Civil War Diaries: 5 Ws

1. Who: W. Adams, 4th North Carolina Volunteers

What: Adams had not written to his family in a long time and had been through several
battles unhurt. However, his unit was low on supplies.
When: September 30, 1862
Where: A camp near Bunker Hill
Why: He wanted to write to his family since he had not previously been able and he
needed to ask for his father to send him new shoes as his old ones had fallen to pieces.
2. Who: Alexander Hunter, a soldier
What: Hunters unit had been living off of scant food supplies for a long time and many
had become too sick or injured to continue on. They came upon a town where the people
regarded them as neither friend nor foe but gave them supplies nonetheless.
When: Sunday September 21, 1862
Where: Maryland, near the Potomac
Why: He wrote to tell his family about the hardships he and his fellow soldiers faced in
the war
3. Who: William Child, Major and Surgeon with the 5th Regiment New Hampshire
Volunteers
What: Child, a surgeon, had spent the aftermath of the battle tending to the wounded
soldiers and dreaming of being home with his wife.
When: September 22, 1862
Where: Battlefield Hospital near Sharpsburg
Why: He wrote to his wife to tell her about what he witnessed on the battlefield and to
send her a piece of gold lace he cut from the uniform of a Confederate Lieutenant.
4. Who: Robert Kellogg, 14th Connecticut Volunteers
What: Kellogg wrote in his diary about how, under Confederate artillery fire, his unit was
marched to different locations and he was wounded in the arm by the shrapnel of an
artillery shell.
When: September 17, 1862
Where: From the Mumma farmhouse to the west of the Roulette farm, near Sunken Road
Why: He wrote to record the experience of marching under and evading artillery fire and
how the fire affected him and his fellow soldiers.
5. Who: Private J.D. Hicks, 125th Pennsylvania Volunteers
What: Hicks writes of finding the body of a young drummer boy under an oak tree.
When: Battle of Antietam, 1862
Where: Near the Dunker Church near the battlefield at Antietam
Why: He writes to leave a record of how the war reached and affected everyone in it, not
only those bearing weapons.
6. Who: George Bronson, a medic in the 11th Connecticut Regiment

What: He writes to his wife of battle and the loss of his regiment. After the battle, he was
robbed of medicine, his comb, and his needle book which contained a lock of his wifes
hair.
When: Sunday September 21, 1862
Where: Burnside Bridge
Why: He writes to inform his wife of what he has seen on the battle field and to ask her to
replace the lock of hair that was stolen and to send her the photograph she had told him
about.
7. Who: Henry (no last name given), a regiment of Connecticut Volunteers
What: He writes to his family in the short time he has before he has to send the letter to
give them a brief account of his whereabouts since the last letter he sent.
When: September 19th, 1862
Where: moving into Virginia
Why: He had not recently written to his family and wanted to tell them how he was and
why he had not been writing to them.
8. Who: John Redfield, 13th New Jersey
What: Redfield writes a letter to his family to tell him how he is faring and that he does
not have much to eat. He also wishes his family well and asks them to send him a bottle
of pain killer, cider, and apples.
When: October 17, 1862
Where: Harpers Ferry
Why: He writes to tell his family that he is enjoying reading their letters and that he
wishes them and his neighbors well. He also asks them to send him food.
9. Who: J.O. Smith, inside the Roulette Farm Field Hospital
What: Smith writes of his encounter with a Confederate soldier who, although wounded
and blinded in the battle, carried a wounded Union soldier to a nearby hospital and,
thereby, saved his life. Both the soldiers received treatment in the hospital.
When: After a nearby battle
Where: Roulette Farm Field Hospital
Why: He writes to record the kindness and loyalty he witnessed between two men of
opposite sides of the war.
10. Who: W.H. Gaston, 1st Texas Volunteers
What: Gaston writes a letter to his father to tell him that he does not know the
whereabouts of Robert but that he thinks he may still be alive. He also mentions that he
will try to return home soon but that he will search for Robert first.
When: November 28, 1862
Where: Near the Rappahannock River
Why: He writes to keep in touch with his father and keep him informed about Robert.
11. Who: Erred Fowles, a wounded Union soldier

