Frank T. Bennett diary, 1862
Permanent ID:
11796Date:
1862Image Description:
Frank T. Bennett, the son of Daniel R. Bennett and Ann Taylor, was born in 1834. In 1861 he enlisted in the 55th Pennsylvania Volunteers and was given a commission as a lieutenant colonel. In March 1862 Bennett was taken prisoner on Tybee Island, off the coast of Georgia. He was subsequently imprisoned in jails in Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, and was paroled in October 1862. Bennett was captured again later in the war and held in Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. His diary, kept during his imprisonment in South Carolina, describes the dreariness and hopelessness of prison life and includes Bennett's thoughts on slavery, southerners, and the war.Frank Bennett's diary was written on the pages of a softbound novel entitled Lotus-Eating: A Summer Book. This book was probably the only paper to which Bennett had access during his imprisonment. Entries, occasionally written in pencil and sometimes written in between the lines of the novel, were usually well written and sometimes rather eloquent. Lines of poetry can be found throughout Bennett's writings. The front of the volume has a Bureau of Pensions sticker on it, perhaps indicating that a descendant had submitted the diary in order to claim benefits.
A rough draft of a typed transcript of the diary as a PDF is available for researchers. Please contact rnr@hsp.org.