Allen D. Frankenberry, Soldier, Civil War Diaries and Memoir
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 1785
Four diaries and a nineteen-page memoir of Allen D. Frankenberry (1841-1909), who served chiefly as an orderly and signalman in the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry from August 1862 to September 1863 and the U.S. Signal Corps in the Department of the Cumberland from October 1863 to June 1865. Frankenberry's diaries are available only on microfilm and are divided into four volumes: Book I, August 20, 1862-September 10, 1863; Book II, September 9, 1864-February 15, 1865; Book III, February 16, 1865-March 8, 1865; and Book IV, January 1, 1868-September 30, 1870. Books I, II, and III document Frankenberry's Civil War service with almost daily entries that chiefly describe his movements (travel in Pennsylvania and Maryland in 1862, Tennessee and Kentucky in 1863, Georgia and North Carolina in 1864 and 1865), foraging for food, rations, camp and quarters, drill, and horses. There is very little information about battles, except for Frankenberry's Signal Corps duty at Kennesaw Mountain and during the battle of Allatoona Pass in October 1864. Topics from the fall of 1864 and early 1865 also include Gen. William T. Sherman, Maj. Gen. John Corse, and prisoners in North Carolina. Book IV tells of Frankenberry's life after the war, including the cutting, sawing, and selling of timber in Point Marion, Penn., and his daily life, including church, home, and marriage. Collection also includes a photocopy of Frankenberry's Civil War memoir. Most of this nineteen-page document, which was written circa 1905, focuses on the Signal Corps during the battle of Allatoona Pass and Frankenberry's return visit to the site of the battle in 1895. He describes the actions and messages of Gen. William T. Sherman and Maj. Gen. John Corse and the gospel song "Hold the Fort."
English
No special access restriction applies.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Allen D. Frankenberry was born on August 13, 1841, the son of Samuel and Eliza Frankenberry, of Springhill, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He attended Waynesburg College before enlisting in Company K of the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry on August 20, 1862. From May to September 1863, when he was disabled while delivering a message, Frankenberry served as an orderly at Gen. William S. Rosecrans's headquarters. He had been transferred to the Signal Corps, 14th Army, Department of the Cumberland, in October 1863, so after being released from the hospital in April 1864, Frankenberry joined the Signal Corps in Georgia. Frankenberry was mustered out of service in June 1865. He returned to Point Marion, Pa., where he established a lumber business in 1867.
Allen Frankenberry married Carrie Conn on December 31, 1868, and their daughter, Retta Conn Frankenberry, was born on October 24, 1869. Carrie Frankenberry died in 1874, and Allen Frankenberry was remarried to Mary A. Sheets. They had three children. Allen D. Frankenberry died on February 23, 1909.
[Biographical information from Allen Frankenberry's granddaughter, Mrs. I.L. Van Voorhis, and the USGenWeb Archives.]
0.01 Linear Feet (Summary: 1/4 in. (1 folder), 1 reel of microfilm)
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository