Item: Lester S. Willson diaries, 1863-1865
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Finding Aid Title: Lester S. Willson diaries, 1863-1865
Finding Aid Collection Number: 2508
Date Range of Collection: 1863-1865
Creator of Materials: Willson, Lester S. [Lester Sebastian], 1839-1919
Content Description: The first volume of Willson's diaries contains entries made from July 3, 1863 to September 5, 1864, with substantial gaps. Willson's terse entries describe his final days at Canton, New York, recuperating from a wound he received at Chancellorsville up to his reunion with the 60th new York Infantry in northern Virginia on July 11, 1863. The diary resumes on June 26, 1864 as Willson's regiment prepared to move on Confederate positions guarding the approaches to Atlanta through their subsequent capture of the city. These entries cover in some detail the construction of field works and battle actions at Peach Tree Creek. The second diary begins on November 3, 1864 and ends on May 2, 1865, again with substantial gaps. Willson records his experiences on General William T. Sherman's march from Atlanta to Savannah on the Georgia coast. The actual surrender of Savannah was not recorded by Willson, but the subsequent march from that city to Columbia, South Carolina received many entries. The diary concludes with the 6oth New York on their campaign into North Carolina and the surrender of the Confederate army of General Joseph E. Johnston. Willson describes the logistics of marching with Sherman's army, the destruction of property by Union troops, the liberated slaves who accompanied the army. As a staff officer, Willson also touches on the arguments and in-fighting among officers on matters of promotion and command organization. A folder of laid-in material from the second diary consists of numerous receipts for the shipment of bodies home from the front, regimental record notes, and an original hand signed battle report by Col. Abel Goddard, 60th New York Infantry, for his regiment's part in the battle of Resaca, Georgia on May 15, 1864. Officers mentioned most frequently in Willson's diaries include Goddard, Col. David Ireland, 137th New York Infantry, and Capt. Loren Tuller, 60th New York Infantry.
Finding Aid URL: http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv62509
Keywords: personal journals and diaries, montana history, 60th new york infantry, american civil war, wars, lester s. willson, confederate army surrender, battle of resaca, troop movements, lester sebastian willson, lester s. willson
Subjects: Montana and Histories of the American West The People of Montana
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