Civil War diary of Daniel S. Schenck, Commisary Sergeant, 79th Illinois Infantry, totaling 276pp in two hardcover notebooks, 7 x 9 in., compiled by his wife from his letters and near-daily journal entries beginning Oct. 4, 1862, and ending April 26, 1865. The inside cover of the first book is signed in ink, “D.S. Schenck, Com. Sergt. 79” Infty. Vol.,” and though the entire of the text except of that signature is written in his wife’s hand, it is transcribed faithfully from the soldiers original diary entries from his point of view. The first entry explains how this started with Sgt. Schenk trying to be economical with his time and paper: “For the last few days I have kept a kind of diary, and I believe I will cut it out instead of stopping to write a letter.” The entries are thoughtful, descriptive, and well-written, and cover every day of a very eventful two and a half years of services. Schenck was clearly intelligent and educated, and understood the importance of recording the events was experiencing. Battle content begins almost immediately at with his first-hand account of the Battle of Perryville, (“Breakfast and start at once….Bang, bang, go the cannons…Cavalry Artillery, and Infantry are moving up…This promises to be an eventful day….”) and continues through Nashville, Stone’s River, Middle Tennessee, Alabama, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, ending in April 1865 with “A last farewell to East Tennessee – May she not be disappointed in her present prospect of peace. Excerpts from the Atlanta Campaign are representative of the whole: (June 15, 1864)...The rumor that the rebel General Polk had been killed by one of our shells seems to be corroborated. I saw the blood where he is said to have fallen- though at the time I did not credit the report...(July 21, 1864)...[The Confederate] attack, though brave and determined as men could make, and prolonged too, was an utter failure. And terrible was their punishment. Hundreds of their dead are being buried by Hooker’s men, who bore the brunt of their attack. One of his divisions captured seven strands of colors. Our men are in fine spirits, for we feel that Atlanta is no almost within our grasp…..Wm. Wilson of Co. I is mortally wounded in the head. The pit he is in is so exposed that he cannot be removed until after dark. There are two other boys in the pit with him. 2pm: Billy Wilson is dead. Poor fellow, one more is added to the long list that we have lost in this terrible campaign. We will all miss him for he was one of our best boys, but his company will mourn his loss deeply. There are but seven of the company left...(Sept. 15, 1864)...Atlanta is ours.
Civil War diary of Daniel S. Schenck, Commisary Sergeant, 79th Illinois Infantry, totaling 276pp in two hardcover notebooks, 7 x 9 in., compiled by his wife from his letters and near-daily journal entries beginning Oct. 4, 1862, and ending April 26, 1865. The inside cover of the first book is signed in ink, “D.S. Schenck, Com. Sergt. 79” Infty. Vol.,” and though the entire of the text except of that signature is written in his wife’s hand, it is transcribed faithfully from the soldiers original diary entries from his point of view. The first entry explains how this started with Sgt. Schenk trying to be economical with his time and paper: “For the last few days I have kept a kind of diary, and I believe I will cut it out instead of stopping to write a letter.” The entries are thoughtful, descriptive, and well-written, and cover every day of a very eventful two and a half years of services. Schenck was clearly intelligent and educated, and understood the importance of recording the events was experiencing. Battle content begins almost immediately at with his first-hand account of the Battle of Perryville, (“Breakfast and start at once….Bang, bang, go the cannons…Cavalry Artillery, and Infantry are moving up…This promises to be an eventful day….”) and continues through Nashville, Stone’s River, Middle Tennessee, Alabama, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, ending in April 1865 with “A last farewell to East Tennessee – May she not be disappointed in her present prospect of peace. Excerpts from the Atlanta Campaign are representative of the whole: (June 15, 1864)...The rumor that the rebel General Polk had been killed by one of our shells seems to be corroborated. I saw the blood where he is said to have fallen- though at the time I did not credit the report...(July 21, 1864)...[The Confederate] attack, though brave and determined as men could make, and prolonged too, was an utter failure. And terrible was their punishment. Hundreds of their dead are being buried by Hooker’s men, who bore the brunt of their attack. One of his divisions captured seven strands of colors. Our men are in fine spirits, for we feel that Atlanta is no almost within our grasp…..Wm. Wilson of Co. I is mortally wounded in the head. The pit he is in is so exposed that he cannot be removed until after dark. There are two other boys in the pit with him. 2pm: Billy Wilson is dead. Poor fellow, one more is added to the long list that we have lost in this terrible campaign. We will all miss him for he was one of our best boys, but his company will mourn his loss deeply. There are but seven of the company left...(Sept. 15, 1864)...Atlanta is ours.
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
