George R. Crosby Diaries

George R. Crosby of Brattleboro, Vermont, enlisted in September, 1861, as a private in Co. F. of the 1st Vermont Cavalry. He re-enlisted in December 1863, was taken prisoner in May 1864, and was imprisoned in the infamous Andersonville Prison. He was paroled in December of the same year, and mustered out in August, 1865.

The entries in the diaries span the period of April 1, 1863, to June, 1865. They are, for the most part, brief; however, Crosby made separate, longer entries in a blank notebook for a brief period in early 1864 between capture and imprisonment. In this longer format he writes of his regiment's raid on Richmond (February 28, 1864) and of his experiences from the date of his capture at the beginning of the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5, 1864) to his eventual imprisonment at Andersonville, May 22, 1864.

Full finding aid for the collection (PDF)

Transcription of diary entries

Vermont History article about the diaries (PDF)

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