Phoenix, John W. (fl. 1864-1865) Diary of John W. Phoenix
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03956.02 Author/Creator: Phoenix, John W. (fl. 1864-1865) Place Written: s.l. Type: Diary Date: 1 January 1865-18 June 1865 Pagination: 1 v. : 119 p. ; 15.5 x 7.5 cm. Order a Copy
Early entries mostly detail the weather, regimental duties, and camp life at Little Rock, Arkansas. On 21 January he indicates that the regiment has received marching orders but he is to remain at camp. This marching brigade came back on 4 February and he states that their expedition to Camden, Arkansas was a failure because the roads were impassable and supplies could not get in. Reports leaving for New Orleans on 11 February by steamer and the following entries describe the journey. Reports arriving on 13 February but the regiment soon moves on. Receives word of the capture of Charleston, South Carolina on 3 March. In a series of entries from 27 March through 9 April, he describes the attack and Confederate surrender of Fort Blakely, near Mobile, Alabama. On 12 April he announces hearing the news that General Ulysses S. Grant has captured General Robert E. Lee and 20,000 prisoners. On the 16th he receives official news of the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He is sent to the hospital at Mobile and stays there until 8 May. On 22 April he laments the news of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and on 24 April mentions the news of General Joseph E. Johnston's surrender. On 22 May he comments that Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith is negotiating a surrender. On June 1st he reports getting his discharge papers. The rest of the diary is filled with various notes and accounts.
Phoenix was in the 28th regiment of Wisconsin volunteers. The attack at Fort Blakely occurred 1-9 April, 1865 during the Mobile campaign. Lee surrendered to Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse on 9 April 1865. Johnston signed an armistice with General William T. Sherman on 18 April and surrendered on 26 April 1865. On 2 June 1865 Kirby Smith surrendered the last Confederate force, the Trans-Mississippi Department.
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