The topographical engineer Louis-Alexandre Berthier produced this plan detailing the batteries and redoubts around West Point, while marching from Providence to Virginia with the army of Comte de Rochambeau (1725–1807). Gift of Harry C. Black, Class of 1909. Louis-Alexandre Berthier Collection, Manuscripts Division.
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The United States Christian Commission was formed in 1861 to respond to soldiers’ needs after the First Battle of Bull Run. Five thousand volunteer delegates distributed millions of dollars’ worth of supplies to battlefields, camps, hospitals, and prisons. Walking among still-unburied soldiers and horses after the Battle of Gettysburg, A. C. Barber distributed tracts and writing paper to wounded Confederate soldiers, wrote letters to the relatives of those who had died in battle, and recorded his observations in this Christian Commission notebook. General Manuscripts Bound, no. 132, Manuscripts Division.
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As military secretary to General Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), Adam Badeau witnessed the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War. He describes the occasion in this letter to his friend, General James Harrison Wilson (1837–1925), commending both Grant and Lee for their dignity and magnanimity. Gift of Shirley W. Morgan. Civil War Letters of Adam Badeau, Manuscripts Division.
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General James Harrison Wilson commanded the cavalry unit that captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis (1808–1889) on May 10, 1865. In this letter written three days later to his close friend Adam Badeau (1831–1895), military secretary to General Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), Wilson vividly narrates the possibly apocryphal story of Davis’s attempt to escape disguised as a woman. Gift of Shirley W. Morgan. Civil War Letters of Adam Badeau, Manuscripts Division.
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John Trumbull served as an aide to General George Washington (1732–1799) during the Revolutionary War. After leaving the army, he studied with the great American history painter Benjamin West (1738–1820), who encouraged him to paint the war scenes he had experienced. Trumbull thus conceived his “national history” series of paintings, which included The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton. Gift of Junius Spencer Morgan, Class of 1888. John Trumbull, Battle of Princeton Prints Collection, Graphic Arts Collection.
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Struggling to provide for his army, Confederate General Robert E. Lee wrote to the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis (1808–1889), to plead for supplies lest he be forced to retreat for lack of food. Gift of André de Coppet, Class of 1915. André de Coppet Collection, Manuscripts Division.
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The son of Ohio Valley explorer and Indian agent Christopher Gist (1706–1759), Thomas was captured in 1758 during the French and Indian War by Wyandot (Huron) Indians near Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). Taken with other prisoners to the Huron town opposite Fort Pontchartrain (Detroit), Gist was adopted by a Wyandot family and well treated. He escaped after a year of captivity. This account may have been written by a family member after Gist’s return. Gift of P. Blair Lee and E. Brooke Lee. General Manuscripts Bound, no. 376, Manuscripts Division.
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Isaac Plumb Jr. served in the 61st New York Infantry of the Union Army during the Civil War from his enlistment in 1861 until his death in 1864 from wounds suffered at the Battle of Cold Harbor. On display are his swords and items in his wallet at the time of his death, including this portrait of him, a letter from home, a telegram sent a week after he was wounded, and an ace of hearts. Isaac Plumb Jr. Family Papers, Manuscripts Division.
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Louis-Alexandre Berthier joined the army of Comte de Rochambeau (1725–1807) to fight for the American cause during the Revolutionary War. A topographical engineer, Berthier produced more than 100 maps of the historic march of Rochambeau’s army from Rhode Island to Virginia in 1781. Displayed here is the army’s camp at Princeton from August 31 to September 1. The “Collège” is Nassau Hall. The crossroads at the lower part of the map is the current intersection of Nassau and Harrison Streets. Gift of Harry C. Black, Class of 1909. Louis-Alexandre Berthier Collection, Manuscripts Division.
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More than 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing after the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, still considered the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. Antietam was also the first American battlefield to be photographed before the dead were buried. These photographs were owned by General George McClellan (1826–1885), the leader of the Union forces at Antietam, and taken by Alexander Gardner, McClellan’s staff photographer. Gardner’s photographs shocked viewers, many of whom saw these devastating scenes of war for the first time. Gift of George B. McClellan, Class of 1886. George B. McClellan Papers, Manuscripts Division.
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