Publisher: Carlisle, PA: Hamilton Library Association
James W. Sullivan writes to Jane Van Ness Smead in July 1932 and provides extensive details regarding the invasion, occupation, and shelling of Carlisle. Sullivan also recalls the general sentiments of Carlisle...
This circular letter relates to an effort to recruit individuals to serve as ministers for Union soldiers during the Civil War. “In this emergency, the Christian Commission calls for the voluntary efforts of delegates clerical and lay… for the maintenance of a constant succession of religious...
President Herman M. Johnson issues this circular letter as additional southern states secede after Fort Sumter and asks that Dickinson College students return to Carlisle. While "the excitement which has arisen from the sudden outbreak of the war" was "considerable for two or three days,"...
As Confederate forces enter Carlisle, Pennsylvania in late June 1863, Major John A. Harman, Chief Quartermaster with the Second Army Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Richard S. Ewell, issues a requisition to the "authorities of Carlisle Pa." for supplies. The...
Eli Slifer was a prominent businessman who was responsible for the recruitment and supplying of regiments from Pennsylvania during the Civil War. His letters contain his personal, as well as business correspondence with family, friends, business partners, military officials, and even Governor...
James Alexander Streams served with Company A of the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry. He was with the regiment from their enlistment in 1861, until his discharge in the fall of 1864. During that time, Streams, as well as the 61st PVI, fought in most of the major engagements of the Army of the Potomac...
In this April 11, 1863 order from the headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac, acting brigade commander Colonel Levi Maish appoints "Lt. John Hays, Adjutant of the 130th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers" as the acting brigade Adjutant General.
John Taylor Cuddy was born on October 17th, 1844 to the Cuddy family of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. At the onset of the American Civil War, Cuddy joined the local unit known as the “Carlisle Fencibles”. The Fencibles became Company A of the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves (PVRC), also known as the 36th...
Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G. Curtin responds to S. G. [Theud's?]request about raising a new Pennsylvania volunteer regiment. While "I most heartily approve of the plan," Curtin notes that he "[does] not [have] the power to arm and equip a company" since Pennsylvania is "confined to the...
Charles Francis Himes describes the scenes in Carlisle as the Confederates approached in late June 1863 and notes how the local militia supported by two regiments from New York, took fortification a mile west of town. Himes also recounts his experiences traveling from Carlisle and describes the...
Conway Hillman ('73), the son of a Dickinson College Professor Samuel Dickinson Hillman ('50), writes to James H. Morgan in 1930 to discuss his memories of the college, the Confederate invasion, and the shelling of Carlisle. Conway recalls events specifically regarding his father, including one...
George D. Chenoweth describes the Confederate invasion, occupation, and shelling of Carlisle. He mentions leaving Carlisle before the raid, and the pleasure of finding none of their personal belongings disturbed upon his return. 12,000 men entered the town, setting up camp around the town and on...
Dickinson College President Herman Johnson writes to Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin (Class of 1837) and requests the release of Dickinson College students from military service so that they could return to Carlisle and continue their studies. At the height of the threat of a Confederate...
Jacob Bretz tells his son about news of Carlisle during the Civil War and specifically mentions people that George knew. He also notes those soldiers from Carlisle who have been killed or wounded. He recounts that 30,000 “raw Milicia” were sent through Carlisle on the Cumberland Valley Railroad...
John Keagy Stayman questions Edgar E. Hastings as to when the draft will be lifted from Cumberland County, as he is “considered by Uncle Sam a ‘first class man’.” He also asks whether or not Dickinson College is still being used as a hospital, and hopes that it will quickly be vacated so that...
John Keagy Stayman writes to Edgar E. Hastings and describes Carlisle after the departure of Confederate troops. Stayman depicts Carlisle as a town in shambles after the invasion, but suggests that with a return to normal “the town will put on its usual appearance.” Stayman also mentions a...
Colonel Richard Lee Turberville Beale, commanding officer of the 9th Virginia Cavalry, writes to Virginia Governor William Smith and describes the actions of foragers who searched his house and his belongings. Beale (Dickinson Class of 1838) lists the lost items, and makes sure to mention that...
Theodore M. Johnson writes to Dickinson College President James H. Morgan and describes the cordial greeting between his father, Dickinson College President Herman M. Johnson, and a Col. Wilson of the Confederate army in 1863. Theodore notes that Col. Wilson accepted request that the college not...
Union General Thomas C. Devin writes Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to recommend that the now retired Major Horatio Collins King be brevetted Colonel for his actions as an Aide de Camp at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865. This battle was a crushing blow to the Confederate Army, and...
Thomas Miller Griffith writes to his brother and sister and describes the scenes in Carlisle as the Confederates occupied and shelled the town in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg. As the Confederates first approached Carlisle in late June 1863, Griffith recalls the expedited Commencement...
Major General Ulysses S. Grant signs this permission slip on July 12, 1863 that allows a Major Watts to leave Federal lines outside Vicksburg, Mississippi with one teamster, a shotgun, and twenty five rounds of ammunition.
Thomas William Dick served with Company H, 12th Pennsylvania Reserves from 1861-1864. He fought through all of the major battles of the 12th as they campaigned through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Many of the engagements are mentioned in the letters, all of which were written by Dick...