What: Fowles, nearing his death, writes to his wife to tell her that he has been seriously
wounded by friendly fire but that he is fairly comfortable. He also tells her that he will try
to return home as soon as possible.
When: September 26, 1862
Where: Near the Antietam battlefield
Why: After being wounded, he writes to tell his wife of his situation and how he is faring.
Eventually, on October 6, 1862, he dies.
12. Who: George Allen, Company A, 6th New York Volunteers
What: Allen writes an account of the wounded soldiers who are brought off the battlefield
for amputations.
When: After the battle of Antietam
Where: Keedysville, Maryland
Why: He writes to provide a record of the horrors of the war and how the soldiers are
wounded and treated.
13. Who: Bird B Wright, 8th Florida Volunteer Infantry Regiment
What: Wright, wounded in the shoulder near Sharpsburg, writes to his wife to tell her
what has happened.
When: September 21, 1862
Where: Shepherdstown, Jefferson County Virginia
Why: He writes to ask either his wife or brother to visit him and he tells her how to reach
him.
14. Who: Henry Kyd Douglas
What: In his memoir, Douglas writes of the shelling he witnessed and of how a civilian
woman remained unmoved by the artillery and offered him water while others around her
cowered in fear of the shells.
When: September 16, 1862
Where: Sharpsburg
Why: He writes of this encounter to show the different ways in which the war affected
soldiers and civilians alike.
15. Who: Charles Carlton Coffin, Army Correspondent
What: Coffin writes of a Union soldier he found lying on the ground near the Dunker
Church with a pocket bible.
When: After the battle of Antietam
Where: Antietam
Why: His account serves to demonstrate the effects the war had on its soldiers and how
they held to their faith throughout the combat.
16. Who: Unknown soldier
What: The soldier writes of a time he witnessed a fellow soldier find the body of his
father, who had been killed in battle, lying on the battlefield.

When: During the battle of Antietam

Where: Antietam battlefield
Why: He writes to record the way in which the Civil War affected families and different
generations.
17. Who: 13th New Jersey
What: The account tells of the attempt of a soldier to evade battle by camouflaging
himself under an overcoat to escape the war and return home.
When: Around the battle of Antietam
Where: Area near the East woods
Why: In writing of the attempt at escape, the severity of the wars effects on its soldiers is
demonstrated and it tells of how soldiers attempted to evade it.
18. Who: Union private of Lieutenant Whites Company
What: The private writes of his experiences of seeing bullets fly past and nearly hit him
and not caring how close he is to being killed.
When: Around the Battle of Antietam
Where: A battlefield near the Cornfield
Why: The account serves to demonstrate how used to battles and death the soldiers
became and how they changed after months and years of war.
19. Who: Private G.L. Kilmer, Company I, 14th New York Artillery
What: Kilmer writes of how soldiers, frenzied and impatient with loading and reloading
their rifles, take loaded rifles from the dead and fire them.
When: During the Battle of Antietam
Where: Antietam
Why: This statement shows how battlefield conditions affected the soldiers and what they
did to protect themselves while under fire.
20. Who: Private David L. Thompson, Company G, 9th New York Volunteers
What: Thompson writes of how people react when shots are destroying the people and
things around them.
When: After the Battle of Antietam
Where: Antietam
Why: Writing of how people react to battle highlights how devastating the war was to
those who fought in it.

Other Diaries:
Soldier Diary:
We have been marching for days without seeing any action. All weve eaten the last few
days has been hardtack and other various rations. The officers expect that, as we continue

to push southward, we may engage in a battle or skirmish. Based on the accounts of battle
Ive heard, I can only hope that the war is won before we must fight a hostile regiment.
Civilian Diary:
Day after day, we see the soldiers marching through town. Some of them, whom I assume
are new volunteers, seem light hearted and excited by the prospect of glory in battle.
Others trudge back from battle and look homesick and downcast. This war was only
supposed to last a short time and now I dont know if it will ever end.
African American Diary:
Weve just received word that President Lincoln has declared all enslaved peoples of the
rebelling states free. If this trend continues, there may be hope yet that America can
finally be free of the fetters of slavery. Since the tide of the war has also turned in favor
of the Union, this possibility seems more and more likely. I just hope that victory comes
swiftly to the force of freedom.