Monthly Archives: January 2012

31 January 1862: Mr. Benjamin produced a list of the troops furnished by each State since the War – amounting in all to about 320,000 men. Of course the number is reduced much below that amount now.

Item description: Entry, 31 January 1862, from the diary of Thomas Bragg (Attorney General of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1863), written in Richmond, Va. Bragg comments on the Burnside Expedition, troop levies, military commanders, and Northern politics. [Transcription available … Continue reading

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30 January 1862: “WHEREAS, It is of great importance to manufacture Salt in the interior of this State…”

Item description: Salt continued to be of great importance to the North Carolina Secession Convention as evidenced by this ordinance. In it, the convention exempts the owners and operators of “The Chatham Salt Mining and Manufacturing Company” from militia service, … Continue reading

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29 January 1862: “[Capt. McDade] does not consider any student, not a resident of Orange liable to drill or draft.”

Item description:  University of North Carolina President David Swain writes to Charles Manly, the secretary-treasurer of the university’s Board of Trustees, that he had spoken with local Confederate militia Captain McDade. Swain explains that drafting students appeared unlikely. Item citation: From folder 219 in … Continue reading

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28 January 1862: “for while my pen moves over the paper my blood rushes in my veins. for roar roar roar so[u]nds on my ear and makes the very ground quiver and tremble where I sit.”

Item description: Letter, 28 January 1862, from Emmett Cole, a Union soldier in Company F, 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment, at Beaufort, S.C., to his friend Jo in Michigan. Cole’s letter comments on the noise of artillery firing; rumors of England … Continue reading

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27 January 1862: “We must know something more decided as to these marauders before any of us move.”

Item description: Letter, 27 January 1862, from Jane Caroline North Pettigrew to her brother, James Johnston Pettigrew. Caroline comments on the impending arrival of Burnside’s forces and the prevailing feeling of uncertainty among residents of coastal North Carolina.     … Continue reading

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26 January 1862: “but I would not go to the Hospital for it is just the same as signing a mans death warrant to send him there.”

Item description: Letter, 26 January 1862, from Emmett Cole, a Union soldier in Company F, 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment, to his sister Celestia. Cole wrote from Beaufort, S.C., where he had gone to recover from the “chill fever.” In this … Continue reading

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25 January 1862: “North Carolina Rebels in a Flutter”

Item Description: “The Burnside Expedition.”  The New York Herald, 25 January 1862, page 1, column 6.   Item Transcription (partial): THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. North Carolina Rebels in a Flutter. THE MILITIA OF THE STATE CALLED OUT. THE THEATRE OF OPERATIONS. … Continue reading

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24 January 1862: “An Attack Anticipated on Newbern and Roanoke Island, North Carolina.”

Item Description: “The Burnside Expedition.” The New York Herald, 24 January 1862, page 1, column 3.   Item Transcription: THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. Arrival of Expeditionary Fleet in Pamlico Sound. An Attack Anticipated on Newbern and Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Removal … Continue reading

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23 January 1862: “… and after a desperate battle, which lasted from 6 in the morning until about 2 p.m. our forces gave way”

Item description: Letter, 23 January 1862, from Jeremy Francis Gilmer, a Major of Engineers in the Confederate States of America Army, to his wife Louisa “Loulie” Fredericka Alexander Gilmer. Gilmer wrote of the Battle of Mill Springs, 19 January 1862, in … Continue reading

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22 January 1862: “I am packed for flight and from day to day we do not know when the order to leave may come.”

Item description: Letter, 22 January 1862, from Mary (“Minnie”) Charlotte North Allston to her sister, Jane Caroline “Carey” North Pettigrew. Minnie describes her anxieties relating to the impending arrival of the Burnside Expedition and the likelihood that she will soon … Continue reading

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