James E. Wenrick diary, 1864
Permanent ID:
11795
Call number:
Am. 66954
Date:
1864
Image Description:
Wenrick was a Captain with the 19th Cavalry, 180th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. He died, apparently from yellow fever, shortly after being tranferred to a prison in Columbia, South Carolina.This diary describes his capture at Cypress Swamp, Tennessee, and his imprisonment at Macon and Savannah, Georgia, as well as Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, where he died. Wenrick's descriptions of prison life dwell on the scarcity and poor quality of the food, the cost of "eatables," and how much he misses his wife Dolly. He mentions other prisoners, describes their efforts to "tunnel out," and refers to visits to the prison by women, who were often not admitted to see the prisoners. The diary also contains one letter and several envelopes from Wenrick to his father, a black and white photograph of a homestead, and a short obituary for Reverend John Jordan Moffitt.
Format:
Manuscripts
Dimensions:
Width: 15.5 cm, Height: 19.5 cm (image)
