The Loyola Marymount University Civil War Collection COLL.103

Clay Stalls, Lauren Zuchowski Longwell, Marisa Ramirez
William H. Hannon Library, Archives & Special Collections, Manuscripts
2011-2023
Loyola Marymount University
William H. Hannon Library, Archives and Special Collections
1 LMU Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90045
special.collections@lmu.edu

Note

Following its creation in 2011, this teaching collection continues to grow with revisions being made to the finding aid as new items are acquired.


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: William H. Hannon Library, Archives & Special Collections, Manuscripts
Title: Civil War Collection
Identifier/Call Number: COLL.103
Physical Description: 2.25 Linear Feet [One half size document box and one oversize box.]
Date (inclusive): 1861-1879
Abstract: This teaching collection consists of photographs, letters, a diary, a map, government bonds, and other documents related to the American Civil War (1861-1865). Also known as an artificial collection, items were brought together from different origins for the purpose of teaching on a specific subject.

Access

Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount University.

Publication Rights

Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Box and Folder number, Loyola Marymount University Civil War Collection, Collection 103, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.

Collection Description

Collection 103 is a mixture of accruals designed to create a teaching and research collection on Civil War history. The materials include correspondence, cartes-de-visite, a diary, and a Confederate bond. The correspondence treats such subjects as abolitionism (Box 1ov, Folder 2), Confederate spying on Union troops in Mississippi (Box 1, Folder 1), and convalescence in a Union hospital (Box 1, Folder 4).
Noteworthy is the mention of pacifists in the Union Army (Box 1, Folder 6), draft dodging (Box 1, Folder 10), and looting by Union troops, encamped near Alexandria, Virginia (Box 1, Folder 7). Also of interest are Harper's Weekly articles on President Abraham Lincoln's assassination and President Andrew Johnson (Box 1ov, Folders 1, 4).
The dates of the materials run from 1862 to 1879.
The collection contains two important items for the history of African-American soldiers in the Civil War. One (Box 1, Folder 11) is the 1865 diary of Frederick J. Bartlett, 2nd Lieutentant, Company C, 27th Ohio Colored Infantry. Bartlett details the history of this all-black unit. The other (Box 1ov, Folder 7) is the letter of Captain Charles H. Cole, 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery, requesting that rations be given to familes of freed African-American soldiers at Camp Shiloh. The letter also contains the rejection of this request by Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas. The letter, thus, offers contemporary evidence for the condition of African-American soldiers and their families.
The correspondence has been encapsulated for the sake of preservation.
Some items contain their catalog description and other items, transcriptions of letters and background information on the authors of letters.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by item in individual folders. See the box and folder list for the contents.

Accruals

Accession number 2010.48: Box 1, Folder 5. Box 1ov, Folder 6
Accession number 2011.21: Box 1, Folder 1. Box 1ov, Folders 2-3
Accession number 2011.22: Box 1, Folder 2 (Cartes-de visite 1-6)
Accession number 2013.39: Box 1, Folders 3-8, 10
Accession number 2014.14: Box 1, Folder 9. Box 1ov, Folders 1, 4, 5
Accession number 2014.31: Box 1, Folders 11-12. Box 1ov, Folder 7
Accession number 2014.25: Box 1, Folder 2. (carte-de visite 8)
Accession number 2014.34: Box 1, Folder 2. (carte-de visite 9)
Accession number 2014.35: Box 1, Folder 2. (carte-de visite 10)
Accession number 2018.6: Box 1, Folder 13-17.
Accession number 2018.31: Box 1, Folder 18. Box 1ov, Folder 8.
Accession number 2023.17: Box 1, Folder 19.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
cartes-de-visite
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Pacifism
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Assassination
Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Draft Resisters
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Hospitals
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal Narratives
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Participation, African American
United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 27th Ohio (1865)
Ruggles, Daniel, 1810-1897
Necker, John
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Destruction and Pillage

Box 1, Folder 1

Letter from James Burton to Daniel Ruggles 1863 April 19

Scope and Contents

Letter from Confederate spy James Burton to Confederate General Daniel Ruggles. Contains Burton's report to Ruggles concerning the cavalry raid of Union Colonel Benjamin Grierson. Also includes auctioneer's blurb re the history of the raid and the letter's significance. The year of the letter (not given in the letter itself) is based on the date of Grierson's raid.
Box 1, Folder 2

