Author: Johanna Wickman

RG 94 Spotlight: The 4th New Jersey Infantry

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

“We Marched, Fought, and Endured”: The 4th New Jersey Infantry in the Overland Campaign and Petersburg

4th New Jersey Infantry photographed on parade in 1861.
4th New Jersey Infantry photographed on parade in 1861. Photograph featured in Baquet’s History of the First Brigade, New Jersey Volunteers (First Brigade), from 1861 to 1865, page 389 (481 in digital scan PDF).

The Research Arsenal is proud to be digitizing and adding historical records of Civil War regiments held at the National Archives to our online database so that researchers and historians can access material that previously required a trip to Washington D.C. The 4th New Jersey Infantry is one of the many regiments that has been added to our database.

By 1864, the men of the 4th New Jersey Infantry were no longer new soldiers. They were veterans—hardened by years of campaigning and now entering what would become the most brutal phase of the war.

The Wilderness: Into the Thicket of Fire

As the Army of the Potomac advanced in May 1864, the First New Jersey Brigade moved into the tangled, suffocating terrain of the Wilderness. Baquet describes the confusion and violence of the fighting:

“The brigade was soon hotly engaged, the enemy being encountered in force in the dense woods. The line advanced steadily, delivering its fire with coolness and precision, though the undergrowth was so thick as to render the alignment irregular and the movements difficult. The fire of the enemy was severe, and the men were subjected to a galling musketry which told heavily upon the ranks.” (Baquet, p. 452)

In this environment, visibility was limited, formations broke apart, and the fighting became intensely personal.

Capern’s letters reflect the same strain and anticipation that defined these early days of the campaign:

“We could hear the fierce rattle of the musketry, and the booming of the cannon, and we could see the shells bursting in the air above the trees. It was a grand but terrible sight, one that I shall never forget. We stood looking on for some time, watching the smoke rise and hearing the continual roar, and wondering how long it would be before we should be called into the fight.”

The Wilderness was not just a battle—it was chaos, noise, and suffocating fear.

Continuous Movement: No Rest for the Army

One of the defining features of Grant’s campaign was constant movement. Baquet emphasizes how little rest the men received as they pushed forward:

“The march was resumed with but little delay, the troops moving by night as well as by day, and halting only for brief intervals. The men were greatly fatigued, but there was no straggling; all seemed impressed with the importance of the movement and the necessity of pressing forward.” (Baquet, p. 456)

Capern’s account mirrors this exhaustion almost word for word:

“We kept on the march till daylight, and then lay down for a little rest. I was so tired that I believe I marched a good piece with my eyes shut. We have been two days without anything to eat, and feel it very much. Still, we have to keep along, for there is no stopping.”

Here, the official history and the soldier’s voice align perfectly—discipline and endurance carrying the men forward despite extreme fatigue.

Spotsylvania: Holding Under Fire

At Spotsylvania Court House, the fighting became even more intense. Baquet describes the brigade under heavy and sustained fire:

“The position occupied by the brigade was one of great exposure, and the fire to which it was subjected was exceedingly severe. Notwithstanding this, the men held their ground with great firmness, returning the fire with spirit and effect, and maintaining their line under circumstances of the utmost trial.” (Baquet, p. 468)

This was no brief engagement. The fighting dragged on, testing both physical and mental endurance.

Capern captured the cumulative toll of this kind of sustained combat:

“We are all sore after eleven days fighting and marching, and nearly worn out. We have had a most mighty hard time, and how much longer it will continue God only knows. The men are in good spirits, however, and determined to go through with it.”

The phrase “most mighty hard time” feels almost understated in light of the conditions they endured.

Hunger, Exposure, and Survival

As the campaign wore on, logistical strain added to the hardship. Baquet notes the increasing difficulty of maintaining the army in the field:

“The men suffered considerably for want of proper rations, the rapid movements of the army rendering it difficult for the supply trains to keep up. Notwithstanding these privations, the command continued in good condition, and was ready for duty whenever called upon.” (Baquet, p. 472)

Capern’s firsthand account reveals just how severe those privations could become:

“All I had to eat was a little dust and dirt out of the bottom of my haversack. I was so hungry that I ate it and thought it good. We have suffered a great deal for something to eat, and it tries a man very much.”

This is the lived reality behind Baquet’s more measured description.

Petersburg: Life in the Trenches

When the campaign settled into siege at Petersburg, the nature of the war changed—but the hardship did not lessen. Baquet describes the transition to trench warfare:

“The brigade was now engaged in the duties incident to a siege, occupying the lines before Petersburg, and constantly exposed to the fire of the enemy’s sharpshooters and artillery. The men were required to be continually on the alert, and the labor of strengthening and maintaining the works was unceasing.” (Baquet, p. 489)

This was a new kind of warfare—static, grinding, and relentless.

Capern’s earlier reflections on fatigue and exposure take on new meaning in this context:

“We do not get much rest, and when night comes we are glad enough to lie down, no matter where it is… It hurts a man to sleep out on the bare, frozen ground these frosty nights. We have but little to cover us, and the cold is very severe.”

Even without constant charges, the siege demanded endurance of a different kind—long-term survival under fire.

Preparing for Death

Whether in open battle or entrenched lines, the awareness of mortality never left the soldiers. Capern described preparing for combat in deeply personal terms:

“We piled up our knapsacks and everything we did not want to carry into the fight, never expecting to see them again. I felt that I might be called upon to die, and I tried to prepare myself for it. I put my trust in God and felt that whatever might happen would be for the best.”

This quiet moment—shared by countless soldiers—speaks more powerfully than any battle report.

Reflection: “Thankful… to Have Got Off with My Life”

Example of a letter from Thomas Capern, Company E, 4th New Jersey Infantry, sent to his mother, Mary.
Example of a letter from Thomas Capern, Company E, 4th New Jersey Infantry, sent to his mother, Mary.

By the end of these campaigns, survival itself was a kind of victory. Capern reflected:

“After seeing what I have seen, I am thankful to God for having got off with my life. Many a poor fellow has fallen who went out as strong and hopeful as I. It makes a man feel very serious when he thinks of these things.”

Baquet’s history records movements, engagements, and outcomes. Capern records something else entirely—the emotional cost.

Conclusion: The Veteran’s War

The pages of Baquet (451–504) show a regiment constantly in motion—fighting, marching, digging, and holding under pressure. Capern’s letters show what that experience felt like. Together, they reveal the true nature of the 4th New Jersey Infantry in 1864–1865: not just a fighting unit, but a body of men who endured hunger, exhaustion, fear, and loss—and continued forward anyway.

Sources

The Research Arsenal is proud to hold digital scans of the 4th New Jersey’s regimental records on its database. These consist of over 1,100 pages of material from the National Archives Records Group 94 files. These include Regimental Descriptive books, Order books, Morning Reports, and more. Visit the Research Arsenal, click on “Search NARA Records” then select “RG94” and “4th New Jersey Infantry” from the drop-down menus. In addition, the Research Arsenal contains photographs, letters, and other forms and documents relating to the 4th New Jersey Infantry. Thomas Capern’s letters featured in this post are also available on the Research Arsenal.

 

RG 94 Spotlight: The 76th Ohio Infantry

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

The 76th Ohio Infantry: A Regiment Forged in the Western Theater

Battle-torn regimental flag of 76th Ohio Infantry Regiment
Battle-torn regimental flag of 76th Ohio Infantry Regiment with photographs of Major General Charles Robert Woods and Major General William Burnham Woods propped on the ground beside it. An officer’s sword and sash are also hanging from a string in front of the flag. https://app.researcharsenal.com/imageSingleView/3760

The Research Arsenal is proud to be digitizing and adding historical records of Civil War regiments held at the National Archives to our online database so that researchers and historians can access material that previously required a trip to Washington D.C. The 76th Ohio Infantry is one of the many regiments that has been added to our database.

