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Guide to the Joseph Smith Reynolds Civil War Diary
Wyles SC 307
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Table of contents
Title: Joseph Smith Reynolds Civil War Diary,
Date (inclusive): 1862
Collection Number: Wyles SC 307
Creator:
Reynolds (Joseph Smith)
Extent:
.1 linear feet
(1 folder)
Repository:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special Collections
Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010
Physical Location: Vault
Language:
English.
None.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Joseph Smith Reynolds Civil War Diary. Wyles SC 307. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Undetermined.
Scope and Content of Collection
Civil War diary, 1862, of Joseph Smith Reynolds, a Union officer with the 64th Illinois Vol., Co. F. Reynolds was born in
New Lenox, Illinois, December 3, 1839. He moved to Chicago in 1856, graduated from the high school there in July 1861, and
enlisted in the 64th the next month. During the Civil War he took part in 17 battles, was wounded in action three times, and
was promoted several times, from 2nd lieutenant to brev. brigadier-general of volunteers by 1865. After the Civil War he studied
law, was admitted to the bar and practiced in Chicago. He also was elected as representative and senator to the Illinois legislature,
was a commissioner from Illinois to the Universal Exposition at. Vienna in 1873, and held other public offices.
The diary covers the period of March to September 1862, and mainly describes movements and engagements of his unit and nearby
forces.
An earlier portion of the diary, written in a different hand by an unknown author, purports to describe a journey from Champaign
County (Illinois), through Lexington and Frankfort (Kentucky), to the Ohio River and then down it, past Cincinnati and onward,
from October 1805 to about January 1807. Champaign County, however, did not exist until the early 1830s and there are inaccuracies
where dates and days of the week are mentioned, so it seems likely this is a fictional account which may or may not have been
based on an actual journey.