Civil War Diaries - Library of Congress

1 Civil War Diaries and Personal Narratives 1960-1994 Civil War Diaries and Personal Narratives 1960-1994 A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS IN THE GENERAL COLLECTIONS OF THE Library OF Congress Compiled By Albert E. Smith, Jr. HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION. Library OF Congress WASHINGTON. Igg8. Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data Library of Congress . Ci,il war Diaries and personal narratives. 1960-1994 : a selected bibliography of books in the' general collections of the Library of Congress / compiled by Albert E. Smith. Jr. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.

2 ISBN" 0-8444-0910-3. - - - - - Copy 3 Z663 . 1997. 1. United States-Historv-Ci\il War, 1861-1865-Personal narratives-Bibliography-C;atalogs. 2. Soldiers-United States . Diaries -Bibliography-Catalogs. 3. Soldiers' writings, Anwrican-Bibliog . raphy-Catalogs. 4. Library of Congress -Catalogs. I. Smith, Albe'rt E. (Albert Edward), 1943- . II. Title. [E464] 96-42144. '8-DC20 CIP. @iThe paper used in this publication meets the requirements for pennmwnce established by the American N ationa! Standard for Information Sciences "Permanence' of Paper f()r Printed Library }.Iatelials" (ANSI ).

3 For sale by the United States GO\'ernment Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9:328 ISB:\ 0-8c1 !-J,--0910-3. Contents INTRODUCTION. t.;ii INDIVIDUAL NARRATIVES. 1. COLLECTED NARRATIVES. 62. = IS e INDEX. 66. Prioate Achille Ferris, Company, H, 8th Texas Cavalry. tAi Introduction o other chapter of American history has been so voluminously recorded as the American Civil War. Even today, more than 130. years after General Robert E. Lee and the remnant of his loyal, starving anny bowed to inevitable defeat at Appomattox, the Civil War continues to fascinate people the world over.

4 What draws us to that terrible conflict is not the struggle over slavery or states' rights, but the human drama it unfolds. The real war was experienced every day by those who fought it and by their families at home. The personal source materials for this conflict include letters, Diaries , autobiographies, memoirs, and reports published in books that number into the thousands. Today, more than a century later, thanks to these published letters, memoirs, and documents, we can experience the conflict first hand through the words left us by those who lived through it and by some who died in it.

5 This massive array of materials is invaluable to researchers, Civil War scholars, and others interested in this period of American history. Every war generates a large number of official documents, and the Civil War is no exception. In fact, it prompted many more documents than previous American wars. The Official Records ofthe War ofthe Rebellion, for example, runs to 70 volumes in 127 parts plus general index and atlas. A great number of documents in this series reveal personal accounts of the combatants, often written just after the event. There are also numerous collections of Civil War letters and Diaries , many written by prominent officers, men of considerable literacy, who were quite conscious of the historical importance of the conflict.

6 Almost every general seems to have published his "Memoirs" of the events. First-hand accounts from the Civil \Var vary both in form and in reliability. Narratives and letters are most reliable as sources, \vith personal Diaries and journals follO\ving closely in descending order. Personal narratives written specifically for publication are for various reasons suspect; they are the least credible of all the genres that report facts and events. Civil \Var Diaries and Personal Narratives is a selective compilation of Diaries , letters, memoirs, and personal narratives of the common soldier-many times \vitnessing the conflict on a grand scale-published as books between 1960 and 1994 and held in the general collections of the Library of Congress .

7 Accounts published before 1960, but reissued \vith expanded introductions, are also included. Books that are only reprints of previous publications are not included. This bibliography is arranged by author, and an index is provided which lists the regiments in which the writers served, the battles they described, and the subjects about which they wrote. The compilation supplements these earlier Civil War bibliographies: Ellis Melion Coulter's Travels in the Confederate States, 1st ed. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1948),289 p.; Charles Emil Dornbusch's Military Bibliography of the Civil War (New York: New York Public Library , 1971-), v.

8 2 and Carold Cole's Civil War Eyewitnesses (Columbia, : University of South Carolina Press, 1988), p. - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - 1. Individual Narratives 1. JOSEPH ADAMS, 1832-1873. Dear wife: Captain Joseph Adams' letters to his wife, Eliza Ann, 1861-1864/. Jean Anne W Hudder, editor. [ ] : Hudder, cl985. 170 p., [66]. leaves of plates: facsims. 1985. 1861-1864. Bibliography: p. 169-170. 2. HENRY AHSENMACHER, 1829-1907. The Civil War diary of a Minnesota volunteer, Henry Ahsenmacher, 1862-1865. - St. Paul, Minn : Minnesota Genealogical Society, 1990. - ii, 11 p. : maps. 1990.

9 1862-1865. 3. EDWARD PORTER ALEXANDER, 1835-1910. Fighting for the Confederacy: the personal recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander / edited by Gary W Gallagher. - Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, cl989. - xxvii, 664 p. : ill. 1989. 1861-1865. Bibliography: p. 553-612. 4. HENRY A. ALLEN, 1842-1936. JOHN H. RENICK, d. 1884. Sergeant Allen and Private Renick / edited and \vith an introd. by Martin Litvin. - Galesburg, Ill. : Mother Bickerdyke Historical Collection, 1971. - 295 p. : ports. 1862-1864. Includes bibliographical references. Contents: Allen, H. A.

10 The boy with the white Panama hat - Renick, J. H. The Civil War Diaries of John H. Renick. 2 - - - - -- - - --~----- 5. EDWARD C. ANDERSON, 1815-1883 Confederate foreign agent: the European diary of Major Edward C. Anderson /. edited with a prologue and an epilogue by W. Stanley Hoole. - University, Ala. : Confederate Pub. Co., cl976. - viii, 161 p. - (Confederate centennial studies). 1861-1865. Bibliography: p. 151-152. Major in the Corps of Artillery, then colonel in command of all fixed forts and batteries about Savannah, supervising the fortifications. 6. JOHN WESLEY ANDES, 1838-1919.