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What follows is a list of miscellaneous individual manuscripts relating to the American Civil War, from the manuscript holdings in the Department of Special Collections, University Libraries of Notre Dame.
KATE D. BISHOP COMMONPLACE BOOK. c1860-65. 1 vol., 22 cm., 64 leaves, with 120 pages of manuscript entries, mostly in Bishop's hand, and 5 drawings in ink or gouache. A commonplace book of poems, songs, and some prose, signed and dated "Kate D. Bishop. Nov. 6th 1860." on fol. 2r. Nothing definitive is known of the owner, in whose hand the majority of the entries seem to have been written. Poets and lyricists drawn upon most frequently include Tennyson, Lowell, E. C. Cornwell, and G. C. Waldo; the English and German Romantics also appear, and there is a single poem of Whitman. The sensibility informing the selections—and the drawings—is decidedly elegiac; themes of yearning, loss, and bereavement are commonplace. There are also a number of entries topically related to the war; these include an unattributed poem on the death of a Civil War soldier ("Missing"), and the humorist Orpheus C. Kerr's parody of Poe's "The Raven," entitled "Baltimore." There is also a section of six closely written pages (fols. 57v to 60r) titled by Bishop "Extracts from Carlyle's French Revolution as being applicable to this our revolution of 1861." Through parenthetical insertions in Carlyle's copied text, Bishop draws parallels between the invasion of France in August-September 1792 and the events of April 1861 (Sumter, the Baltimore riots, the arrival of the 7th New York in Washington, and so on). Bishop's Union sympathies are never in doubt, suggesting that the book has a Northern provenance. While individual entries are not dated, it seems likely the the book was begun on the inscribed date and that much of its contents date from the early years of the war. MSN/CW 9002-1-B. ELLEN E. COOLEY DEVOTIONAL ALBUM. 1861-64. 1 vol. partly printed, entitled Sacred Album (printed by J. C. Riker, New York, with 6 lithographic illustrations); 20 cm., 64 leaves, with 115 pages of manuscript entries and 4 manuscript enclosures in Cooley's hand. When this album was being kept, its owner, Ellen Emily Cooley (b. 1839), resided at the Rome, Georgia home of her widowed mother Elizabeth (whose personal and real estate were valued at $47,000 in the 1860 Federal census). The album is filled with entries in Cooley's hand, in poetry and prose; virtually all are quotations, mostly from the Bible and from devotional and inspirational literature. There are no overt references to the war. Some few entries are signed; the relatively small number bearing dates range from 15 February 1861 to 13 July 1864. After the war Cooley married George Hillyer (1835-1927), a Confederate veteran and future mayor of Atlanta. MSN/CW 9000-1 to MSN/CW 9000-2-B. JOHN JOHNSTON MEMOIR. c1900-01. 16 leaves, unattached, with 17 pages of manuscript in Johnston's hand. John Johnston (1842-1928) was born near Denmark in Madison County, Tennessee. He studied for the Presbyterian ministry at Centre College in Kentucky before enlisting in the Confederate army, ultimately spending time with three Tennessee regiments. From 1900 to 1905 Johnston composed a memoir of his wartime experiences, assisted by diaries he had kept during his years of service. This manuscript is a draft of one segment of that memoir; it recalls events of 22 to 28 December 1863, when Johnston was in West Tennessee temporarily attached to the staff of the 14th Tennessee Cavalry. Essentially, the narrative was written as a reminiscence of Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, whom Johnston had the opportunity to observe during this time. The narrative includes accounts of several skirmishes with the Federals, at Estenaula, Somerville, and Colliersville. The entire memoir was edited and published after Johnston's death, in 1954; see William T. Alderson, ed., "The Civil War Reminiscences of John Johnston, 1861-1865", Tennessee Historical Quarterly, XIII, no 1 (March 1954), 65-82; no 2 (June 1954), 156-178; no 3 (September 1954), 244-276; no 4 (December 1954), 329-354. Acquired through the generosity of Robert and Beverly O'Grady, 2004. MSN/CW 9001-1 to MSN/CW 9001-16. "A STRAY LEAF FROM OAK HILL." 1864. 1 vol., 19 cm., 19 leaves, with 32 pages of manuscript in a single hand. A narrative written by a young woman living near Pikesville in Baltimore County, Maryland, describing civilian encounters with Confederate troops under Maj. Harry Gilmor, 2nd Maryland Cavalry, in July 1864. Gilmor's troopers and other cavalry under Brig. Gen. Bradley T. Johnson had been sent into eastern Maryland to disrupt communications around Baltimore and otherwise expedite Jubal Early's advance on Washington. The author, herself a Southern sympathizer, conveys the intense excitement felt by many in the community at the prospect of seeing "Rebels with their armor on" after three years of war. The events described in the narrative run from 10 July 1864, when "Gilmor's gallant boys" are reported in the area, to 14 July, when word comes of their withdrawal. Ultimately, the author is able to report two close encounters with Gilmor and his command, including one at her home, Oak Hill. The manuscript is dated 28 July 1864; the author may or may not be the Isabella George Wilson whose name is inscribed inside the front cover. Acquired through the generosity of Robert and Beverly O'Grady, 2006. MSN/CW 9003-1
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