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NELSON WHITE [?] : 1865 HANDWRITTEN ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY OF A UNION CAVALRY SOLDIER AT THE VERY END OF THE U.S. CIVIL WAR, FIGHTING IN THE BATTLE OF FORT BLAKELY, OCCUPYING MOBILE, ALABAMA, AND WITNESSING THE AFTERMATH OF A BLOODY AND DESTRUCTIVE WAR

32mo - over 4" - 5" tall. On offer is an original, intriguing manuscript Civil War diary handwritten by a 4th Regiment Wisconsin Cavalry trooper circa 1865. All the locations for this Regiment and dates match with the diary and they were at the battle of Fort Blakeley, and were sent to the Texas towards the end of the war later assigned border duty until May of 1866. The name C.B. Hazlehurst is stenciled on the front cover of this leather diary along with the year 1865. While C.B. Hazelhurst does not match any soldier in the regiment, the name "N. White Baton Rouge" appears on the inside front cover in very faint pencil. There was a Nelson White with the 4th Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry. He was a Private, and mustered out as a Corporal. We feel this is the best conclusion regarding ownership though we cannot explain CBH's name short of he sold it or gave the book to White. At the beginning of the diary, the author and his regiment are stationed in Louisiana near Baton Rouge. The author is a vigorous young man and most certainly battle-hardened. ("Feb, 26. Today my birthday I am now twenty one years of age. I have been a soldier since June 1861.") The author is at that time merely acting as a courier. ("Jan 27. Today it is quite cold it looks very much like rain this evening I was detailed a courier the 25th I have to go to Baton Rouge everyday.") In April his regiment is called up towards to the front, joining the Union's "Mobile Campaign". The regiment boards 'Steamship MacCllean' and arrives in Alabama to join the The Battle of Fort Blakely. ("April 3. We have just received orders to saddle up. We are to go to Bulls Head, and there embark for the front. 4 o'clock pm we are ready to embark we are to go and board the Steamer McClellan.") The trip is rather perilous. ("April 6. We are at Fort Morgan we are still on the boat our horses have not had any food or water since last night. We are to swim our horses ashore. Evening we are ashore we had three horses drowned before we could get them ashore.") This took place from April 2 - April 9, 1865, and the author's regiment arrives near the very end of the battle. The Battle of Fort Blakely was fought on the very last days of the Civil War and is often referred to as the "Last Battle of the Civil War". As a result of this battle, Union forces would finally be able to occupy the city of Mobile, Alabama on April 12, 1865, despite the Confederate surrender at Appomattox on April 9th. ("April 10. We left Strongs landing saturday afternoon and arrived here in the rear of Fort (?) the pine woods Fort Blakey is in the hands of our troops this morning our force captured twenty four hundred prisoners nearly all out company were detailed for patrol last night. This morning our pack mules went back to the landing after rations of grain we can hear commandeering on the hay this forenoon our corps to be here soon") He reports on his regiment seeing thousands of confederate prisoners on the road and taking their own as well. In one case he mentions seeing "Contrabands" (Freed slaves) en route to Alabama. ("April 18. Here we are well fed we stated about two o'clock and marched until six o'clock we are now going to get breakfast. We passed a few wounded men, and a great number of contrabands this mourning"). From this point onwards he is on the move. The regiment marches through Alabama to Georgia and arrives in Vicksburg, Miss in June. They then move on to Shreveport, Louisiana at the end of June. The regiment does a number of odd jobs during this time. ("July 8. This evening Co. F is ordered to saddle up and go out to four mile springs and guard a train until this mourning and than rejoin the Regt again.") As the South was tremendously devastated during the Civil War, the author and his regiment often have difficulty feeding their horses and finding supplies. In July, the regiment is assigned to the Department of Texas and from Shreveport, the regiment marches to San Antonio, Texas. Many of the entries in the middle of the year talk mostly about the marching towards Texas. ("July 13. We are ready to start again we made about 10 miles last night we passed through Maysville, and camped one mile from town. We have not feed our horses this mourning. We made about 12 miles today we passed through the town of Henderson about noon we are camped two miles from the town. I am writing this by a campfire. General West is patrolling today. We have been cooking meat and roasting corn for our breakfast as we expect to start early in the mourning.") The march to Texas is not always easy and during an attempt to ford Red River the regiment loses a number of horses. In Texas they pass through Austin, Lubbock, and Rusk. Near the end of the year, there are a number of months that are mostly blank, but the author does include a number of entries for the early part of 1866 in these pages, where they are in Texas guarding the U.S./Mexico border. (Jan 27, 1866. I am writing this in a Rancho 7 miles from camp expect we are to camp two miles from here."; "Feb 9th, 1866. We had a gay time in camp last night plenty Mexican senoritas"). The diary is written almost entirely in pencil and in many cases the writings can be very faint. This can impede ease of reading occasionally, but certainly does not make it impossible. There are approximately 50-60 handwritten pages. The entries are not particularly consistent. The biggest exception to this is April 1 - April 20, where almost every day is written in. This coincides with the very end of the U.S. Civil War and is a very interesting and historically significant portion of this diary. Overall G.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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