Civil War transcriptions

The soldiers listed below are just a few of the many Vermonters who fought in the Civil War. Many wrote letters home and kept diaries describing the conditions in which they lived. The Vermont Historical Society is proud to host a vast collection of Civil War manuscripts: letters, diaries, and other documents related to the war. Here we've provided online transcripts of some of the letters and diaries in our collection, arranged by the author's last name.

Visit the Vermonters in the Civil War website for scans and transcriptions of Civil War letters from the collections of the Vermont Historical Society and the University of Vermont Libraries.  This site offers sophisticated searching capabilities and digital facsimilies of letters not offered here.  Additional letters will be added to the site during the Civil War Sesquicentennial.

A more extensive listing of primary source material at the Vermont Historical Society is listed in the Civil War manuscripts section of this web site. Be sure to also visit our photograph gallery of Civil War officers. We also have an online catalog for more complex searches, including keyword searching. Our full collection of Civil War manuscripts can be accessed by visiting the Vermont Historical Society Library in Barre.

Visit our Manuscripts Transcriptions page for transcriptions of items other than those from the Civil War.

Military

• Elijah Brown letters, Woodbury, Vt., 1861-1863, 2nd Vermont Regiment.
• Charles Buxton diary, Rockingham, Vt., 1864, Captain of Co. G of the 11th Vermont Regiment.
• William P. Calvert letter, Colchester, Vt., 1862, 13th Vermont Regiment.
• Charles Chapin diary, Williston, Vt., 1863, Co. L of the 1st Vermont Regiment.
• George R. Crosby diaries, Brattleboro, Vt., 1863-1865, Co. F of the 1st Vermont Regiment.
• Charles Cummings letters, Brattleboro, Vt., 1862-1864, 11th, 16th & 17th Vermont Regiments.
• Alonzo C. Farmer letter, Brighton, Vt., 1863, Co. E of the 15th Vermont Regiment 
• George Oscar French letters, Castleton, Vt., 1862-1865, 2nd Lieutenant of Co. C of the·11th Vermont· Volunteers.
• Walter Graham diary, Arlington, Vt., 1864, 2nd Lieutenant of Co. E of the 10th Vermont Regiment.
• Walter Graham letters, Arlington, Vt., 1863-1864, 2nd Lieutenant of Co. E of the 10th Vermont Regiment.
• William Hogan letters, Brandon, Vt., 1862-1865, Co. H of the 2nd Delaware Infantry.
• Edwin Horton letters, Chittenden, Vt., 1864-1865, Co. C of the 4th Vermont Regiment.
• George W. Humphrey letter, Burke, Vt., 1863, Private in Co. E, 15th Vermont Volunteers.
• Alfred Horton Keith letters, Sheldon, Vt., 1861, Second Lieutenant of Co. K of the 6th Regiment of the· Vermont Infantry.
• Dan Mason letters, Glover, Vt., 1861-1862, Officer in 6th Vermont Volunteers and 19th U.S. Colored Troops. 
• George E. Parker letters, Westford, Vt., 1864, Co. F of the 8th Vermont Infantry Regiment.
• John W. Phelps requisition for ordnance for African regiments, 1862, Guilford, Vt., 1862, Colonel of the· 1st Vermont Infantry.
• William "The Sleeping Sentinel" Scott letters, Groton, Vt., 1861-1862, Co. K of the 3rd Vermont Regiment.
• Orlando S. Turner letters, Moretown, Vt., 1861, Private in Co. D of the 2nd Vermont Regiment.
• Daniel S. White letters, Reading, Vt., 1863-1864, Co. I of the 2nd Vermont Volunteers.
• William White letters, St. Albans, Vt., 1863-1864, 1st Lieutenant of Co. I of the 10th Vermont Regiment.
• James Willson letters, East Warren, Vt., 1860-1863, Co. B of the 13th Regiment Vermont Volunteers.

Non-Military

• Martha Johnson, Peacham, Vt., in Beaufort/Port Royal area of South Carolina, 1863-1871