Mississippi -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.

Scope and Contents Thirteen letters written in May, June, and July 1862 by John Q. Adams to his wife Sarah ("Kate") from military campsites at Shiloh, Tenn., and in northern Mississippi, specifically the areas of Pope, Farmington, Corinth, Booneville and Big Springs. The letters contain information concerning family matters and letters Adams received from and wrote to other people. Throughout the letters he gives information about the life of a soldier, quotes prices in a local store, writes about foraging for...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of Garrett Smith Ainsworth's memorandum book (diary), October 2, 1860-Dec. 31, 1861; diary, Jan. 1, 1862-April 28, 1863; and pocket diary, Aug. 24, 1862-April 27, 1863. They mainly recount his experiences while a private in Company A, 15th Illinois Volunteer Regiment, United States Army. Included are details of conditions in camp, particularly accidents and illness among the troops, especially the malaria from which Ainsworth suffered. He discusses day-to-day...

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Paid draft to Brown & Noonan in Canton, Mississippi on January 4, 1861, for $90.50 signed by W.S. Rushing.

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1863 letter sent from Enterprise Mississippi from Ellen "ELW" to brother stationed in Jackson with the Confederate Army.

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1866 letter from J.M. (?) Webster to sister, Fannie in Big Black MS after an absence of five years. Discusses those in the area who died in the Civil War, upcoming engagements, and the corn & cotton crops. Also gives advice on romance, studies and grammar.

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1865 letter from unknown civilian to mother re: transport of cotton bales from Eastport, MS.

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Letter to “Friend James” from “John A. Steven.” Address to reply: 2nd Lieutenant, Co. E, 58th U.S. Infantry, Natchez, Miss., dated May 22, 1864.

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Letter from “Henry” of the 122nd Illinois Infantry Brigade to his sister, 186u.

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Four page letter from Ship Island (Feb. 21, 1862) - "Dear Maria" from "Milton."

Scope and Contents The bulk of this collection consists of 69 letters, dated from February 2, 1862 to June 28, 1864, from Granville W. Belcher to his wife, Mary Caroline Belcher. Ten (10) letters, dated from January 13/18, 1862 to August 26, 1864, between Mary Caroline; her brother, Washington Dickinson; her nephew, William H. Dickinson; Granville; and Granville's brother Charles Belcher make up the remainder of the collection. Granville and Washinton served in the Virginia 57th Infantry Regiment, William was...

Scope and Contents On the verso of the item it is identified in a contemporary hand as "Copy of Dispatch sent to Col. H.P. Brewster, at 9 o'clock p.m., March 25, 1862." Breckinridge informs Brewster, in Corinth, Mississippi, of the presence of Union calvary west of Yellow Creek, advancing on the old road on the southeast side of Chambers Creek (Alcorn and Tishomingo counties), and warns of a possible attack at the railroad trestle near Glendale. He offers to send two or three infantry companies and a...

Scope and Contents This collection consists chiefly of photocopies of the notes of M. James Stevens which Dr. Burns used to write his M.A. thesis at the University of Southern Mississippi. The thesis was later published as Ship Island and the Confederacy (Hattiesburg, 1971). Most of the Stevens notes are typed, although some are handwritten. These notes cover the history of Ship Island and its importance to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, from information concerning the area's native population and French...

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Research materials used by historian in her book The Free State of Jones.

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Family letters, genealogy, and history of Clinton, Mississippi.

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One oversized customs form with the heading "Schedule of Free Goods introduced into the Confederate States of America."

Scope and Contents This collection contains a single document, a customs form notarized by a local justice of the peace. The form originated on May 13, 1861, when whiskey was shipped via the Mississippi Central Railroad to J.P. Atkinson at Holly Springs, Mississippi. On May, 1861, the justice, J.R. Fariss, notarized the invoice and accompanying statement of J.P. Atkinson who declared that no other invoices existed, that the accounting on this invoice was accurate, and that he (Atkinson) would report any error,...