The 76th Ohio Infantry Regiment was one of the many volunteer units raised in Ohio during the early months of the American Civil War. Organized in late 1861 and early 1862, the regiment served almost entirely in the Western Theater and became part of General William T. Sherman’s veteran army. Over the course of the war the men of the 76th Ohio fought in some of the most significant campaigns of the conflict, including Shiloh, the Vicksburg Campaign, Chattanooga, and Sherman’s later operations across the South.

Their story is preserved not only in official records but in the vivid recollections of the soldiers themselves. Through memoirs and personal narratives we can glimpse the hardships, dangers, and emotions experienced by the young men who marched under the regiment’s banner.

“Boys” Who Became Soldiers

The 76th Ohio Infantry was largely recruited in Massillon and surrounding communities in Stark County, Ohio. Like many Civil War regiments, it was composed primarily of very young men. One veteran later reflected on the youth of the soldiers who filled its ranks:

“Glancing over their muster roll… one would be impressed with the large proportion only eighteen years old… I have felt safe to conclude that the average age of all the volunteers in this company during the war did not exceed twenty years.”

Many of these recruits had come directly from farms, schools, and small-town businesses. They had little military experience when they enlisted, yet they quickly found themselves thrust into a vast and brutal war. Despite their inexperience, the soldiers remembered their comrades with admiration. According to one recollection, the company consisted of:

“An intelligent, steady, sturdy lot of men—‘boys’ most of them would be called at home.”

Learning War the Hard Way

The regiment quickly entered the active campaigns of the Western Theater. Early operations in Tennessee and Mississippi included participation in the campaigns surrounding Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Corinth. For the new soldiers, the transition from civilian life to army life was abrupt and often confusing. Military organization was still evolving, and many mistakes were made in the early stages of the war. One soldier later summarized the learning curve faced by the Union army:

“Everything had to be learned—mostly through dearly bought and disastrous experience.”

Early in the war, soldiers were burdened with heavy equipment and large wagon trains filled with supplies and tents. As the conflict continued, the army learned that mobility was far more important.

A veteran recalled the transformation that occurred as the war progressed:

“One has but to compare the soldier of the earlier period… expecting the government to make his life comfortable, with the same individual a year or two later… content to possess a change of clothing, a blanket or rubber poncho, a meal of bacon and hard-tack in his haversack and a bed of leaves or fence rails.”

These hardships gradually turned inexperienced recruits into seasoned veterans.

Camp Life and Army Equipment

The daily life of the infantryman was physically demanding. Each soldier carried a large amount of equipment, including clothing, rations, ammunition, and bedding.

A soldier from the 76th Ohio described the standard equipment carried by a Union infantryman:

“Clothing consisted of a dark blue blouse, light blue pants, forage caps, low broad-soled shoes… Each soldier carried a gray woolen blanket and a rubber blanket. Food was carried in an oilcloth haversack… and water in a round, flat tin canteen.”

Their early weapons were heavy Belgian rifles that were unpopular among the troops. One soldier remembered them vividly:

“Our first guns were old second-hand Belgian rifles… short, heavy, clumsy arms with a vicious recoil… they always let us know without question when we fired them, for mine kicked hard enough to bruise my shoulder.”

Eventually the regiment received new Springfield rifles, which were far more accurate and reliable.

Hardship on the Mississippi: The Vicksburg Campaign

One of the most important chapters in the history of the 76th Ohio came during the Vicksburg Campaign of 1863. Before the final assault on the Confederate stronghold, the regiment spent months encamped in unhealthy swampy ground near the Mississippi River. Conditions at Young’s Point were miserable and dangerous.

One soldier remembered the gloomy environment:

“Sanitary conditions were unhealthy to an extreme from lack of good drinking water, bad drainage, and malarial surroundings… The whole atmosphere of the place was gloomy and depressing.”

Disease took a heavy toll. In one company alone, several men died during the short time they remained there. Despite the suffering, the soldiers continued preparing for the campaign that would ultimately seal the fate of Vicksburg.

Under Fire at Vicksburg

Illustration of the Siege of Vicksburg and Union soldiers taking shelter from artillery fire as described by soldiers of the 76th Ohio Infantry.
Illustration of the Siege of Vicksburg and Union soldiers taking shelter from artillery fire as described by soldiers of the 76th Ohio Infantry. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/vicksburg

When Union forces finally advanced on the city, the 76th Ohio helped occupy the high ground overlooking the Mississippi River north of the city.

The siege exposed soldiers to constant artillery fire. One veteran described the terrifying experience of enduring Confederate shells:

“We got the benefit of the return fire… without any protection; consequently had to take some of the worst shelling we were ever under… One twenty-pounder Parrott shell scattered a rail shelter under which a quartette of our boys were playing cards, without injuring any of them.”

Another shell landed nearby while a soldier rested beneath a haystack:

“Another tore a furrow alongside a hay-rick under which one was lying… they tore the limbs off the oak tree under which I made my bed of fence-rails.”

Even with the constant danger, the soldiers developed a grim sense of endurance.

After weeks of siege, the Confederate garrison surrendered on July 4, 1863. The victory was one of the greatest triumphs of the Union war effort.

A soldier of the 76th Ohio wrote simply:

“Our exultation was unbounded at the glorious termination of our hard, long and disastrous campaigning.”

The March to Chattanooga

Soon after Vicksburg, the regiment joined Sherman’s forces in a long march to relieve Union troops trapped at Chattanooga. The march was exhausting. Roads were clogged with wagons and artillery, rain turned the ground into mud, and food was scarce. Soldiers often marched nearly without rest.

One veteran recalled the desperate hunger during this movement:

“For the last three days our haversacks were practically empty… I remember how gratefully and eagerly I ‘snailed on’ to a coarse brown biscuit I found in a haversack one of the Johnnies had thrown away.”

Despite exhaustion, the regiment reached the battlefield in time to participate in the dramatic victories at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, which drove Confederate forces from their strong positions around Chattanooga.

The Horror of Battle

Later fighting during the Chattanooga operations revealed the brutal reality of Civil War combat. One soldier described a terrible moment when Union troops advanced into heavy fire:

“They were in unobstructed and easy range of the batteries posted on the ridge… and were mowed down in swathes by the grape and canister that swept the field. It was simply murderous, and horrifying to look at, but the brave survivors closed up their ranks and kept forward.”

Scenes like this were repeated again and again throughout the war.

The Final Victory

The 76th Ohio continued serving with Sherman’s forces through the remainder of the war. When the Confederacy finally collapsed in 1865, the regiment traveled to Washington, D.C., where Union armies gathered for the Grand Review.

The spectacle left a powerful impression on the veterans who witnessed it. One soldier remembered the cheers that greeted Sherman and his battle-hardened troops:

“Who that saw it can ever forget the tremendous ovation that greeted Sherman as he appeared at the head of his column… his bronzed, travel-stained veterans filing past in company front with their faded uniforms but proud bearing.”

Shortly afterward the regiment was mustered out of service.

Reflecting on his wartime experience, one soldier concluded:

“Thus ended about as strenuous a three years’ experience as could well fall to the lot of youth. I was a veteran at nineteen.”

Remembering the 76th Ohio

Like many Civil War regiments, the 76th Ohio Infantry was composed largely of ordinary citizens who answered their country’s call in a time of crisis. Over the course of the war they marched thousands of miles, endured sickness and hunger, faced artillery and rifle fire, and helped secure Union victory. Today their voices—preserved in memoirs and regimental histories—allow us to understand the Civil War not only as a series of campaigns and battles but as a deeply personal experience lived by thousands of young men who carried the war on their shoulders.