Cartes-de-visite undated

Scope and Contents

Sleeves 1-6: cartes-de-visite, six with cancelled revenue stamps and names of photographers on back (from the Civil War era). Sleeve 7: One carte-de- visite of Robert E. Lee (probably post-Civil War). Sleeve 8: One carte-de-visite of Herbert V.C. Holcomb, surgeon, 15th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers. Sleeve 9: One carte-de- visite of Union soldier, of "Company C." Sleeve 10: One carte-de-visite of two Civil War era Massachusets school children.
Box 1, Folder 3

Letter from Henry and Jacob Otto 1864 September 11

Scope and Contents

Letter of brothers Henry and Jacob Otto, of 205th Pennsylvania Infantry Volunteers, to family discussing their poor health, and their comrade's religious sentiments. With catalog description and crude transcription.
Box 1, Folder 4

Letter from John Buyers to Mary Buyers 1863 May 2

Scope and Contents

Letter from John Buyers, of the 58th Pennsylvania Infantry, to sister Mary Buyers about hospital convalescence and conditions thereof, as well as news of comrades. With envelope. Identification of author by Cohasco, Inc. With catalog description and background information on persons of letter.
Box 1, Folder 5

Letter from D. N. Graham 1864 January 16

Scope and Contents

Letter from D. N. Graham, possibly a Union soldier at Clarksville, Tennessee, to his wife regarding the death of their child and other family matters, as well as the possibility of breaking camp.
Box 1, Folder 6

Letter from W.B. Steoms to [Nancie A.H.] 1863 October 4

Scope and Contents

Letter from W. B. Steoms, of the Second Division, 6th Corps, to a [Nancie A. H.] regarding army life. Steoms mentions the steadfast adherence of three members of "the Society" (who are in his outfit) to their pacificism. The society is perhaps the Quakers.
Box 1, Folder 7

Letter from H. D. McLellan to "Binnie" 1862 January 10

Scope and Contents

Letter from Lieutentant H. D. McLellan to "Binnie." Notes activities in camps, including presence of officer's wives, building of theater for entertainment, and anticipation of payday. Also describes looting of the residence of "Commodore De Forest," formerly of the United States Navy, but now in the Confederate Navy. Sent from Camp Howard, four miles from Alexandria, Virginia. With envelope. Catalog description and partial transcription of letter.
Box 1, Folder 8

Letter from Allie F. Hartshein to her "Uncle Calvin" 1865 April 25

Scope and Contents

Hartshein discusses assassination of Abraham F. Lincoln. With catalog description.
Box 1, Folder 9

The nation mourns 1865

Scope and Contents

Broadside of poem on assassination of Abraham Lincoln by Charles Magnus
Box 1, Folder 10

Letter from unnamed father to Madison 1864 April 30

Scope and Contents

Letter from a father in Maine to his son Madison in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The father descibes his work on the farm and crop prices as well as advises his son on how to avoid the draft.
Box 1, Folder 11

Diary of Frederick J. Bartlett 1865

Scope and Contents

Diary of Frederick J. Bartlett, 2nd Lieutentant, Company C, 27th Ohio Colored Infantry. With transcription and introductory notes. Bartlett was an officer for an African-American company and his diary records, among other things, the company's history.
Box 1, Folder 12

Receipts to enslavers for impressment of enslaved laborers 1865

Scope and Contents

Issued by the Confederate Army and by the states of South Carolina and Alabama.
Box 1, Folder 13

Letter from Melvin Henry Hunt to his brother and [Adaline Hunt] 1863 January 27

Scope and Contents

Letter written by Melvin Henry (M.H.) Hunt, Esq. and Orderly Sergeant of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment Excelsior Brigade. Letter was written in Camp Nelson Taylor near Fammouth, Virginia to his brother and sister with updates about his life following the Battle of Fredericksburg. Inclues transcription.
Box 1, Folder 14

Letter from Melvin Henry Hunt to his uncle, aunt, and cousins 1863 September 22

Scope and Contents

Brief letter with an update about their march to Gordonsville, fording the Rappahannock and Hazel Rivers, and a the many soldiers catching colds from being wet often. Includes transcription.
Box 1, Folder 15

Letter from Melvin Henry Hunt to his uncle, aunt, and cousins 1863 September 8

Scope and Contents

Brief about about life written by Melvin H. Hunt near Beverly Ford, Virginia. He noetes that they should expect pay soon. Includes transcription.
Box 1, Folder 16

Letter from Melvin Henry Hunt to Hity [Brown] 1862 December 29

Scope and Contents

Letter written by Melvin to his brother, Hity, with an update about their brother Alfred. Alfred was wounded during the Battle of Fredericksburg and recovering in the hospital. Includes transcription.
Box 1, Folder 17