Scope and Contents A letter dated December 15, 1863, from John Duncan in Jackson, Mississippi, to Confederate Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles, Commander of the Confederate Army in Columbus, Mississippi. The letter concerns two women, Mrs. Newman and Miss Byers, whom Duncan and his niece helped to cross into Federal territory in Mississippi. Duncan also writes of the possibility of Ruggles moving to Jackson. General Joseph E. Johnston, C.S.A., General William Canby, C.S.A. and Governor Charles Clark of...

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This is a letter written by Brigadier General Hugh Boyle Ewing of the Union Army, encamped outside of Jackson, Mississippi on July 14, 1863. In writing to his wife he recounts the shelling of Jackson, the discovery of some papers belonging to Jefferson Davis, the murder of a Federal officer by the 3rd Texas Calvary, and the capture of the 3rd Texas Calvary by General William Tecumseh Sherman.

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This collection contains a comprehensive and objective look at the Civil War in Mississippi. Anyone researching this time period in Mississippi's history would find ample information. Students of history and journalism would benefit from the writings of Mr. Fleming.

Scope and Contents This item relates to the command of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Dated March 9, 1862, this message is from Assistant Adjutant-General George G. Garner, of General Braxton Bragg's Second Corps of the Army of the Mississippi. The note was sent from Bragg's headquarters at Jackson, Tennessee, to Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles, commander of the First Division located at Corinth, Mississippi. It appears to order Brigadier General John King Jackson to command the Third (?)...

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In this letter dated April 13, 1863, from Verona, Mississippi, addressed to Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles, Columbus, Mississippi, Samuel J. Gholson recommends Captain J.F. White, as opposed to Major Inge, for command of certain troops in a portion of General Ruggles' First Military District (in northern Mississippi). He cites disaffection among the men toward Major Inge and Captain White's ability to manage personnel "of the order of border men."

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Letters to Godman in Terry, Mississippi regarding Civil War and Reconstruction.

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History of Confederate Company "D", 15th Mississippi Infantry.

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Letters, other by Mississippi attorney and officer of the Confederate Pettus Company of Volunteers, 12th Mississippi Infantry.

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The Rudy H. Leverett Collection contains the personal papers, correspondence, drafted writings, and publications of author and professor Rudy H. Leverett. This collection would be of interest to researchers focusing specifically on language, religion, education, and Civil War history. Topics included among Leverett’s writings consist of genealogical studies on the McLemore and Leverett families, as well as Jones County, Mississippi history and Southern culture.

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This collection consists of a letter dated May 21, 1862, from Lieutenant A. J. Locke to Mrs. Jennie A. Dansuns (?). Locke, Provost Marshall in Grenada, Mississippi, informs Mrs. Dansuns that according to General Ruggles she is free to travel behind Confederate military lines.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a letter from Union Civil War Colonel John Mason Loomis of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 16th Corps to Captain T. J. London, Assistant Adjutant General of the 1st Division, 16th Corps, July 20, 1863. In the letter he relates the movements of his unit from Oak Ridge, Mississippi, on July 4, 1863 to Jackson, Mississippi, on July 10, 1863 and the activities of his brigade to July 16, 1863. Included is a list of recommended promotions and a list of casualties which...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a forty page typed diary written during the Civil War by Captain Duncan McCollum of Company A, 4th Mississippi Cavalry. Dating between December 1864 and May 17, 1865, McCollum details his activities in Alabama and Mississippi. Written chronologically, the diary follows a standard format of providing the date, where his unit was camped, the number of miles travelled, and the weather and road conditions. The daily entries are very narrow in scope and are usually...

Scope and Contents A letter dated January 20, 1883, from Ralph North in Natchez, Mississippi, to Sargent Prentiss Nutt. The letter concerns Nutt's request for confirmation of the capture of two coal boats in Natchez in the spring of 1863 by a Federal gunboat. The information was requested to support the Nutt family's claim against the U.S. government for reparations for damages to Longwood Plantation and other properties during the Civil War. North was unable to verify that incident, but he did recall the...