Civil War Manuscripts ProjectManuscript Examinations |
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Barnum, Joseph Hall (1838-1902) Very large collection of correspondence and official papers, mainly retained copies as First Lieutenant, Company B and as Captain, Company H, 16th Connecticut Infantry, as well as personal correspondence, receipted bills and account books. Barnum's obituary is recorded in the Mary Morris Scrapbooks (MS. The Connecticut Historical Society). Also see previous entry. Location: MS 74130 Papers: [box 1] [box 2] [box
3] [box 4] |
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Papers |
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| Box 1
Papers and account books of the Buckingham Rifles of which Barnum was a member. The organization, also known as Company G, 1st Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, was formed 17 August 1865. Personal bills and receipts, 1858-1875. Pension claim of George A. Bowers, Company F, 16th Connecticut Infantry, dated 1881 (2 documents) Correspondence, 1862. Retained copies of official papers, 1861-1864 June, includes: Barnum's discharges; permission from the Connecticut Adjutant General to raise a company, dated 12 July 1862; commissions; receipts; materials pertaining to Company finances (Company B, 16th Connecticut Infantry), including a list of Company members; muster-out roll of Captain Thomas Burke's Company F, 16th Connecticut Infantry (Colonel Beach commanding regiment), called into service 24 August 1862 for three years' service, including a list of officers and enlisted men detailing age, rank, enlistment date and place, date last paid and record of service; muster roll of Captain Thomas Burke's Company A, 16th Connecticut Infantry; general court martial order from the 3rd Division, IX Army Corps, opposite Fredericksburg, VA, dated 8 January 1863, to meet at the headquarters of the 11th Connecticut Infantry on 9 January 1863 for the trial of 2nd Lt. Francis Burghardt of the 89th New York Infantry (Barnum was called to be an officer in the court martial proceedings along with Colonel Griffin Stedman, 11th Connecticut Infantry, Major J. F. Angell of the 10th New Hampshire Infantry, Martin B. Smith of the 8th Connecticut Infantry as well as two officers of the 9th New York Infantry and one officer of the 103rd New York Infantry; documents concerning charges and specifications preferred against Capt. J. H. Barnum regarding neglect of duty to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, dated 21 January 1864, Portsmouth, VA; General Order No. 40, 19 March 1864, a general court martial had found Barnum guilty of the charge and sentenced him to be reprimanded by the commanding officer of his regiment in the presence of his regiment, also found guilty of similar charges was First Lt. George H. Pierce, 5th Rhode Island Infantry, found not guilty of similar charges was First Lt. E. E. Strong, 16th Connecticut Infantry; muster roll of Captain Thomas Burke's Company A, 16th Connecticut Infantry, 1863 December 31 through 1864 February 29; invoices for quartermaster stores, Company H; ordnance returns and vouchers for Companies C, G, and H; returns for Company H; affidavits; Special and General Orders; applications for leave of absence; clothing statements; permission for Barnum's wife to visit in September 1863; abstracts of expenditures; copies of orders detaching Company H to Roanoke Island, 15 April 1864 (an order that saved the lives of this company when Plymouth, NC, was retaken by the Confederates on 20 April 1864 and the 16th Connecticut made prisoners; board of survey proceedings; and correspondence with Governor William A. Buckingham regarding regimental matters. More retained copies of official papers of the same type listed for Box 2; official correspondence pertaining to regimental affairs; courts martial documents; inventory and inspection reports; Special Order, 30 December 1864, mentions Captain T. F. Burke, 16th Connecticut Infantry, Second Lt. H. F. Willes, 22nd Veteran Reserve Corps, and Second Lt. G. W. Darling, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry; letter dated 22 February 1865 pertains to a complaint against Barnum; other officers mentioned in these papers are Capt. E. F. Angell and First Lt. C. A. Gladding of the 5th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, J. A. Judson, Asst. Adjutant General, Captain Mark Turner, 16th Connecticut Infantry, Lt. Col. J. H. Burnham, 16th Connecticut Infantry, Capt. J. Potter, 5th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, Major N. Amory, 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Capt. H. P. Woodbury, 23rd Massachusetts Infantry, First Lt. C. J. Arms, 16th Connecticut Infantry, Lt. Col. A. B. R. Sprague, 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Pvt. Frank Waterman, Company A, 16th Connecticut Infantry; and discharge paper for Captain Barnum, Company H, 16th Connecticut Infantry, dated 24 June 1865, New Bern, NC, in accordance with Special Order No. 3. More papers of the Buckingham Rifles, Company G, 1st Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, 1867- ; Treasurer's book, Aetna