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Preferred Citation

William S. Hotchkin, Civil War Diaries, 1864-1865, Accession # 11226, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Library purchased these diaries from Alexander Autographs, Inc., Cos Cob, Connecticut, February 3, 1996.

Biographical/Historical Information

The 1st New York Engineers was initially organized in New York City during 1861 but some of its companies were organized in New Jersey and Pennsylvania during 1862-1864. In December 1861 the regiment was sent to Washington and then to Fortress Monroe in Hampton Roads, Virginia. It was assigned to forces under General Thomas Sherman for an expedition under the command of Admiral Samuel F. DuPont for Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, and became the 10th Corps Engineers in the Department of the South. The regiment served in Union campaigns in South Carolina and Georgia during 1862-64. Transferred to Virginia in April 1864, it participated in the major campaigns of the Army of the James and the Army of the Potomac, 1864-65, resulting in the capture of Petersburg and Richmond in April 1865. As part of the engineer corps of the Army of the James, the 1st New York Engineers constructed the Bermuda Hundred Line, laid miles of corduroy roads, operated an engineer depot, and constructed the Dutch Gap Canal. The regiment built fortifications and roads that contributed to the ultimate victory of the Army of the Potomac. Its companies were separately mustered out on June 29, 1865. Hotchkin's New York home is unknown; his regiment included men from sixteen New York counties (Allegany, Clinton, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Kings, Monroe, New York, Ontario, Orange, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, and Westchester) and New Jersey and Pennsylvania.¹

1. Frederick Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 (Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, State Printers 1912), 1: 72-78 and 2: 1634-1650; Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959), 3:1403-1404.

Scope and Content Information

These two Civil War pocket diaries, 1864 and 1865, of a Union soldier, Williams S. Hotchkin, Company E, 1st Regiment New York Engineers ["1st Regiment New York Volunteers (Engineers)," "First New York Regiment of Engineers (Veteran)," "New York Volunteer Corps Engineers," "Serrell's Engineers"] includes daily entries from September 15, 1864 to July 15, 1865. According to the 1864 volume's flyleaf, Hotchkin enlisted on August 30, 1864. During the period covered by these diaries his regiment served in Virginia during the Army of the James' and the Army of the Potomac's (Union) campaigns against the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate), eventually culminating in the siege and capture of Petersburg and Richmond. In brief entries Hotchkin recounts marching, the weather, Confederate attacks, camp life, and his duties as a company clerk.

After the Union victory Hotchkin, on his own or as part his regiment's assigned posts, visited Richmond and other Virginia cities during April-July 1865. He describes his regiment's mustering out and his trip home (July 1-15, 1865), carefully noting the hours and cities their steamer passed by or docked during the trip from Richmond to Albany, New York. Hotchkin visited various sights in New York City and expresses the soldiers' unhappiness and frustrations over delays in reaching home and receiving their final pay. The diaries measure 3 x 5½ inches and total ca. 200 pages; entries are in pencil (and occasionally, ink), and are at times faint and illegible. Due to constraints in their size entries are often limited to brief sentences.

The 1864 pocket diary (brown binding) contains 120 numbered pages and entries from September 15, 1864 to May 17, 1865, pages 2 to 112. Of interest is "Amount of Clothing Drawn" (page 113), a listing of blankets, canteens, drawers, pants and similar items purchased by Hotchkin from July 16, 1864 to May 2, 1865. Pages 114 to 120 include miscellaneous business accounts, valuation of personal items received from home, and lists of various persons.

The flyleaf of the 1865 pocket diary (black binding) bears a blue five cent Confederate postal stamp of Jefferson Davis [Confederate States Scott No. 7] and an inscription: "W. S. Hotchkin/Co. 'E' 1st N. Y. Engineers/Richmond, Va./May 19th 1865/Traded with James H. Quakenbush at Manchester, Va./May 18th 1865." A second inscription reads: "Read by his son Charles F. Hotchkin at Washington, D.C. May 19, 1907, while delegate to the Baptist Convention. Boat to Norfolk May 20, 1907."

Page one lists regimental officers and their home addresses: Colonel Edward W. Serrell, Lieutenant Colonel James F. Hall, Major Frederick H. Cruso, [James Wainbold?--no rank] and [Wendall Noah?--no rank]. A roster of officers and enlisted men is on pages 13 to 37. The end page of this pocket diary contains Colonel Serrell's address: No. 57 W. Washington Place, New York. Pages 2 to 16, 38 to 48 and several pages after the July 15, 1865 entry are blank. Diary entries begin on page 49 and cover the period of May 6 to July 15, 1865. The earliest entries, May 6-17, 1865 (pages 49-51), are extremely illegible, but a cursory comparison of the handwriting and record-keeping style suggests someone made these other than Hotchkin, perhaps the volume's previous owner, James H. Quakenbush. (Hotchkin consistently begins his entries with the day of week, month, day and year but here these first entries do not.)

