Whipple, Milton (fl. 1865) Diary of Milton Whipple
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04561 Author/Creator: Whipple, Milton (fl. 1865) Place Written: [various places] Type: Diary Date: 1 January 1865-13 May 1865 Pagination: 1 vol. : 227 p. ; 15.5 x 8.5 cm Order a Copy
Early entries are brief and mostly record staff changes, troop movements, drills, and the weather but the entries lengthen as Whipple details the Appomattox campaign and the last few weeks leading up to General Robert E. Lee's surrender. On 24 January he writes that his regiment prepared for attack because the Confederate troops were near. States that he heard Fort Brady on the James River in Virginia was destroyed or captured by the Confederates. He reports word of the fall of Charleston, Columbia, Branchville, and Wilmington on 20 and 24 February. On 26 March he notes marching to meet Union General Philip H. Sheridan's forces crossing the James River. He begins describing the days of the Appomattox campaign on 29 March. States that Union Generals George Mead and Ulysses S. Grant passed their regiment. Records skirmishing on 1-2 April. Recounts marching on the Southside Road and meeting Grant and his troops on 4 April. On 5-6 April reports marching near Nottoway, hears that Union General William T. Sherman has stopped Lee's retreat. In the entry for 7 February, he records that his regiment closely tailed the Confederates, entered into a few engagements, and proceeded to Farmville. Relays that the railroad bridges on each side of Farmville were burning. On 9 April reports marching to meet General Sheridan and General Edward O. Ord. States that the infantry rushed the Confederates in the woods, Whipple's regiment followed, and General Lee surrendered to General Ord. Discusses going after some abandoned Confederate artillery on 10-11 April. Writes on 12 April that he talked with Confederate soldiers who were being pay-rolled immediately. He mentions that he took a piece of the tree under which General Lee surrendered to General Grant. He remarks upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on 14-19 April. On 29 April he mentions the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston. After many blank pages, there are a few more pages of notes and specifications for powder and cannon balls. Early entries are in ink but the entries detailing the Appomattox campaign are all in pencil.
Whipple was a private in the 17th New York battery. General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at the Appomattox Courthouse on 9 April 1865. Lincoln was shot on 14 April 1865. Johnston surrendered to Union General William T. Sherman near Durham Station, North Carolina on 26 April 1865.
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