are general orders of the Army of the Potomac, and a consolidated morning report of the 20th Maine Regiment for March 21, 1863.

This collection of family papers includes approximately 50 Civil War era letters relating to William P. Mellen, a Supervising Agent of the Treasury Department and a Special Agent of the Post Office Department, stationed in Cincinnati. Of special interest is the correspondence between W.P. Mellen and Salmon P. Chase and a letter from Gen. U.S. Grant (1863 Aug. 1) concerning the cotton trade.

The papers contain personal correspondence, mostly from family members, varied business correspondence, and documents ranging from Noyes's appointment as hospital steward during the Civil War to citizenship and pension papers. Also included are Noyes's sermon notes and sermons, newspaper clippings, ephemera, photographs, and pages taken from a family history scrapbook. With the scrapbook pages are a number of tintypes and photographs, some of family members in Civil War uniform.

Notes and manuscripts for Pullen's books "The Twentieth Maine", and "A Shower of Stars: The Medal of Honor and The 27th Maine". Both manuscripts are accompanied by the photographs, maps, and sketches used as illustrations for the works.

Bound ledger recording United States Christian Commission agent Redlon's expenses while stationed at Martinsburg, W.Va., Summit Point, Va., and Harper's Ferry, W.Va., from April through June 1865, along with a brief set of journal entries recounting Redlon's travels from Maine southward early in 1865 to join the Commission.

Aaron D. Riker's Civil War journal (circa 1861-1864) describing his wartime experiences in Virginia and other locales. Riker writes in detail about the course of the war and his feelings about the conflict; he describes skirmishes, battles, and places including Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Harper's Ferry, and Gettysburg. Riker also describes marching on Atlanta with General Sherman and portrays the burning of Atlanta. Supporting materials include a photocopy and partial transcription of the journal, genealogy charts, newspaper clippings about Riker's journal, digital files of all donated materials, and a digital copy of Riker's 1852 journal detailing his trip from Ohio to California during the gold rush (original at Bancroft library).

The papers of this Wiscasset shipping family include correspondence (including one letter press volume), 1861-1866, which deal with the effects of the war on shipping. The collection also contains the records of the individual ships. Also includes cashbooks, freight lists, crew accounts, shipping records, ships' records, etc., 1840s-1870s.

Francis Wallingford Sabine was born in Bangor, Maine and was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1859 and went on to study law. In November 1861 he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into Co. E. 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded at the Second Battle of Deep Bottom in Petersburg, Virginia, and died less than a month later on September 15, 1864. Ten Civil War-dated letters from Francis W. Sabine to his sister Mary L. Sabine of Bangor, Maine. The collection also includes four letters from and to Mary L. Sabine relating to the death of her brother. A letter of condolence to his father, Colonel Francis M. Sabine, on Adjutant General's Office letterhead is also included. Francis Sabine's letters to his sister primarily discuss family matters and Maine news conveyed by his sister and other family members. Two of Sabine's letters, written from Deep Bottom, Virginia, where his regiment was participating in the Union siege of Petersburg, mention his contentment with the quiet routine of camp life, despite the threat from Confederate troops in the vicinity. Severely wounded during battle, Sabine was transferred to the Chesapeake Military Hospital in Fort Monroe, where he wrote his last letter to Mary on August 28, 1864. He died on September 17, 1864.

Bound electrostatic copies of typescripts, newspaper clippings, general orders, and other resources documenting the life of Sarah Sampson, particularly her role as a nurse with the Maine 3rd Regt. Vols., and including typed transcriptions of correspondence with Oliver Otis Howard. Sampson was a Bath resident and fervent advocate for the establishment of the Bath Military and Naval Orphan Asylum, and later the State Military and Naval Children’s Home.

12 items, including an 1863 journal documenting a summer journey to Providence, R.I., to help recruit college students for a "college regiment" of artillery; and letters home during his 1864 service in the 31st Maine Infantry Regiment, in which he recounts camp life and describes military engagements in Virginia, including the Wilderness Campaign.