Civil War Manuscripts Project
Alphabetical Name List A - B
A-B
|| C || D || E-F || G-H || I-J || K-L || M-N || O-P || Q-R || S-T || U-V || W-X || Y-Z
Index of Names || Index of Regiments || Index by Residence
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Wallace, James M.
Private
Enfield
Twenty-Second Connecticut Infantry, Company F
1863 February-July
1 Folder
Papers, including military passes, discharge
and tokens. Wallace, an unmarried clerk, enlisted on 29 August 1862 and was
mustered-in on 20 September 1862. He was mustered-out of
his nine-months unit on 7 July 1863. In May of 1863 he was at
Mount Pleasant General Hospital in Washington, DC. Two
small cardboard tokens read "Twenty-Second
Reg’t Conn. Volunteers 10/Ten Cents./10 Redeemable
in Goods Only Until Next Pay Day."
Location: MS Civil War Box II, Folder 23
Wallace, Lewis (1827-1905)
Major General
1862 September 23
1 Item
Letter, 1 p., from Columbus, OH, to Captain W.
L. DeBeck thanks the Captain for engineering and
artillery service rendered under his (Wallace’s) command
in Cincinnati and Covington, OH. Wallace was a Civil War
general officer and later author of the novel, Ben Hur.
Location: MS Tracy Collection
Ward, James
Harman (1806-1861)
Captain
Hartford [?]
U. S. Navy
1861 July 1
1 Item
Testimonial, 2 pp., from the Hartford Court of
Common Council in the hand of George Marsh, City Clerk
pro-tem, which decrees public observance of the funeral
obsequies for Commander Ward. The embossed seal of the
City of Hartford is affixed to the left of Marsh’s
signature. Ward is thought to have been the first naval
officer to be killed during the Civil War. On 27 June
1861, assigned to the command of the Potomac flotilla,
Ward, in attempting to attack a Confederate battery at
Aquia Creek, landed troops to secure Mathias Point. The
party was fired upon by the 40th Virginia Infantry and
Ward was hit on board his flagship, Thomas Freeborn,
while sighting a gun. For more information on Ward's life
see George K. Ward’s Andrew Warde and His Descendants,
1597-1910 (New York, 1910), page 235.
Location: MS 87114
Ward, Minott (1823-1865)
West Haven
U. S. Navy [?]
1865 January 15-20
1 Item
Letter, 8 pp., from off Fort Fisher, NC, to his
brother. Ward was Captain of the U. S. S. General Lyon
(formerly the Confederate transport DeSoto, a
side-wheel steamer) and was lost at sea in April 1865. He
vividly describes the attack on and surrender of Fort
Fisher as it occurs. A photocopy of a manuscript
transcription in a hand other than Ward’s fills two
gaps in continuity, the first following page four and the
second before page eight. There is a monument to the
memory of Captain Ward in the Ward lot at Oak Grove
Cemetery in West Haven, the place of his birth, and the
Museum of The Connecticut Historical Society owns a
portrait of Captain Ward.
Location: MS 87454
Warner, Abraham
Joseph (b.1821)
Chaplain
Waterbury
Twelfth Illinois Cavalry
1838-1864
1 Volume
Bound typescript of Warner’s journal,
extracted and privately printed by Colonel Herbert B.
Enderton in 1973. Warner’s service ended in November
1863 when he "found himself dropped from the
rolls." This fact will come as no surprise to
readers of the journal for it seems that Warner was
rarely with his regiment, spending a great deal of time
either searching for or trying to catch up with them.
Most of the business he conducted seems to have been of a
personal nature. The typescript contains a photograph of
the Chaplain in uniform.
Location: MS 75358
Washburn,
George A. (1827?-)
Hartford
First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, Companies B and M , Captain
Sixteenth Connecticut Infantry , Brevert
Brigadier General
1889 November 14
1 Item
Letter, 1 p., from Walhalla, SC, to his sister,
Mrs. George W. Patterson. Washburn gives an account of
his military service which is little more than a listing
of dates, events and ranks. Washburn, a married accountant, enlisted on 14 May
1861 and was mustered-in as Quartermaster of the 1st
Connecticut Heavy Artillery. He was transferred and
promoted to First Lieutenant, Company B, on 23 February
1862 and was promoted to Captain, Company M, on 26 May
1862. He officially resigned on 6 August 1862, but in
fact had already reenlisted, on 22 July 1862, in the
Sixteenth Connecticut Infantry. He was mustered-in as
Major on 24 August 1862 and was wounded, "shot
through the body," at the battle of Antietam on 17
September 1862. He received a disability discharge on 17
January 1863 but was breveted Brigadier General on 13
March 1865.
Location: MS 76131
Washburne, Elihu Benjamin
(1816-1887)
Congressman from Illinois
1864 January 13
1 Item
Letter, 3 pp., to Captain W. S. Barnes used as
a recommendation for a commission in an African American
regiment, to be presented to General Lorenzo Thomas in
Nashville, TN.
