Description:

Civil War diaries of Calvin W. Brown of the 2nd Regiment, Kentucky vol. Infantry. Consisting of three small leather bound booklets.

CIVIL WAR DIARIES of Calvin W. Brown, member of the “Woodward Guards”1. – students enrolled at Woodward High School in Cincinnati, Ohio who volunteered for the Union Army. Since Ohio’s quota of troops were filled, members of the Woodward Guards were mustered into the 2nd Regiment, Kentucky, Infantry by Major Burbanks at Camp Clay on June 11, 1861.

 

These diaries give detailed descriptions of Brown’s daily life in the US. Army from May 16, 1861 to February 3, 1864. The Woodward Guards (Company D of the Kentucky Regiment) first engaged the ‘rebs’ at Barboursville:

 

Sat July 13th, 1861

At 10 o’clock Companies A.B.F.K.D. some 330 men all told, were called up to march and attack a force of rebels at Barboursville 7 miles off. Our men arrived in sight of them at daybreak; their position was on the summit of a high bluff at base of which runs a creek, over which was a bridge, and on this bridge we had to cross, the bottom of which had been torn up by the rebs. We started on a double quick; when within 800 yards of them, were greeted with a shower of bullets from their muskets. We kept running up the steep bluff after them and yelled like indians. We took the bluff

 

Brown’s description of this battle exactly parallels the report printed 5 days later in the Wheeling Intelligencer of July 18, 1861.2.

 

The campaign of the 2nd Regiment, Kentucky ranged from West Virginia to the Kanawha Valley in the east before turning to join General Nelson’s division in Tennessee. They spent the balance of their enlistment in the South – Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia – and were present at the battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862) and at the battle of Murfreesboro (December 31, 1862). Calvin W. Brown was mustered out in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky on June 19, 1864.

 

Civil War Diary #1, “No 1 Diary of Calvin W. Brown Private Co D. 2” Ky Foot Vol. Infy.” First Entry May 16, 1861. Last entry January 23, 1862. The author explains that his original diary #1 was lost, and this is a faithful reconstruction from memory and with the assistance of another soldier.

 

Civil War Diary #3, “Orderly Cal. W. Brown Co. D 2nd Ky Reg. Purchased in camp at Cripple Creek Tenn April 23d 1863 No. 3” Last entry November 25, 1863. Final pages of this diary are account records and correspondent’s addresses (mostly women), including “Annie Laughing Daisy, Box 78, Rushville, Ind.”

 

Civil War Diary #5, “Lieut Cal. W. Brown Co D 2” Ky. Vol Infy Purchased at Chattanooga, Tenn Sept 29th 1863 No 5” Last entry February 3, 1864.

 

SOURCES

1.Martin, Isaac M. History of the Schools of Cincinnati and Other Educational Institutions, Public and Private. Cincinnati,O: November, 1900. Chapter VIII. “Woodward High School in the Civil War”.

 

 

2.”The Fight at Barboursville, Cabell County between the 2d Kentucky Regiment and the Command of Jenkins.” Wheeling Intelligencer, July 18, 1861.

 

SERVICE of the 2nd Regiment, Kentucky, Infantry.-Campaign in West Virginia July to October, 1861. Red House July 13 (Cos. "A," "B," "D," "F" and "K"). Barboursville July 16. Scarrytown July 17. Gauley's Brigade September 1. Operations in Kanawha Valley October 19-November 16. Attack on Gauley by Floyd's Batteries November 1-9. Gauley Bridge November 10. At Charlestown, W. Va., December 4 to January 25, 1862. Moved to Louisville, Ky.; thence to Bardstown February 5. March to Nashville, Tenn., February 14-March 12. March to Savannah, Tenn., March 13-April 5. Battle of Shiloh April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth , Miss., April 29-May 30. Phillips' Creek, Widow Serratt's, May 21. Bridge Creek, before Corinth, May 28. Occupation of Corinth May 30. Pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 6. Buell's Campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee June to August. March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 21-September 25. Pursuit to Loudon, Ky., October 1-22. Battle of Perryville October 8. Camp Wild Cat October 17. Destruction of Salt Works at Goose Creek October 23-24. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 24-November 9. Duty at Nashville, Tenn., October 24-November 9. Duty at Nashville till December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26-30. Lavergne December 26-27. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro and Cripple Creek till June. Expedition to Woodbury April 2. Action at Snow Hill, Woodbury, April 3. Middle Tennessee (or Tullahoma) Campaign June 24-July 7. At Manchester July 9 to August 16. Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Pea Vine Creek, Ga., September 10. Lee and Gordon's Mills September September 11-13. Battle of Chickamauga , Ga., September 19-20. Siege of Chattanooga September 24-October 27. Reopening of Tennessee River October 26-29. At Bridgeport, Ala., October 28, 1863, to January 26, 1864. (A Detachment at Ringgold Gap, Ga., November 27, 1863, and on Demonstration on Dalton February 22-27, 1864. Near Dalton February 23. Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23-25.) At Ooltewah, Ga., till May 17, and at Reseaca till June 3. Ordered home June 3. Operations against Morgan in Kentucky till June 19. Mt. Sterling June 9. Mustered out June 19, 1864. Regiment lost during service 3 Officers and 74 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 87 Enlisted men by disease. Total 165.

    Condition:
  • Toning to paper.

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