Letter from Alfred Hunt to Adaline Hunt 1862 February 9

Scope and Contents

Letter written by Alfred Hunt to his sister with an update about life including information about their aunt and uncle, comments about deserters, and a soldier who got drunk and accidentally shot another soldier. Written while Alfred was in Camp Wool. Includes Transcription.
Box 1, Folder 18

Pencil drawings by unidentified artist 1861 March 4

Scope and Contents

Pencil-drawings on a four-page lettersheet. The largest drawing, titled "S. Carolina traitor/ Lincoln commander" features a South Carolina militia officer marching with a drawn sword with a young slave looking up at him. A canon, named the "Preserver", points at the South Carlinian from underneath a U.S. flag emblazoned with the word UNION. The illustration is referring to South Carolina's secession from the Union, which occured in 1860 December before Lincoln took office and reflects the idea that Lincoln would use force to preserve the Union but also that even southern slaves must have realized from their masters' demeanor and actions that something was amiss.
A second drawing dated 1861 March 4, the day of President Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration represents Abraham Lincoln chasing President James "Buck" Buchanon out of qashington and relates to his lack of action after a numr of southern states suceeded from the Union.
Another drawing depicts a sailing ship approaching a coast-line where a threatening snake has coiled itself around a tree, referencing the first South Carolina Palmetto flag. The sailing ship likely refers to the civilian freighter, STar of the West, that futilely attempted to resupply Fort Sumter in the Charleston harbor.
There are three other additional pencil sketches: a Native American with bow and tomahawk, a hunting scene with a being simultaneously wounder by both a Native American using a bow and arrow and a white man shooting a gun, as well as a mother and son holding open books.
Although the drawings are primitive and child-like, their polticial nature and comentary suggests that they were made by an adult around the tim that Lincoln was inaugurated but before the South Carolina artillery fired upon Fort Sumter. These drawings offer visual commentary upon Lincoln's election and the state of the Union in the days immediately prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War.
Box 1, Folder 19

Special Order No. 128: Sergeant Marcus Kimball of 19th Mass. Vol. relieved from duty with the Invalid Detachment and assigned to duty with the Colored Detachment 1863 December 15

Scope and Contents

Written on letterhead from "Head Quarters, Draft Rendezvous, Long Island, Boston Harbor, Mass." An additional document was included from the vendor that appears to be an inventory of supplies dated July 1864.
Box 1ov, Folder 1

Harper's Weekly 1865 May 13

Scope and Contents

Vol. 9, no. 437. Includes an article on Andrew Johnson's assumption to the presidency and Reconstruction.
Box 1ov, Folder 2

Letter from John Necker to Hill Logan 1866 December 24

Scope and Contents

Anti-abolitionist and anti-war letter written by John Necker, a prominent Illinois businessman, to Hill Logan regarding abolitionists, African-Americans, Abraham Lincoln's presidency, and his position on slavery.
Box 1ov, Folder 3

Confederate $1000 bond 1865 February 20

Box 1ov, Folder 4

Harper's Weekly 1865 April 29

Scope and Contents

Vol. 9, no. 435. Includes an article on the assassination of Abraham Linclon, highlighting John Wilke Booth's role.
Box 1ov, Folder 5

President Lincoln's Funeral March circa 1865

Scope and Contents

Composed by E. Mack.
Box 1ov, Folder 6

Map of military encampment undated

Scope and Contents

Hand-drawn and colored map of possibly a Union military encampment in Dover, Tennessee.
Box 1ov, Folder 7

Letter from Charles H. Cole 1864

Scope and Contents

Letter written by Captain Charles H. Cole of the 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery requesting rations for familes of freed African-American soldiers at Camp Shiloh. On verso of letter are notice of rejection by Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas and opinon on matter of Lieutenant Colonel John Phillips, Superintendent of Freedmen, "West Tennessee."
Box 1ov, Folder 8

Funeral car of President Lincoln circa 1879

General

Possible albumen silver photograph with extensive hand painting laid on cardstock.

Scope and Contents

On 1865 April 21 New York City hired a prominent local undertaker, Peter Relyea, to manage Lincoln's funeral procession as it mades its way throug hthe streets of the city. As part of his then incredible $9,000 contract, Relyea was also charged with building an elaborate catafalque to carry Lincoln's remains. Reylea had the procession photographed and subsequently used the images to advertise his business. This was produced in the late 1870s, based on his famous photograph.