Location: MS Tracy Collection
Waters, Elizur
Warren (b.1827)
First Sergeant
Hartford
Twenty-Second Connecticut Infantry, Company E
1821-1919
1 Volume
Scrapbook including information on the
activities of veterans of the 22nd Connecticut Infantry,
much of it in verse composed by Waters. Collection also
includes genealogy, clippings, photographs, obituaries
and military and Masonic documents. Waters, a married mason, enlisted on 25
August 1862 and was mustered-in a Sergeant on 20
September 1862. He was promoted to First Sergeant on 19
February 1863 and was mustered-out of his nine-months
unit on 7 July 1863.
Location: MS 30894
Webster, George W.
Unknown Residence
Unidentified Pennsylvania Regiment
1862 December 30
1 Item
Letter to his friend Henry [surname unknown]
from New Bern, NC. Webster’s unit was brigaded with
the 10th Connecticut Infantry, 5th Rhode Island Infantry,
24th Massachusetts Infantry and the 8th Massachusetts
Infantry under Colonel Stevenson. This is an interesting
letter describing coastal operations and the occupation
of New Bern. Webster writes, "I have got to
understand the whistle of rebel bullets and look on
wounded & dead men . . . It is hard to see your
friends shot down & if there is anything that will
make a man fight it is that. . . . The 10 Conn is the
best regiment here they are some in a fight and can be
depended on --"
Location: MS Civil War Box II, Folder 2
Wetmore, George (1842?-1863)
Private
Haddam
Twenty-Fourth Connecticut Infantry, Company A
1863 March 9-July 4
5 Items
Letters to Orpha E. Skinner from Baton Rouge
and Port Hudson, LA. Wetmore, an unmarried farmer, enlisted for nine months on
30 August 1862 and was mustered-in on 18 November 1862.
He was wounded in the hand at Port Hudson, LA, on 14 June
1863 and he died on 31 August 1863. Wetmore writes of the
battle of Franklin, [LA?], on 14 April 1863. About the
battle of Port Hudson, Wetmore recalls carrying bags of
cotton into battle to bridge a Confederate ditch and
instead having to use them as portable breastworks.
Location: MS Civil War Box II, Folder 24
White,
Frederick W. [?]
Private
Hartford
Seventh Connecticut Infantry, Company C
1863 March 7
1 Item
Letter, 3 pp., from Camp Starr, Fernandina, FL,
to P. W. Newton. The letter is signed only F. W. W.;
however, internal clues suggest the 7th Connecticut
Infantry, Company C, and the only soldier whose initials
match those of the author is Frederick W. White. White
enlisted and was mustered-in on 6 August 1862. He was
wounded in action at the battle of Olustee on 20 February
1864 and was discharged on 26 June 1865.
Location: MS Civil War Box II, Folder 2
White, James (1839?-1864)
Corporal
New Britain
Twentieth Connecticut Infantry, Company K
1862-1864
1 Folder
Correspondence with family and friends
describing the long marches in pouring rain, the shelters
built and the lack of regard for the wounded. White, an unmarried mechanic,
enlisted on 19 August 1862 and was mustered-in on 8
September 1862. He was captured at Chancellorsville, VA,
on 3 May 1863 and was paroled on 14 May 1863. He was
wounded at Peachtree Creek, GA, on 20 July 1864 and died
7 August 1864. Collection also includes a letter from
comrade Robert Pyne, also of the 20th Connecticut
Infantry, regarding arrangements for sending White’s
body home in either a zinc-coated or metal coffin.
Location: MS 89212
Whitney,
William F. (1844?-)
Private
Mansfield
Fifteenth Connecticut Infantry, Company B
1865 April 7
2 Items
Letter, 3 pp., from Ward Eight, St.
John’s College Hospital, Annapolis, MD, to former
schoolmate Jerome B. Baldwin and another undated letter
from Washington, DC. Whitney, an unmarried farmer, enlisted on 22 July 1862 and
was mustered-in on 25 August 1862. He was captured at
Plymouth, NC, on 20 April 1864 and was paroled on 26
March 1865. Whitney was mustered-out on 19 June 1865. The
undated letter is unremarkable in content, but was
humorously signed by the "...High Private in the
rear rank." His letter of 7 April 1865 was written
while he was recovering from nearly a year’s
captivity at Andersonville.
Location: MS 71018 and MS 71019
Winship,
William L. (1844-1915)
Private
Farmington
Twenty-Fifth Connecticut Infantry, Company K
1862 February 9-1863 July 11
26 Items
Letters to his mother in Farmington from
various locations in the south, fragment of a diary
(March-May 1863) on paper from "a secesh
house," and two discharge papers. Winship, an unmarried farmer, enlisted
on 8 September 1862 and was mustered-in on 11 November
1862. He was mustered-out of his nine-months unit on 26
August 1863. According to his 1863 discharge papers,
Winship was 19-years-old, had a light complexion, blue
eyes and brown hair.