Sources

The Research Arsenal is proud to hold digital scans of the 76th Ohio’s regimental records on its database. These consist of over 1000 pages of material from the National Archives Records Group 94 files. These include Regimental Descriptive books, Order books, Morning Reports, and more. Visit the Research Arsenal, click on “Search NARA Records” then select “RG94” and “76th Ohio Infantry” from the drop-down menus. In addition, the Research Arsenal contains photographs, letters, and other forms and documents relating to the 76th Ohio Infantry.

 

RG94 Spotlight: The 37th Wisconsin Infantry

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

RG 94 Spotlight: The 37th Wisconsin Infantry

Flag of the 37th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. https://wisvetsmuseum.com/37th-wisconsin-infantry-regiment/
Flag of the 37th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. https://wisvetsmuseum.com/37th-wisconsin-infantry-regiment/

The Research Arsenal is proud to be digitizing and adding historical records of Civil War regiments held at the National Archives to our online database so that researchers and historians can access material that previously required a trip to Washington D.C. The 37th Wisconsin Infantry is one of the many regiments that has been added to our database.

Organized late in the war, the 37th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment entered Federal service in 1864 and quickly found itself thrown into some of the most punishing campaigns of the conflict. Often remembered as part of the hard-fighting formations before Petersburg, the regiment’s story is best understood not through statistics alone, but through the voices of the men themselves—men who wrote home from hospitals, from muddy trenches, and from battle lines lit by “a glowing red and angry” sun.

Baptism of Fire Before Petersburg

According to the National Park Service summary of the regiment’s service, the 37th Wisconsin was mustered in during the spring of 1864 and soon assigned to the Army of the Potomac. The regiment joined the grinding Overland Campaign and the subsequent operations against Petersburg, where trench warfare and constant skirmishing became the norm.

The regimental history preserved on Project Gutenberg vividly recounts the regiment’s early encounters with combat. At Cold Harbor and in the initial assaults on Petersburg, the men learned quickly what modern warfare meant. One account describes the approach to battle in stark, almost poetic language—the “sun rose glowing red and angry,” as if presaging the carnage to come. The color of the sky blended with the smoke of artillery and the flash of musketry, until the field seemed wrapped in a haze of fire.

In those early actions, the regiment suffered heavily. Men who had scarcely grown accustomed to army routine found themselves under relentless fire. Letters and reminiscences from the regiment describe the terrifying shriek of shells, the crash of volleys, and the sight of comrades struck down. Yet alongside fear was resolve. One soldier reflected that the line held firm despite the storm, the men loading and firing with mechanical determination even as the ranks thinned.

The siege of Petersburg brought a different kind of suffering. Instead of brief, terrible clashes, the 37th endured weeks and months of exposure in trenches. Accounts in the regimental narrative speak of heat, mud, vermin, and the constant vigilance required in close proximity to Confederate lines. Sharpshooters made even the act of raising one’s head perilous. Nights were filled with fatigue duty, digging, and the hauling of supplies.

Still, the men found ways to adapt. The regimental history preserved on Project Gutenberg makes clear that survival before Petersburg required ingenuity as much as courage. After the first shock of assault, the 37th Wisconsin settled into the exhausting rhythm of siege warfare. The men quickly learned that their safety depended upon the depth of their rifle pits. As one account relates, they “improved their works whenever opportunity offered,” deepening trenches and strengthening parapets until the raw earthworks became something like a second skin. What began as shallow scrapes in the dirt evolved into elaborate lines of protection, with head-logs and traverses carefully arranged against enfilading fire.

The same source describes how the soldiers burrowed into the Virginia soil, fashioning crude but effective shelters. In language both practical and wry, the writer explains that the men constructed “little huts of logs and earth,” covering them with whatever material could be found. These makeshift quarters, half underground and half exposed, offered scant comfort, but they were preferable to open sky under sharpshooter fire. The transformation was striking: volunteers from Wisconsin farms and towns became, in effect, subterranean dwellers. The trench line was no temporary encampment—it was home.

Daily life required constant labor. The regimental narrative emphasizes that nights were seldom restful. Fatigue duty—digging, carrying gabions, strengthening fortifications—filled the dark hours. By day, vigilance was paramount. The opposing lines lay so close that even a careless movement might draw a bullet. One passage notes that a man who exposed himself above the parapet did so “at the peril of his life,” a reminder that routine tasks were never entirely safe.

And yet, humor persisted. The same regimental account, even while describing hardship, adopts a tone of dry resilience. The men learned to treat their earth-covered huts as legitimate residences, however unlikely that might seem. What had once been a “ditch” became, through repetition and necessity, a familiar address. The absurdity of domesticating a trench was not lost on them. In recounting their circumstances, the writer’s understated style suggests the soldiers’ own coping mechanism: if one must live underground, one might as well speak of it matter-of-factly.

Captain George A. Beck’s letter, though written from the relative comfort of Annapolis, underscores the same spirit of endurance. Having been “everywhere so well treated” during his convalescent journey, he affirmed that he could “go back and endure the privations of the camp with a will.” The phrase is revealing. The “privations of the camp” were not abstract—they meant poor rations, exposure, exhaustion, and danger. Yet Beck framed them as burdens willingly borne, sustained by affection for home and faith in the Union cause.

Even the hospital setting, with its “neat cot,” gas lighting, and “clouded Egyptian marble mantle piece,” stood in quiet contrast to the earthworks of Petersburg. Beck’s appreciation for these comforts only highlights what the men at the front lacked. His readiness to return speaks to a shared understanding within the regiment: hardship was temporary; duty was paramount.

“The Sun Rose Glowing Red and Angry”

One particularly evocative description—preserved in later commentary drawing from regimental accounts—captures a morning before battle: “The sun rose glowing red and angry.” The phrase suggests both beauty and menace. For the 37th Wisconsin, dawn often meant renewed danger. As daylight revealed opposing lines, skirmish fire would resume. Artillery, silent in darkness, began again its thunder.

Such imagery reminds us that these were citizen-soldiers trying to comprehend extraordinary violence. Nature itself seemed enlisted in the drama. Red skies, drifting smoke, and the trembling earth became part of their vocabulary of war.

Yet even amid such scenes, the soldiers’ writings return repeatedly to thoughts of home. Captain Beck’s longing for “those… hills, bordering the limpid waters of Mahoning” echoes through other accounts. Streams of boyhood held “precedence” over any historic river encountered in the East. The contrast between peaceful Wisconsin landscapes and Virginia battlefields sharpened both memory and purpose.

Sacrifice and Endurance

The 37th Wisconsin’s losses were severe. The National Park Service notes the regiment’s participation in major operations around Petersburg and its continued service until the war’s closing campaigns. Disease and battle claimed many. Officers and enlisted men alike were wounded or killed.

The Battle of the Crater was a major Civil War engagement on July 30, 1864, during the Siege of Petersburg, where Union forces detonated 8,000 pounds of gunpowder under Confederate lines. The explosion created a 130-foot long, 30-foot deep crater, but the subsequent Union assault failed, resulting in a disastrous Confederate victory with over 5,000 combined casualties.
The Battle of the Crater was a major Civil War engagement on July 30, 1864, during the Siege of Petersburg, where Union forces detonated 8,000 pounds of gunpowder under Confederate lines. The explosion created a 130-foot long, 30-foot deep crater, but the subsequent Union assault failed, resulting in a disastrous Confederate victory with over 5,000 combined casualties.

The 37th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was heavily engaged in the operations surrounding the Battle of the Crater, one of the most desperate and chaotic episodes of the Petersburg campaign. On July 30, 1864, after Union forces detonated a massive mine beneath the Confederate lines, the explosion tore a gaping chasm in the earth and briefly stunned the defenders. The 37th Wisconsin, already hardened by weeks in the trenches, advanced as part of the supporting assaults that followed the blast. Instead of the swift breakthrough many had hoped for, the scene devolved into confusion. The crater itself became a deadly trap—men crowding into its steep sides, struggling to climb out under withering musketry and artillery fire from Confederates who quickly recovered and poured fire into the pit. Of the 250 men of the 37th Wisconsin Infantry who charged into the crater, only 95 walked back out. Over 150 of them had been killed or wounded.