Hose Company, Number 1, 1857-1862, including muster rolls (1 volume); papers of the Soldiers' Record Assn., established 27 June 1868 (6 items, 1868); five account books, undated (heavily water damaged); more official papers pertaining to the 16th Connecticut Infantry, 1867- ; pension correspondence; personal correspondence, 1862-1873. Some of Barnum's correspondents include: Dr. Nehemiah Nickerson, Asst. Surgeon, 21st Connecticut Infantry (letters dated 5 June 1862, 2 and 31 January 1865 and 16 February 1865), Henry D. Heiser of the gunboat Miami in Albemarle Sound who took part in the failed Confederate attempt to retake New Bern on 5 May 1864 and the C. S. S. Albemarle's engagement with the Union squadron (in letter of 12 May 1864 and post-war letters 1865-1873), Heiser was apparently from Pennsylvania (letters dated 1864 April 30, Roanoke Island; May 12, Albemarle Sound; August 6, Harrisons Landing, VA; September 23, City Point, VA {mentions Lew Jackson of the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery} and 1865 May 24, Carlisle, PA {mentions the 1st Connecticut Cavalry "is amongst the roughest in the service - composed of bounty jumpers, &c. . ."}), Pvt. Jasper A. Winslow of Company C, 16th Connecticut Infantry (2 letters dated 30 May and 19 June 1864 {mentions the deaths of Col. Dutton, 21st Connecticut Infantry and Major Converse, 11th Connecticut Infantry}; Winslow died 14 October 1864), and John F. Clapp, dated 12 February 1865, from prison in Columbia, SC, and 27 March 1865. Transcribed Letters U. S. S. Miami Friend Barnum As I have leisure time at present I know of no better way to employ it than in redeeming my promise to write you. The afternoon of the day I left Roanoke was rather rough on the Sound and a gay old crowd of sea sick passengers were on board the Berry - Our lady (?) passenger was amongst the number of course, and as a friend to suffering humanity I had to give her the benefit of my experience as a Sailor to enable her to recover from the horrible feeling one experiences on their first voyage - The boat which connects at the canal lay over night at Coinjock and and [sic] as there were only eighty persons on board (the Fawn is about the size of an ordinary tug boat) you can imagine what kind of a night we passed - As there were no staterooms on the boat we had to lay around loose - Taylor can give you a description of the boat - The fair one occupied the ladies cabin alone, or would if I had not had the cheek to go in on my own responsibility after the rest of the passengers had quieted down - She was agreeable but I had just returned from good pasture and could'nt see it - Finally after waiting at the lock on the canal for the tide we arrived at Norfolk just as the last boat had shoved from the wharf for Fort Monroe. The next afternoon I went down and found the Miami had came in the same morning - she had got disabled outside on account of one boiler giving out & had to be towed in by a passing steamer, besides scaring some of the crowd nearly to death by catching fire slightly from the disabled boiler - We lay at the Fort two days - met Montgomery, of the Onondaga, (Iron Clad) formerly of Hartford, and went ashore and got a pretty heavy load on. So much so that I wanted to get into a row with two English Naval officers attached to an English war vessel then laying in the Roads. The next day, Friday, we were ordered to Craney Island to coal - As soon as the anchor was let go, Rogers, Davis and myself boarded an oyster boat & went up to Norfolk on a bender and remained until the next afternoon - One out of the crowd was arrested for getting into a row with the beauties on church street and if the other two did not they richly deserved it. Consequently when we did return to the ship the captain would not let us go ashore again - Last Tuesday we started for the James river and came along very well until we got to Wilcox's landing when the Rebels opened on us with a battery of Whitworth's from the high bluffs - After a fight of an hour and a half in which they shot our wheel ropes away we drove them away - We had one man killed and two wounded - Were hit twice - one shell came through the water way, (about 15 inches of oak timber) exploded on deck - broke all glass in the Engine room hatch, throwing the fragments together with a number of pieces of the shell down in the Engine room. I was unhurt although the bits of glass fell at my feet and had I been a little nearer our desk I would have been cut to pieces - The next day went up to the Iron Clad fleet and reported and were sent down to guard the river between City Point and Harrisons Landing. This is the pleasantest place on the river and if we are to remain here I shall be comparatively well satisfied - City Point is in plain sight and looks somewhat like the harbor of a northern city - All kinds of vessels from a first class ocean steamer to an Erie Canal boat are laying at anchor & moving up and down the river - The bank (South Side[)] is lined with encampments as far as the eye can reach & the firing in front of Petersburg can be heard quite plainly - Write soon and direct to U. S. S. Miami James River