Lewis Schaeffer, Soldier, Civil War Diaries
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 1540
Civil War diaries of Lewis Schaeffer (b. July 4, 1833), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who served in Company A of the 68th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers (Scott Legion of Philadelphia) from September 1862 to June 1865. Collection consists of three pocket diaries on microfilm. They cover the periods from September-December 1862; 1863, and January-June 1865. There is no diary for 1864. Schaeffer provides only brief descriptions of his combat service, but offers a detailed record of army life in between battles. He carefully traces his movements and marches and comments frequently on the weather, surrounding landscape, and conditions in quarters, including his food, daily activities in camp, letters sent and received, inspection, drill, dress parade, and desertion and discipline. He also describes his picket and guard duty as well as cattle guard duty. Schaeffer did not see a lot combat, but he does describe his service during the Mud March, the battle of Second Fredericksburg, and the battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded. Schaeffer also records his activities transporting Confederate prisoners from Virginia to Union prisoners at Point Lookout and Hart's Island in the spring of 1865.
English
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Lewis Schaeffer (b. July 4, 1833) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served in Company A of the 68th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers (Scott Legion of Philadelphia) from 1862 to 1865. Schaeffer joined the army in the fall of 1862 when the unit was formed in Philadelphia. While he was at Fredericksburg in December of that year, he did not see combat. He participated in the Mud March in early 1863, the battle of Second Fredericksburg during the Chancellorsville Campaign in May 1863, and the battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded on July 2. Due to his wound and then breaking his leg while on furlough that fall, Schaeffer spent the rest of 1863 in the hospital. There is no information about Schaeffer for 1864, but in January 1865 he was back on duty with his regiment. Schaeffer saw brief combat in the spring of 1865, but he was primarily responsible during that time for transporting Confederate prisoners between City Point, Virginia, and the prisons at Point Lookout, Maryland, and Hart's Island, New York. Schaeffer returned to Philadelphia after his discharge in June 1865.
0 Linear Feet (Summary: 1 reel of microfilm)
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