Accounts from the regiment’s history emphasize the intensity and disorder of the fighting. The men faced not only the enemy’s fire but the physical obstacles of broken ground, loose earth, and the suffocating heat of late July. Units became intermingled, commands were difficult to hear, and forward movement stalled. The 37th suffered significant casualties in the effort, a grim testament to the futility of the assault once momentum was lost. The failed attack at the Crater deepened the grim reality of siege warfare for the regiment: bold plans could dissolve in moments, leaving soldiers to endure the grim arithmetic of loss while the lines settled back into the grim persistence of trench fighting before Petersburg.

And yet, as Beck’s letter demonstrates, the men of the 37th often framed their suffering in moral terms. To “endure the privations of the camp” was not merely necessity but duty. The Union, in their eyes, was “a good kindly country,” worth hardship and, if required, life itself.

Firsthand accounts from the regiment do not romanticize war. They speak plainly of exhaustion, fear, and grief. But they also reveal steadfastness. Whether writing from a gas-lit hospital room in Annapolis or from trenches before Petersburg, the soldiers of the 37th Wisconsin bore witness to a conflict that tested body and spirit alike.

In their own words, we see not just a regiment’s movements on a map, but the interior world of men who balanced affection for family with fierce loyalty to country. The red dawns of Virginia, the marble mantels of Annapolis, the muddy lines before Petersburg—all formed chapters in the lived experience of the 37th Wisconsin Infantry.

Sources and Further Research

The Research Arsenal is proud to hold digital scans of the 37th Wisconsin’s regimental records on its database. These consist of over 750 pages of material from the National Archives Records Group 94 files. These include Regimental Descriptive books, Order books, Morning Reports, and more. Visit the Research Arsenal, click on “Search NARA Records” then select “RG94” and “37th Wisconsin Infantry” from the drop-down menus.

 

RG94 Spotlight: The 5th Minnesota Infantry

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

RG94 Spotlight: A Brief History of the 5th Minnesota Infantry

The battle flag of the 5th Minnesota Infantry.
The battle flag of the 5th Minnesota Infantry.

The Research Arsenal is proud to be digitizing and adding historical records of Civil War regiments held at the National Archives to our online database so that researchers and historians can access material that previously required a trip to Washington D.C. The 5th Minnesota Infantry is one of the many regiments that has been added to our database.

The 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment was organized at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, in spring 1862 in response to President Lincoln’s call for more troops during the American Civil War. It was the last of Minnesota’s early volunteer regiments to be assembled, and its men served with distinction in both frontier conflicts and major campaigns of the Western Theater.

Early Service and the Dakota Conflict

While seven of the regiment’s companies were sent south in May 1862 to join the Union war effort, three companies remained in Minnesota during the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862. These detachments saw action on the frontier — including the ambush at Redwood Ferry, the defense of Fort Ridgely, and the protection of Fort Abercrombie — engaging Dakota forces during the outbreak of hostilities.

Joining the Western Campaigns

Once reunited in Mississippi by early 1863, the 5th Minnesota became part of the Army of the Mississippi (later the Army of the Tennessee). Their first significant combat was at the Battle of Farmington shortly after arriving at Corinth, Mississippi, followed by involvement in the Siege of Corinth and other actions like the Battle of Iuka. At Corinth, they played a key role in closing a breach in Union lines and recapturing artillery.

The regiment participated in General Ulysses S. Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign, fighting at Jackson and contributing to operations that culminated in the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, a major strategic victory for the Union. Soon after, the men who re-enlisted earned the designation “Veteran Volunteers,” reflecting their experience and commitment.

1864–1865: Continued Fighting

In March through May of 1864 the regiment took part in the Red River Campaign in Louisiana — an ultimately unsuccessful Union effort — before rejoining Union forces in the pursuit of Confederate General John Bell Hood through Tennessee.

Post-war photo of Brevet Brigadier Gen. Lucius F Hubbard, 5th Minnesota Infantry.
Post-war photo of Brevet Brigadier Gen. Lucius F Hubbard, 5th Minnesota Infantry.

From August 29 – December 2, 1864, the 5th Minnesota marched hundreds of miles pursuing Confederate General Sterling Price’s army through Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and the Indian Territory. Conditions during the expedition were severe for the Union army, as Col. Hubbard described in the regiment’s narrative:

“This was, all things considered, the hardest campaign it [the regiment] made during the war. The route lay through almost impenetrable cypress swamps and over unused mountain roads, washed by continuous rains down to their rocky beds. Severe storms prevailed much of the time, and the men often lay down at night, drenched, sore, weary and hungry, feeling that they would never be able to rise to their feet again. It was developed after the command had been out several days that its supply train was loaded with moldy and decayed hard bread, refuse stores issued by the commissary at Little Rock. In consequence of this the army was early put upon half-rations, then one-third, and much of that unfit to eat. The men became nearly starved, and driven to that extreme that they sought for nourishment in the bark of sassafras boughs and beech leaves, which the forest trees afforded. The country was largely uninhabited, and hence afforded nothing upon which an army could subsist.”

At the Battle of Nashville in December 1864, the 5th Minnesota helped break Confederate lines, though they suffered significant casualties. “On the second day of the battle the men advanced across an open field towards the Confederate forces. They suffered a withering fire, and 106 men were killed or wounded. The battle, however, was a resounding Union success. During the battle, the Fifth’s Lieutenant Thomas P. Gere captured the flag of the Fourth Mississippi Regiment.”

In early 1865, the regiment was involved in the campaign against Mobile, Alabama, helping secure positions around the city. With the war winding down, the 5th Minnesota was mustered out of service on September 6, 1865, at Demopolis, Alabama, and returned to Minnesota later that month.

Legacy

Over nearly four years of service, the 5th Minnesota fought in numerous battles and campaigns, from frontier duty in Minnesota to some of the most consequential operations in the Western Theater. Their service exemplified the significant contributions of Midwestern volunteer regiments in achieving Union victory.

Sources and Further Research

The Research Arsenal is proud to hold digital scans of the 5th Minnesota’s regimental records on its database. These consist of over 1,300 pages of material from the National Archives Records Group 94 files. These include Regimental Descriptive books, Order books, Morning Reports, and more. Visit the Research Arsenal, click on “Search NARA Records” then select “RG94” and “5th Minnesota Infantry” from the drop-down menus.

  • Fifth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment — MNopedia (Minnesota Historical Society) (mnhs.org)
  • 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry overview — LibGuides, Minnesota Historical Society Library (libguides.mnhs.org)
  • “5th Minnesota Infantry Regiment,” Wikipedia (Wikipedia)

 

Valentine’s Day During the Civil War

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

Hearts in the Midst of Battle: Valentine’s Day During the Civil War

There’s a powerful image that lingers in many American minds each February: couples holding hands, whispering “be mine” as hearts and candies fill the stores. But what did Valentine’s Day look like in the 1860s, when the nation was torn in two and hundreds of thousands of soldiers were scattered across battlefields far from home? For countless families, lovers, wives, and sweethearts, the holiday’s traditional celebration was colored by separation, fear, heartbreak—and, in some cases, remarkable expressions of love that survive to this day.