Va All hands send their respects Hd. Qurs. 21 Conn. Vols. February 16, 1865. Friend Barnum, Your humorous letter came last evening, and it was so characteristic, and withal so funny, that I took the liberty of reading it to my chum, the Chaplain. He wants me to ask you, if you remember the 'wild cat' in the steamer Francis? I see by your letters that the boys go out nights yet, and will continue to do so as long as there are soft bosoms on which to repose their weary heads, in spite of the terror of the 'guard house' and 'bread & water,' or the angry countenances of their envious Superiors. Men have always run any risk to obtain the favors of the women, and they always will, and you may as well 'kick against the pricks' as to try to prevent it. Even Mark Anthony lost Rome and the world for the charms of Cleopatra, and many a lesser warrior has been lured to his ruin by the syrens of Norfolk and other places. However I think that they will be as little likely to offend, on a bread and water diet, as on anything that I know. All hail to the 'Hotel de Roanoke'! Just give my regards to 'Cass,' when you next go to dinner, and tell him that I would like some of his roast duck, one dinner for instance like that he gave us Thanksgiving Day. We are on shorter allowance than usual at present, our fresh beef having for some reason failed us, and we are thrown on the Sutler, who by the way is a more decent man than our old friend, Doane. By the papers I see there is some chance of an Exchange of Prisoners, and the remainder of the 16th Regiment will be coming back into 'God's country,' very few of them however to find their way to the regiment again. Poor fellows! I know something how to pity them, and would rejoice to see their names among the released prisoners. Burke has written me since he came back, and in his last spoke as if he was getting tired of doing conscript duty, and would like something in the field. Say to Capt Dickenson for me that I sincerely congratulate him on his escape. Ask him if he remembers Lieut. Col. Moffatt, of 96th New York, Provost Marshall at Plymouth, who messed with Burke and me at Macon? He commanded a brigade in the last year's campaign, after he got released, and lost a leg above the knee. He has just returned, is at his regiment and I am going over to see him in a few days. We are lying here very quietly, and find no sign of any change in our front, though the Herald says that the enemy are removing their guns from their works, which we 'cannot see.' However, Brady, the Herald correspondent, gets a bit drunk now and then, so some allowance must be made. One of our officers saw him last night trying to jump his horse over the hitching rail in front of Corps Headquarters, and according to some vile slanderers a pint of whiskey will buy a puff in the Herald. Last Sunday we had a big time here, when after the Review of our Division in the morning, Major Generals Ord and Gibbon received the officers of the Division at Gen. Devin's Headquarters, and, after making them a brief speech principally about the Paymasters, treated everyone who chose to a drink of whiskey, and many of them took so many drinks, that before night the whole crowd from Major Generals down was in very good humor with the world and everyone in it. This affair goes by the name of the 'Great Drunk,' and if you will keep it to yourself I will tell you that they seemed drunker the higher the rank. Your humble servant and the chaplain came home early, and did not put a drop of the 'Commissary' into our throats. Since then Gen. Ord has sent us word, that the Paymasters would come around before the close of this month, and pay us up to the 31st December, and that the Armies of the James & Potomac are to be paid first. It will very much relieve many officers, none more than me. By all means, use that Catsup and Jelly, and think of me when you are discussing them, as well as occasionally when you come over those ducks, game, eggs, &c. that 'Cass' spreads before an ungrateful set of boarders. I am sorry that you are in danger of having Col. Burnham over you on the island, for he is not a man I very much admire for a superior officer, and I am clear of him now, and can say as much as this at any rate. I shall never forget his coming to Burke, and begging a chance to sleep in our corner at Macon, and then getting the whole corner lousy, and then going away, and telling how we got him lousy. Many ways there are for a man to show the material of which he is made. Remember me to all the boys, and answer this in another of your letters, which quite revive me, though I am too dull to make this letter anyway interesting. Mud is all around us everywhere, and no movement is possible now, but with Sherman on the move, and large numbers of Thomas' army coming down here, it will not be many weeks before we shall commence the greatest campaign of the war. I see our old friend, Dr. Pease, occasionally, who says that he never regretted that he got out of the regiment, when he did. Take care of yourself, and answer this soon, and remember me as Ever Your quondam friend Nickerson. |
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