Skip to main content

Civil War Manuscript Volume 4 (transcript; includes manuscript diary of James F. Ellis, Corporal, 15th West Virginia Infantry, Company B, a Union soldier who was taken prisoner at Cedar Creek, VA on October 19, 1864, and died in Camp Salisbury, NC on February 13, 1865 [January 1, 1864 (1861?) - February 13, 1865]; also includes a portrait photo of Ellis and a facsimile [undated]; digitized photo is available online through West Virginia History OnView as ID no. 038503. Diary entries depict service in the Kanawha Valley and Eastern Panhandle, and Ellis' prison life in Camp Salisbury. 3 items), 1864-1865, undated

 File — Box: 9, Folder: 15

Scope and Contents

Diary includes: descriptions of various engagements and maneuvers preceding Ellis' capture at Cedar Creek; names of men serving with Ellis who were wounded, discharged, deserters, etc.; description of living conditions at Camp Salisbury, NC; number of Federal prisoners joining the Confederate Army; number of deaths; and rations received. West Virginia counties in which the regiment saw action: Greenbrier, Mineral, Monroe, Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, Kanawha, Fayette, Raleigh, and Mercer. Ellis’ location as mentioned in various entries in 1864: Ridgeville [Mineral County?], Hancock [MD?], "Rebs reported at Peterson's Creek" [Pattersons Creek, Mineral County?] on February 2; fight at New Creek [Mineral County] on February 3; "Alpine Depot, Morgan Co. [Morgan County] West Virginia" on April 1; other April entries mention Clarksburg, Parkersburg, Ravenswood, Pomeroy [OH], Charleston; Camp Piatt [?] Kanawha County on April 26; May entries mention Fayette County, Raleigh County, and Mercer County [captured Fort Breckenridge at Princeton, May 6]; Monroe County on May 13; New River on May 10; Lewisburg on May 22; White Sulphur Springs on June 2; Fayette County on June 20; Camp Piatt on July 1; Clarksburg on July 9; Piedmont on July 10; Martinsburg on July 11; Harpers Ferry on July 15; Libby Prison on November 1; Salisbury, NC on November 4. For a typescript copy of the diary, see also Series 8, Bound Notebooks, box 16, Notebook 1.

Dates

  • Creation: 1864-1865, undated

Repository Details

Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository

Contact:
1549 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown WV 26506-6069 US
304-293-3536