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Civil War Document Scanning Provides A Digital Windows to the Past

The Civil War 150 Legacy Project visits Fairfax

On April 18, 1863, U.S. Cavalry officer William McDowell ended the day with his diary.

"Went out foraging stealing grain. Rebs had lots of wheat stored away. Got 15 bushels for 20 of us," wrote McDowell. "I can not stand foraging, too much humanity about me, I can not have cheek enough to see old men, women and children cry, while soldiers rob and plunder their last sack of grain."

McDowell’s diaries, photographs and letters were just a few of the items scanned at the Fairfax Regional Library on Friday as part of Virginia’s Civil War 150 Legacy Project. Archivists from the Library of Virginia used portable scanners and cameras to digitize and catalogue documents for future online research.

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McDowell, known as "The Captain" to his family, left a lasting legacy for his great-granddaughters Louise Battist of Reston and Jackie Weidenfeller of Rockville.

In 1862, “The Captain” enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant, regimental commissary in the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry. “The Captain was a businessman,” said Battist. "He was a Yale mathematics graduate, a land developer, a newspaper owner and spoke six different languages.”  

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The diaries cover McDowell’s service in the Civil War from his enlistment through 1865. “He kept great records,” said Weidenfeller. “He wrote down everything from how many chickens and loaves of bread he purchased for his troops, to what the weather was like on a particular day.”

January 4, 1863: "Lay at Alexandria all day. Hurst and I went back to Washington, took dinner at Kimmel's, heard his daughter play the Melodion, and sing through her nose," McDowell wrote. 

January 8, 1863: "I laid all day at Dumfries, Went down to the Potomac for oats. Somebody killed a bullock or two and fed the half-starved boys."

Barbara Batson, exhibitions coordinator for the Library of Virginia, was part of the scanning team. “We’ve seen it all,” she said. “A man at the Fredericksburg event brought in a diary that an ancestor carried into battle at Gettysburg... The soldier took a bullet that lodged right into the diary – he just pulled it out and kept writing around the hole.” 

Michael Mitchell, an amateur historian from Annandale, carefully unfolded an old letter. “I was doing some online research about the 1st New Jersey Regiment of Volunteers when I found this letter up for bid on Ebay,” he said. “I recognized the name of the battle as Mason’s Hill near Bailey’s Crossroads... I decided I needed to save it for the public domain.” 

All documents scanned at Friday’s event will be catalogued and included on the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission websites. The scanning teams are coordinating future visits with local sesquicentennial committees in an attempt to provide this opportunity to the entire Commonwealth. Future events are posted at:www.VirginiaCivilWar.org/legacy.

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