Civil War -- Harpers Ferry

Overview

A Civil War soldier's letter to his brother from Camp Hill, Harper's Ferry, (West) Virginia, 1863 February 28; a Christmas menu from Hill's Central Hotel, Parkersburg, West Virginia, ca. 1879; and a campaign ribbon from the West Virginia Democratic State Convention, Parkersburg, West Virginia 1892 July 27, the printing on the ribbon reads "Sweeney for State Supt. of Free Schools".

Overview

Records of James W. Brady, provost marshal at Harpers Ferry, 1863-1865, and an order book of department headquarters at Harpers Ferry, 1863.

Scope and Contents

Handwritten personal account of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, [West] Virginia in 1859, dictated by Edward White to his daughter Margaret White Longley. Edward White would later serve for the Confederate army and his viewpoints on enslavement and abolitionists are apparent in this account.

Overview Diary of Uz Barns of Ritchie County, a volunteer in the Union Army who served as a private in the 10th West Virginia Infantry. The diary covers the years 1862 through 1865 and contains daily entries, mainly regarding weather conditions. Barns also wrote about marches and distances marched per day; encampments at various places in eastern West Virginia and in Winchester, Virginia; and engagements with Confederate forces at Beverly, (West) Virginia, Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia, and Deep...

Overview

Two letters by Union soldier William H. Bush to his wife Mary, in Racine, Ohio. On March 29, 1863 Bush wrote from Winchester, "East, Va.," and on April 15, 1864 from Harper's Ferry. Bush discusses the family and personal affairs, his army buddies, the camp rules, and the location of his unit at Harper's Ferry. He also includes a hand-drawn map of Harper's Ferry on part of a page in the second letter.