The Civil War did not erase Valentine’s Day; it transformed it. In fact, newspapers in both the North and South reminded readers that February 14 was near, much like modern ads highlight holidays now. One rural Ohio paper declared, as February approached, “We are reminded that Valentine Day is approaching. Tuesday next, the 14th inst., is set aside as the carnival of lovers,” and cheekily noted that “it is said the birds choose their mates on that day.” Even under the shadow of war, the rituals of love remained compelling enough to merit space on the printed page. (The Journal of the Civil War Era)

Valentines on the Home Front

On the home front, Americans eagerly anticipated valentines. Commercial Valentine producers actively pitched their wares, especially to women whose beloveds were away serving. Advertisements from 1862 urged buyers not to “forget your soldier lovers” and to “Keep their courage up with a rousing Valentine,” available in prices from six cents to five dollars. The American Valentine Company in New York sold “soldiers’ valentine packets,” while vendors in Washington, D.C., offered “comic valentines and beautiful valentine cards in fancy envelopes.” (The Journal of the Civil War Era)

Picture a bookstore window in February 1862: the display filled with cards “large and varied enough to suit the tastes of all,” sitting beside public notices about wounded veterans seeking pensions and announcements of troop movements. This juxtaposition—romance and war news side by side—captures how life and love persisted even amid chaos. (The Journal of the Civil War Era)

Yet Valentine’s Day in this era wasn’t only about pretty cards. Commercial cards coexisted with deeply personal, handmade expressions of affection. On both sides of the conflict, lovers crafted messages and tokens infused with longing, devotion, and the real fear of loss.

Soldiering and Sentiment

Many soldiers lacked access to commercial cards, so they turned to their own pens—or knives—to craft valentines. In one of the most haunting surviving examples of Civil War romance, Confederate soldier Robert H. King created a delicate paper heart for his wife, Louiza, using only a penknife and scraps of paper. The heart appears perforated with random holes, but when opened and studied more closely, the design reveals two figures seated opposite each other, weeping. (The Journal of the Civil War Era)

Robert H. King’s valentine for Louiza. Courtesy of the Library of Virginia.
Robert H. King’s valentine for Louiza. This paper valentine was cut with a knife and when opened features a couple weeping. Courtesy of the Library of Virginia.

This wasn’t mere symbolism; it was a heartfelt expression of separation. In a letter dated November 8, 1861, King wrote to Louiza, “it panes my hart to think of leaven you all,” signing the letter, as many soldiers did, “yours til death.” Tragically, that vow proved bitterly accurate: Robert H. King died of typhoid fever near Petersburg, Virginia, in April 1863. Louiza treasured the paper heart for the rest of her life. (The Journal of the Civil War Era)

King’s handwritten words and painstakingly crafted heart remind us that Valentine’s Day in 1863 could be an exercise in longing as much as celebration: letters carried love across miles of battlefield and barbed wire, binding spirits together when flesh and bone could not.

Below is an example of a friendly Valentine taken from letter written by Dexter Buell, Co. B, 27th Regt. New York State Volunteers to his friend Robert Allee:

“Bob, today is Valentine’s Day. I wish I had one to send to you. Bob, the boys are all busy making finger rings and pipes,&c. to fetch home with them. We make them out of laurel roots. I am making a pipe and ring for you out of laurel root. Bob, I guess you had a pretty nice time with the girls. I have not seen a girl in so long I forgot how they look.”

The following is an excerpt of a letter from Josiah Cole Reed of the 94th Ohio Infantry to Elizabeth “Lizzie” Freeman, written February 26, 1865:

“On glancing at this letter I see so many omissions and mistakes that I am afraid to read it over for fear I will become so disgusted with it as to tear it up and then I would have to write another. I shall expect an answer to this in two weeks. Shall I be disappointed? Of course your convenience will not be overlooked. I only me(an) that I hope it will be convenient for you to answer immediately, that I may receive a good, long, sweet letter in two weeks.

Received three valentines but none worth anything

I remain as ever your true friend, — J. Reed”

Lines of Poetry Across the Lines

Not all expressions took the form of art objects. Some soldiers poured their emotions into verse. In 1863 a Virginian soldier penned verses to a woman named Mollie Lyne, capturing a soldier’s conflicted heart:

Mid all the trials and toils of war,
The clash of arms, the cannon’s roar,
The many scenes of desolation and strife,
And varying fortunes which surround this life.
Naught else disturbs me, half so much,
As the nightly visions which haunt my couch.
But why should I not be happy?
Ah! Methinks that thou canst tell,
Thou hast me bound, as if by spell,
I love thee Mollie, with all my heart. (HistoryNet)

Elsewhere, Private Joseph C. Morris of the Phillips Legion Cavalry wrote to his beloved Sylvanie Bremond on February 14, 1865:

“Moments appear days to me, and day an age…when I cannot behold your beloved face….Why have we passion? If upon the first development of their genuine tenderness they must be curbed and checked by the arbitrary rules of war.” (HistoryNet)

These words, polished under the pressure of a brutal war, transcend commercial sentiment. They reflect longing intensified by the real possibility that a lover might never return.

Comic, Satirical, and Patriotic Valentines

On the other end of the emotional spectrum were comic and satirical valentines that used humor to process the absurdity and sorrow of their times. Some Civil War valentines, preserved in collections like the Library Company of Philadelphia, poke fun at soldiers’ appearances, behaviors, and reputations. One verse reads:

“Mr. Rifleman…If you think that with you I would wed…Like a turnip, my dear, is your head.
So with you I’ll never wed.” (Civil War Monitor)

Civil War Vinegar Valentine
Civil War Vinegar Valentine featuring the lines:
“Mr. Rifleman, but I would be a flat, / If you think that with you I would wed: / Cheeks put out your eyes — nose turn’d to the skies— / Like a turnip, my dear, is your head. / One like you is enough for a bed, / So with you I’ll never wed.”

Others lampooned Copperheads—Northern Democrats critical of the war effort—branding them unworthy of affection. Still others embraced patriotic sentiment, promising devotion to “my valiant son of Mars” who defended the flag. (Civil War Monitor)

These valentines reveal that love and war could coexist with biting wit and public commentary. Americans did not silence humor or satire because of conflict; they redirected it into familiar cultural forms.

Lasting Legacies of Civil War Valentines

Valentine’s Day in the Civil War era reminds us that love persists even in the darkest times. The war’s devastation—the sight of dead battlefields, grieving families, and endless hardship—did not diminish the human need to express affection. Instead, it made those expressions all the more poignant.

Commercial cards flourished alongside handmade creations. Soldiers’ letters survive as testaments to yearning and devotion. Printed verses and home-crafted hearts became vessels of emotion, capable of bridging battle lines and years of separation. In writings like those of Robert H. King and Private Morris, we see what it meant to love someone across the divide of war—and to risk having that love be all you have left.

Civil War valentines and love letters are an excellent reminder that behind all of the photographs, archives, and accoutrements Civil War collectors treasure, those items all belonged to real human beings, who just like us, fell in love. Unfortunately, many of them, like Robert H. Kind, did not get a happily ever after with their loved one.

Sources

 

Voices from the 126th Ohio Infantry

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

“In Answer to the Call”: Voices from the 126th Ohio Infantry

The Concise History of the One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry is more than a regimental outline. Written by veterans of the unit, it preserves the voices, memories, and emotional texture of men who lived the war day by day. What follows are selected quotations and personal passages that illuminate the lived experience of the 126th Ohio Infantry — from early enthusiasm, to sickness and hardship, to battle and reflection.

“We Were Soon Soldiers”: Enlistment and Early Service

The history opens with a clear sense of purpose. The men of eastern Ohio responded quickly to the emergency of 1862:

“In answer to the President’s call for troops, the One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was organized at Camp Steubenville, September 4, 1862.”

There is little romanticism here — simply the fact of duty answered. Yet beneath that formality lies an unspoken truth: most of these men had never expected to become soldiers. The narrative soon shifts from organization to reality.

Sickness Before Battle: Camp Life and Disease

Before facing Confederate fire, the regiment encountered one of the war’s most relentless enemies — disease. While stationed along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad during the winter of 1862–63, illness swept through the camp:

“Typhoid fever and small-pox broke out in the regiment, and in consequence of being crowded in tents, six men in each company died.”

