Widdifield, Charles T. [Diaries of Charles T. Widdifield, K company, 12th regiment, Pennsylvania, cavalry]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03131.02 Author/Creator: Widdifield, Charles T. Place Written: [various places] Type: Diary Date: 1863-1865 Pagination: 3 v. Order a Copy
Autograph manuscripts signed. The 1863 and 1865 diaries (approximately 150 and 122 pages, respectively) contain entries written under printed dates, while the 1864 diary (approximately 71 pages) is in a notebook with days and months written by author. All three are mostly written in pencil and signed by the author. Also included are four loose note sheets that originally were stuck within the diary pages. Widdifield's unit served in Western Virginia near Martinsburg, Winchester, and Charles Town. His unit did not fight at Gettysburg, having retreated from the Valley in June 1863; however, the unit participated in the Valley campaign of 1864. Widdifield's entries are short, generally one to four lines, with numerous reports of picket duty, scouts, and skirmishes. Widdifield's April 10, 1865 entry notes news "that Gen Lee had surrendered"; on April 15, 1865, he notes "news of the President being shot."
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