Location: MS 65847
Winthrop, Theodore
(1828-1861)
New Haven
Seventh New York Militia, Company I
1978 September 24
1 Item
Photocopy of Section B, Page 5, of the New
Haven Register, which contains six articles
(vignettes and photographs) about Winthrop collected by
Bernard Heinz. Winthrop was mustered-in on 26 April 1861
and was mustered-out on 3 June 1861. He was appointed
Major and Aide-de-Camp to General Benjamin Butler in June
1861 and was killed 10 June 1861 at Big Bethel, VA.
Winthrop wrote the account "March to
Washington" for the June 1861 edition of Atlantic
Monthly. Winthrop was a writer of some renown and
much promise. Some claim that Winthrop was the first
Union officer killed in battle in the Civil War though it
is unclear whether Winthrop’s rank of Major was
anything other than a courtesy title. Winthrop is buried
in the Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven.
Location: MS 82809
Woodford,
Milton Mozart (1834-1887)
Corporal
Bristol
Seventh Connecticut Infantry, Company A
1818-1928
1 Box
Large Churchill-Woodford family correspondence;
also a journal, 52 pp., 1863 January 1-February 24, kept
while at Camp Parole, Annapolis, MD. Woodford, a married clockmaker, enlisted on
4 September 1861 and was mustered-in a Private the next
day. He was captured on James Island, SC, on 7 June 1862
and was paroled on 12 October 1862. He was promoted to
Corporal on 20 May 1864 and was discharged on 12
September 1864. A three-page handwritten "Summary of
Events" for the period 1861 September - 1864
September is included with the collection.
Location: MS 78279
Woodward,
Ashbel (1804-1885)
Surgeon
Franklin
Twenty-Sixth Connecticut Infantry
17th to 20th Century
2 Boxes and 6 Envelopes
Family papers, correspondence
and essays. Collection includes three essays by Woodward,
"Gideon Welles" (14 pp.; incomplete);
"Commodore Foote" (11 pp.; incomplete); and
"Gen. Nathaniel Lyon" (21 pp.). Also includes a
biography, 55 pp., of Abraham Lincoln from birth to 1
January 1863. A photocopy of this latter article is
available. Also in a separate envelope is a lithograph of
Woodward along with a brief biographical clipping. The
Civil War papers begin in April of 1862 until July of
1863 and includes Special Orders from the Connecticut
Adjutant General's Office and correspondence from
Woodward's family while he was away at war and from
various parties regarding his recently published Life
of Gen. Nathaniel Lyon (Hartford, 1862). Letters from
his family and friends discuss domestic and financial
matters as well as local, state and national politics. On
9 June 1863, E. B. Woodward (Ashbel's wife) writes,
"almost every thing connected with war is sad to
think [of] . . ." The collection also contains
autographs from the Doctor's collection (Jefferson Davis,
P. G. T. Beauregard, Alexander Stephens, U. S. Grant,
etc.) Woodward enlisted on 5 September 1862 and was
mustered-in on 10 November 1862. He was mustered-out of
his nine-month unit on 17 August 1863. Woodward was,
previous to his enlistment, sent to Yorktown in April
1862 by Governor Buckingham in response to a request from
the Secretary of War. Filed next to this collection is a
34 pp. typescript by Charles G. Woodward (relation to
Ashbel Woodward unclear) regarding the South-Western
Railroad Company entitled, "A Common Carrier at the
South Before and During the War," in which is
discussed the effect of the blockade upon the railroad,
the use (and abuse) of slave labor, the destruction of
southern property, annual tonnage of materials and number
of passengers (a number that swelled later in the war due
to the presence of the Andersonville stockade near the
line), and charts regarding locomotive performance and
costs. This essay also contains a list of commissioners,
officers and directors. Ashbel Woodward's son Patrick
Henry Woodward, an attorney, went south following the
war, and his diary, 1870-1885, is also filed near the
Woodward Family papers. This collection has sustained
moderate water-damage. Also see following entry.
Location: MS and MS Lincoln, Abraham
Wool, John Ellis (1784-1869)
Major General
1862 November 18
1 Item
Letter, 1 p., from Baltimore, MD, to Colonel R.
G. Johnston [?] at Elliott's Mills [?]. Wool had received
complaints regarding Johnston's regiment which was
reportedly destroying fences on Mr. Elliott's property at
Elliott's Mills, and asks that the matter be
"properly investigated" and reported to
headquarters. Wool, at this time, was commander of the
Middle Department and the VIII Corps.
Location: MS Tracy Collection
Woolsey, Theodore Dwight (1801-1889)
New Haven
Civilian, Male
1863 July 31
1 Item
Letter, 1 p., from Yale College to an unknown
party recommending Thomas Young, a Yale graduate, for a
commission in an African American regiment. Woolsey was
the President of Yale College at this time.
Location: MS Tracy Collection