The author pauses to acknowledge civilian compassion during this dark time:

“The citizens of Martinsburg took many of the sick soldiers into their homes, where they were tenderly cared for.”

This small but powerful passage reminds us that survival often depended as much on kindness as on medicine.

First Fire: Martinsburg and the Retreat to the Potomac

The regiment’s first significant combat came in June 1863 at Martinsburg, Virginia. Here the tone of the narrative becomes urgent and personal:

“The artillery opened upon us with great fury, and the enemy advanced in heavy force… After stubborn resistance, we were compelled to fall back.”

The retreat was grueling, culminating in a dangerous crossing of the Potomac River:

“Completely exhausted, the men waded the Potomac, many falling from sheer weakness, but all struggling on to reach the northern bank.”

These lines convey fear and fatigue without exaggeration — a hallmark of veteran-written history.

The Immensity of War: Marching After Gettysburg

In the aftermath of Gettysburg, the regiment joined the pursuit of Lee’s army. One of the most evocative passages in the book captures the overwhelming scale of the Union forces on the move:

“Words seemed meaningless to convey to the mind the vast multitude, the martial music, the tramp, tramp, tramp of soldiers, the long lines of wagons, ambulances, and artillery stretching as far as the eye could reach.”

This is not a tactical description, but a sensory one — the sound, movement, and sheer magnitude of war as experienced by a foot soldier.

Faith, Reflection, and Camp Religion

Some of the most personal material in the regimental history comes from Chaplain J. K. Andrews, whose diary entries provide rare insight into the inner life of the regiment.

While in winter quarters near Brandy Station, Andrews recorded:

“As soon as the men had completed their own quarters, a brigade chapel was erected, and religious services were regularly held.”

Even during active campaigning, spiritual life continued:

“Religious service was kept up during the entire summer campaign… Several had professed conversion, and others were deeply impressed.”

These passages remind us that Civil War camps were places not only of drill and discipline, but of introspection and moral reckoning.

Endurance Without Complaint: The Veteran Tone

One striking feature of the Concise History is its restraint. The authors rarely boast, rarely dramatize, and almost never complain. Hardships are stated plainly, as facts endured rather than grievances aired. This tone itself is a personal statement — a reflection of how the veterans wished their service to be remembered.

Near the end of the narrative, the author explains the purpose of the work:

“This brief history is written as a souvenir to the relatives and friends of the brave fallen members of the regiment, and to preserve in lasting form the record of its service.”

It is not glory they seek, but remembrance.

Company Voices from the 126th Ohio Infantry

While the Concise History of the 126th Ohio Infantry is primarily a regimental narrative, careful reading reveals moments where individual companies step briefly into view. These glimpses — often understated — offer valuable insight into how the war was experienced at the company level.

Company D: Remembered Through Its Chronicler

Company D holds a unique place in the regimental history because J. H. Gilson, the compiler of the volume, was himself a member of that company. While he rarely foregrounds his own service, the care and detail with which certain episodes are preserved suggests a Company D vantage point.

During the regiment’s early winter along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Company D suffered heavily from disease. Gilson notes that illness did not discriminate by rank or experience:

“Typhoid fever and small-pox broke out in the regiment… six men in each company died.”

For Company D, this period marked their first real loss — not from battle, but from conditions beyond their control. The deaths forged a shared sense of endurance that would define the company for the remainder of the war.

Company F: Letters from the Ranks

Although the Concise History does not reproduce full letters, it references correspondence and service details that align closely with Company F soldiers such as Joseph Foreman, whose wartime letters survive independently.

Company F’s experience reflects the long, grinding nature of service in the Army of the Potomac. Men of the company endured repeated marches, extended picket duty, and attrition through sickness and wounds. Foreman’s eventual discharge due to wounds in 1865 mirrors the experience of many in the company — veterans worn down rather than dramatically felled.

This kind of service, while less dramatic than battlefield heroics, represents the true cost of sustained campaigning.

Company E: Courage at Petersburg

Company E is most famously associated with Corporal Milton Blickensderfer, whose actions during the Petersburg Campaign brought national recognition.

Though the Concise History treats the incident modestly, the achievement stands out: during an engagement at Petersburg, Blickensderfer captured a Confederate battle flag — an act of extraordinary personal risk.

Within Company E, this moment symbolized the culmination of years of discipline and exposure to combat. The capture of a flag was no abstract honor; it required advancing directly into enemy fire and emerging alive.

Company B and the Retreat at Martinsburg

William Wirt Groves (1843-1941) of Belmont county, Ohio, who served in Co. B, 126th Ohio Infantry.(sparedandshared23.com)
William Wirt Groves (1843-1941) of Belmont county, Ohio, who served in Co. B, 126th Ohio Infantry.
(sparedandshared23.com)

At the Battle of Martinsburg in June 1863, the regiment fought under intense pressure. Several companies, including Company B, were engaged while covering the retreat.

The history records the moment without embellishment:

“After stubborn resistance, we were compelled to fall back.”

For Company B, this meant holding position long enough to allow other units to withdraw — a task often assigned to steady, reliable companies. The subsequent retreat to the Potomac tested discipline as much as courage, as men crossed the river utterly exhausted but still under threat.

Company H: Camp Religion and Morale

Company H appears most clearly in passages related to camp life and religious observance, particularly during winter quarters near Brandy Station.

Chaplain J. K. Andrews noted that religious interest varied by company, with some responding more deeply than others:

“Several had professed conversion, and others were deeply impressed.”

Company H was among those where attendance and participation remained strong even during active campaigning. For many men, shared worship became a stabilizing force amid constant movement and uncertainty.

Why These Voices Matter

Through these quotations and personal passages, the 126th Ohio Infantry emerges not as an abstract unit, but as a community of individuals — men who marched, suffered illness, crossed rivers under fire, prayed together, and endured until the war’s end.

Their words, preserved in this modest regimental volume, allow us to hear the Civil War as they lived it: plainly, honestly, and with quiet resolve.

Sources

Primary Source

Supplementary / Contextual

  • National Park Service & regimental summaries (for campaign context)
  • Ohio in the Civil War regimental records

Additional Reading and Research

These are the current documents from the National Archives' Records Group 94 relating the 126th Ohio Infantry available on the Research Arsenal.
These are the current documents from the National Archives’ Records Group 94 relating the 126th Ohio Infantry available on the Research Arsenal.

Visit the Research Arsenal database for online access to the 126th Ohio Infantry’s National Archives RG94 records

1863 Diary of David Alexander Chandler, 126th Ohio Volunteer Infantry: https://sparedshared23.com/2023/05/27/1863-diary-of-david-alexander-chandler-126th-ohio-volunteer-infantry/

The Importance of a Well-Documented Private Collection: Part 3, Software

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

The Importance of a Well-Documented Private Collection: Part 3

The last two weeks we’ve discussed the importance of a well-documented private collection, and this week we’re going to dive into some ways to keep all of that information with your items. Although this “can” be done with paper, pencil and a filing cabinet, I strongly recommend you go the digital route. I know we all love our historic things, but record-keeping should definitely be in a 21st century style.

Excel (or Google Sheets)

This is probably the simplest way to do this. Create an Excel sheet with fields for the item, purchase date, cost, and purchase information. I would also recommend including where you are keeping the item if possible, so that it is easy to locate if you have a large number of items. Here is an example of what that might look like:

Here is a very simplistic catalog record using Excel. While it does track some information, as you can see, it is very limited.
Here is a very simplistic catalog record using Excel. While it does track some information, as you can see, it is very limited.

While this technically works on a basic level, do you notice any issues with it? For example, how descriptive can I be about the item in that short Excel line? Would it be easier to have a photograph of the item tied in with this information? Especially when you have several tintypes of Union cavalry soldiers with carbines? This brings me to my second option.

 

Use a Program like CatalogIt or ReCollector

There are programs designed for this sort of thing, and I have featured them both in the past. Both CatalogIt and ReCollector allow you the space to input all of the information above, and then some. Here is an example of a catalog record using the CatalogIt software. Notice all of the information that this software tracks for each item.

Here is a screenshot of a catalog record using CatalogIt software. Can you see the vast difference between this and Excel? Which one is better suited for supporting a well-documented private collection?
Here is a screenshot of a catalog record using CatalogIt software. Can you see the vast difference between this and Excel? Which one is better suited for supporting a well-documented private collection?

This photo shows you what it looks like on the backend for inputting information and what sorts of fields of information it tracks.

This is a screenshot showing just some of the categories available to input data for collection items using CatalogIt. Each of these expands with multiple fields of information available. They do not have to be filled out, but the more information the better.
This is a screenshot showing just some of the categories available to input data for collection items using CatalogIt. Each of these expands with multiple fields of information available. They do not have to be filled out, but the more information the better.

This may look like a lot or seem intimidating, but it really isn’t tough at all. Once you create your first catalog record, it starts to move very quickly. Plus, you can always go back and add more information.

Pros and Cons

Obviously, going the Excel route is simple and something that most folks are already familiar with. However, it is extremely limited and would be cumbersome to use to add a large amount of information to. Whereas CatalogIt is new software so it does have a learning curve, but the value in the type of information it can track far outweighs that learning curve. And if the amount of options for information to be added on CatalogIt seems overwhelming, you do not have to fill in each available box, but the space is there for you to if you want to. Both give you search functionality which far outweighs the “historic” paper and filing cabinet method.

As we discussed in the beginning, the point of this is to keep track of all of your collection information. It’s far too much information to just be rattling around in your head. It needs to be written down, and it should be done in a way that you can actually put everything down that you need to. On top of that, it should be done in a format that the information can easily be passed on to others or accessed by others in the event that your family or loved ones are trying to figure out your collection for resale purposes. In addition, should you decide to donate your collection, this will offer the museum a whole wealth of information on your collection so that they are not starting from scratch. Having worked in museums for nearly two decades, you would be surprised at the amount of information that can be lost when an item is donated by someone who doesn’t really know what it was. This kind of information is absolutely crucial. Remember, context is everything and this is how we keep the context with our collection.

Now that we’ve reached the end of this series, what will you do? Do you already have a system in place that tracks all of this information? Will you start one?

The Importance of a Well-Documented Collection: Part 2, Purchased Items

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

The Importance of a Well-Documented Collection: Part 2, Purchased Items

This 1808 illustration of Christie's auction rooms makes you wonder what sort of documentation they provided with their purchased items. Buying items at auction has been going on for a very long time, and this picture from over 200 years ago really reinforces how we are just one small part of an object's total history. Image Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
This 1808 illustration of Christie’s auction rooms makes you wonder what sort of documentation they provided with their sales. Buying items at auction has been going on for a very long time, and this picture from over 200 years ago really reinforces how we are just one small part of an object’s total history. Image Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Last week’s post left you with some instructions to take a cursory look at your collection. Where and who did you get your items from? What did you spend? What research have you done on your collection? Do you know where all of it is? Etc. If this was a bit of a challenge, that’s okay. Now that you know where you stand with this information, you can start to organize it. As I mentioned last week, this will be very helpful for you, but also for your loved ones should anything ever happen to you. It’s not a pleasant thing to think about, but it is a sad reality that will eventually happen. Our collections always outlive us, just as they have the original owners.

Sales Information with Purchased Items

This week, I want to focus on the information that comes with purchased items, what to keep, and why that can be helpful.

Previous Owner

When you purchase something and it has information on who owned it, keep that info with the object. Even if you don’t think it’s relevant, keep the information. Let’s say you bought a Civil war sword from Joe Smith’s heirs. You didn’t know Joe and the fact that Joe had it doesn’t mean anything to you. Later, you decide to sell it as a simple sword because you don’t have any identification with it. You can sell it as-is with zero information, or you can include whether you obtained it from the Joe Smith collection. As it turns out, Smith was a heavy collector of all things 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry—now you have a clue as to where this sword may have come from. It’s not definite, but it’s a crumb of context.

Sometimes crumbs of context are all we have to go on, and often times they remain crumbs, but there are also times where that simple crumb can allow us to fully identify a photograph or object. Collectors are often connected with specific areas that they collect, so keeping this information with the object can be helpful in identification and also in provenance.

Purchase Price

This one may seem obvious, or it may not, depending on if you are insuring your collection. I will add, if you have a large collection of Civil War photographs, documents, artifacts, etc., I recommend insuring it. However, even if you are not currently insuring your collection (you should) the purchase price information may come in handy.

If you do decide to insure it, that will help determine the value, along with an appraisal. And having that information will help you (and especially loved ones) should the time come that that particular item needs to be resold. You will know what you have invested in it, and what you may be able to get for it. This can also help assess value when you may be doing a trade with another collector.

Your purchase prices can also come in handy should you ever decide to donate your collection or an item from your collection to a museum or other non-profit organization. The current value of the item can be used as a tax write-off.

Listing Information

This one is important if the listing has some good information in it. We’ve all seen listings that basically just say, “Old tintype. Unknown person. Military.” And that’s about it. Those types of listings are not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the ones that have some meat in them that may add to a story further down the road or may help you with additional research.

For example, I recently purchased an 1870s dance card for a dance that was held in a building owned by someone I have heavily researched. On the surface, the dance card speaks for itself. But what was interesting was that the seller had it listed under the wrong state. She found the dance card inside a wall of a home she was remodeling and assumed it must have come from nearby, so she listed it as such. What I am still wondering is how in the world this dance card ended up inside a wall in a neighboring state. But since I have that information, I know which town that dance card ended up in and I could try to match up that info to see if there are residents who lived in the town where the dance was held and moved to that neighboring state. It’s certainly a research project, but it might allow me to identify who actually owned the card. If I had not kept any of that information, I would have lost that part of the object’s history and story. And as I mentioned last week, an object’s story is what gives it its context.

Another example is that I have many signed copies of a single book, but some of them were owned by historical figures. Since the signatures are simply the author’s name, if I lost the listing information, I would not know that that particular copy was owned by a U.S. Senator or other figure. That information can also play into the value, so it’s extremely important to keep it with the item.

What Information Have You Kept?

These are just some examples of what to keep and why when purchasing items for your collection. Have you kept any of this information? Next week we’ll dive into how to keep your information so that this does not create something tedious to navigate or difficult to keep up with.

 

The Importance of a Well-Documented Private Collection: Part 1

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

The Importance of a Well-Documented Private Collection: Part 1

The bundle of old photos is a great example of a pile of history that has lost its context. Without the information of who these people were, this stack of at one time significant memories, becomes nearly worthless as it is reduced to just photographs. A well-documented collection can help prevent that.
The bundle of old photos is a great example of a pile of history that has lost its context. Without the information of who these people were, this stack of at one time significant memories, becomes nearly worthless as it is reduced to just photographs. A well-documented collection can help prevent that.

I have discussed the importance of cataloging your collection over the course of a few blog posts in the past, and today I want to highlight the importance of having a well-documented private collection.

As collectors, we often know our collections inside and out—where and when we got something, who we got it from, what we paid for it, the significance of it, why we got it, etc. But what we often don’t take into account, is that there may come a day when we can’t remember that information. And there also will come a day when we’re gone from this earth, and unless we’ve written that information down somewhere, it dies with us.

How many of you have come across an old CDV and written on the back is “mother”? Who’s mother? What was her name? That information is just plain gone. Sift through the box of vintage photos at your local antique store and you’ll find pictures like that in droves, or the ones that are just blank on the back. They often sell for only a few dollars each because the context of who these people were is totally gone. That context gave them their value. Without it, they just become random old photographs. Just for fun, I went to eBay and entered the search term “unidentified photo” and got 220,000+ results. I then input “identified photo” and got only 6,100+. Clearly, there is a problem with people losing the identifying information over time.

The same is true with objects. How often do you see the words “ID’d” or “named collection” with items in an auction listing? That always drives up the price, doesn’t it? It does, because the names add value. Now you know who this belonged to and the items take on additional meanings. Without it, they are reduced to nothing more than the physical object itself—a Model 1850 foot officer’s sword, haversack, etc.

At one time for all of these objects, they had identities. There was someone alive who knew all those people in those unlabeled photographs, and someone who knew who owned that sword and that haversack. Unfortunately, that information did not travel with the object that outlived them. This is where we as collectors need to keep information whenever it is available.

Since this is the start of a new year, it’s a good time to start keeping track of your collection information if you are not already. This month, I’ll be writing blog posts on what to keep and why, as well as the best ways to keep it.

Step 1: Collection Assessment Project

Take a look at your private collection and just broadly assess if you’ve kept any of the following: purchase info (date of purchase, from whom, for how much, etc.), any research documentation (did you look things up on your phone without saving links or copying information down anywhere?), storage location (do you know where all your items are and how they are stored?), and lastly, condition (do you know the condition of your collection items and which ones are damaged and needing conservation, or better storage?).

And one last thing, how easily were you able to find this information? Was it at your fingertips with a few keystrokes on the computer, or did you have to go digging through boxes or files? And how easily would your partner or loved ones be able to find all of this information if you weren’t there?

This is all just some food for thought as you go through and assess your private collection. But we’ll use this information as we discuss ways to begin to keep track of it all and organize it. Check back next week for the next blog (step) in this series.

New Year’s During the Civil War

Posted on by Johanna Wickman

“Another Year in the War”: New Year’s During the Civil War

Illustration of New Year's Day by Thomas Nast for the January 1864 Harper's Weekly issue.
Illustration of New Year’s Day by Thomas Nast for the January 1864 Harper’s Weekly issue. The illustration is comparing and contrasting conditions in the north and south during the Civil War.

As the calendar turned during the Civil War, Americans greeted the New Year not with champagne and fireworks, but with musket fire, prayer, hunger, and reflection. For soldiers in the field, enslaved people awaiting freedom, and civilians struggling on the home front, January 1st was often less a celebration than a reckoning — a moment to take stock of survival and hope in the midst of national catastrophe.

New Year’s on the Battlefield: Cold, Music, and Combat

Illustration of the Battle of Stones River. The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
Illustration of the Battle of Stones River. The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_battle_of_Stone_River_or_Murfreesboro%27_LCCN2003664895.tif?page=1

For many soldiers, the New Year arrived with little ceremony. Winter camps were cold, damp, and uncomfortable, and in some cases the holiday coincided with brutal fighting.
One of the starkest examples occurred at the Battle of Stones River near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which raged from December 31, 1862, into January 2, 1863. The New Year opened not with resolutions, but with artillery fire and staggering casualties. One Union officer grimly observed that the year had begun “under fire,” a sentiment shared by thousands of men who found themselves fighting as the calendar turned.

Yet even amid hostility, moments of humanity occasionally surfaced. On New Year’s Eve, soldiers recalled a rare pause in the fighting as regimental bands from both sides took turns playing familiar tunes across the lines. A Tennessee soldier remembered how the music floated through the darkness until the night ended with Home, Sweet Home, a melody that stirred homesickness on both sides of the battlefield.

“Everyone Intended to Have a Happy New Year”: Life in Camp

Away from active combat, New Year’s could bring small, improvised observances — reminders of civilian life left behind.
Seventeen-year-old Charley Howe of the 36th Massachusetts Infantry wrote home from camp near Fredericksburg on January 1, 1863, offering his parents a vivid glimpse of camp life at the turn of the year. He began with a familiar greeting:

“I wish you a ‘very happy New Year.’ Last night was the coldest night we have seen since we left Old Massachusetts and we had to keep fires all night long in our fireplaces in order to keep warm.”
Despite the bitter cold, the day itself brought a small novelty:

“It being New Year’s Day, we had whiskey rations given us — a thing which has not happened before since leaving home.”
Howe noted that even this modest indulgence carried moral weight among the men:

“Everyone intended to have a happy New Year as Sons of Temperance and all drank their little gill.”

His letter captures the quiet resilience of soldiers who seized fleeting comforts while maintaining a sense of discipline and identity.
Two years later, Nelson Statler of the 211th Pennsylvania Infantry marked New Year’s Day 1865 in a very different way. Writing home from winter quarters, Statler framed the date with careful precision rather than festivity:

“This is the first day of week, first day of the month, first day of the year, and the first day for me on camp guard since I am in the service.”
His attention quickly turned to the weather and his duties:

“It is very cold today. There is a little skift of snow on the ground — the first I have seen since last winter.”
Statler’s words underscore how, for many soldiers, New Year’s passed as simply another day of responsibility, marked more by cold and routine than celebration.

Watch Night and “Freedom’s Eve”

Waiting for the HourCarte-de-visite of an emancipation watch night meeting 1863 Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Waiting for the Hour
Carte-de-visite of an emancipation watch night meeting 1863
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

While soldiers marked the New Year in camps and on picket lines, African Americans experienced January 1, 1863, as a moment of profound transformation.
On the night of December 31, 1862, enslaved and free Black communities gathered in churches and private homes for Watch Night, waiting through prayer and song for the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect at midnight. These gatherings were deeply spiritual, blending religious tradition with political hope.

Frederick Douglass captured the emotional weight of the moment, recalling the atmosphere as midnight approached:

“It was a moment of solemn waiting… we were waiting for the word of deliverance.”

When January 1 dawned, Douglass described the day in luminous terms:

“This is a day for poetry and song… a new song… the day of jubilee.”

For those who had lived under bondage, the New Year in 1863 represented not merely another turn of the calendar, but the promise of freedom — fragile, incomplete, and contested, yet momentous.

Promises Unfulfilled: New Year’s on the Confederate Home Front

In the war-weary Confederate capital of Richmond, New Year’s celebrations could be painfully hollow. In January 1865, citizens organized what was intended to be a generous New Year’s feast for soldiers defending the city. Food was collected amid great fanfare, but when the meal was finally distributed, it amounted to almost nothing.

One soldier recorded his bitterness in a diary entry:

“Not a mouth full apiece… where has it all gone to… The commissary or quarter masters no doubt got it. May the Lord have mercy on the poor soldiers.”
A contemporary newspaper lamented that the promised dinner had “gone without coming,” a grim metaphor for a Confederacy nearing collapse.

A New Year Without Illusions

Across the divided nation, New Year’s during the Civil War was rarely joyful. Instead, it became a moment for reflection — on hardship endured, on freedom hoped for, and on an uncertain future.
For soldiers like Charley Howe and Nelson Statler, January 1st meant cold nights, guard duty, and letters home. For African Americans, it could mean the long-awaited dawn of emancipation. And for civilians, it often marked another year of sacrifice with no clear end in sight.
In the Civil War, the New Year did not promise easy beginnings. But in camps, churches, and homes, Americans continued to mark its arrival — clinging to hope that someday, the war itself would finally end.

Bibliography

American Battlefield Trust. “New Year’s Hell.”
National Museum of African American History and Culture. “The Historical Legacy of Watch Night.”
Emery, Tom. “New Year’s in Civil War, other conflicts brought little celebration.” Staunton Star-Times.
RVA News. “Civil War: A New Year’s Day ‘feast’.”
The Research Arsenal. Charley Howe letter:
https://app.researcharsenal.com/imageSingleView/13158
Nelson Statler letter: https://app.researcharsenal.com/imageSingleView/56471

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