Prominent soldiers and civilians mentioned include: P. T. Barnum (1810-1891); Ambrose E. Burnside (1824-1881); Benjamin Butler (1818-1893); George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876); James F. Hall (?-1884); Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885); Robert E. Lee (1807-1870); Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865); George B. McClellan (1826-1885); George Gordon Meade (1815-1872); Edwin O. Ord (1818-1883); Francis H. Pierpont (1814-1899); John McAllister Schofield (1831-1906); Philip H. Sheridan (1831-1888); and William T. Sherman (1820-1891). Union regiments mentioned by name include the 16th Battery, New York Light Artillery (September 28, 1864), Batteries A & M, 1st U. S. Artillery (January 16 & April 16, 1865), the 3rd NewYork Cavalry (October 6, 1864), 121st New York Infantry (March 28, 1865), the all-black 25th Corps (April 16, 1865), and two militia (?) units--the 8th and 7th New York (July 3 & 6, 1865).

Among significant events mentioned in the diaries are: the cost of uniforms (September 17, 1864); the battle of Chaffin's Farm (September 29, 1864); soldiers' support of Lincoln's 1864 reelection (November 8, 1864); military camp life, especially a detailed account of a typical day in camp (November 11, 1864); Thanksgiving Day (November 24, 1864); a Union soldier killed by a Confederate sharpshooter (October 5, 1864); comments and activities concerning deserters (December 19, 1864 & May 29, 1865); description of a breakfast (April 6, 1865); visits to City Point (March 17, 1865) and Richmond, Virginia, after its capture (April 23 & 25, 1865); itineraries and descriptions of Hotchkin's trip home after his discharge (July 1, 2, 3, 1865); a visit to and subsequent burning of P. T. Barnum's American Museum (July 4 & 13, 1865); the sights of New York City and Albany (July 10, 14 & 15, 1865); descriptions of military engineering projects and bridges (November 26, 1864; May 18 & 25 & June 28, 1865); a dance and its musical instruments (December 27, 1864), a snowball fight (January 4, 1865); baseball games (February 14 & 28 and March 4, 1865), his toothaches (November 24, 1864, January 22 and February 10, 1865), and a salute celebrating the Richmond arrival of Francis H. Pierpont (May 26, 1865), governor of the "restored government" of Virginia.

DIARY ENTRIES (SELECTED)

SEPTEMBER 15, 1864 TO MAY 17, 1865--BROWN POCKET DIARY
September 17, 1864: "Got our uniforms and went to barracks. Uniforms cost $12.29."
September 24, 1864: A salute fired in honor of [General Philip H.] Sheridan's recent victories [Winchester, Virginia, September 19, and, Fisher's Hill, September 22, 1864].
September 26, 1864: "Arrived at the Headquarters . . . was set at work copying."
September 29, 1864: Brief account of the battle of Chaffin's Farm (Fort Harrison); "We are only 7 miles from Richmond"; ransacking of a house owned by a Confederate postmaster.
September 30, 1864: Saw Major General Benjamin F. Butler; rebels shelling Union positions [battle of Fort Harrison].
October 1, 1864: "Six of the cooks who did not fall in when ordered were ? in front of the Regt."; "yesterday's fight the Rebs charged our works four times, but were repulsed each time."
October 5, 1864: A Union soldier shot through the heart and killed by a rebel sharpshooter: "It cast a gloom over the rest of us."
October 6, 1864: Visited the camp of the 3rd New York Cavalry.
October 8, 1864: Assigned company clerk's duties in the adjutant's office.
October 10, 1864: Saw General [George Armstrong] Custer.
October 13, 1864: "Heard heavy musketry on the right. Reports at night that we have captured 16 or 17 Guns today."
October 16, 1864: "Were Shanghaied from adjutant's clerk to Co[mpany] clerk."
October 18, 1864: "Worked some in the Co[mpany] clerk office; Didn't hurt myself."
October 20, 1864: "Got a piece of petrified wood which was dug from 50 feet underground."
October 29, 1864: "Got a lot of boards from an old Rebel house about 4 miles from camp.--Had a lot of Lincoln Badges come into the [army?]."
October 31, 1864: Completed muster rolls; troops paid today.
November 3, 1864: "While on roll call an order was read making Sergeants, Corporals and Artificers I was lucky enough to be an Artificer which puts $2.00 a month on my pay."
November 8, 1864: "Today decided the destinies of our country . . . Took a vote in our company 86 votes polled, 64 for Old Abe [President Abraham Lincoln] and 22 for Mac" [General George B. McClellan].
November 11, 1864: Detailed description of a typical day in camp.
November 14, 1864: Sold his watch for $25.00 "and received $5.00 down."
November 20, 1864: "Had the teethache" [see January 22, 1865].
November 23, 1864: "Heard a heavy explosion in the A. M. . . . rebel Gunboat got too far down the river and run onto one of our torpedoes [mines]" November 24, 1864: Thanksgiving Day activities; dined on turkey, quail and raisin pudding; visited headquarters of [General Ambrose E.] Burnside.
November 26, 1864: Visits and describes an 850-foot pontoon bridge consisting of 67 boats.
December 1, 1864: "Although it is the first day of winter the weather is more like September."
December 2, 1864: Heavy shelling by Rebels in Petersburg caused by Union forces firing a salute in honor of General [John McAllister] Schofield's victory [battle of Franklin, Tennessee, November 30, 1864].
December 10, 1864: Two inches of snow.
December 12, 1864: Worked on mustering out papers for Captain Hiram Farrand [Company E].
December 19, 1864: Two deserters shot (?).
December 24, 1864: "Saw a Darkie that come across the lines but a few days ago. He [represented?] that the situation of affairs are bad. . . . Got my washing from Mrs. James."
December 27, 1864: "Had a dance in the evening in the tool house. Music! Trombone, 1 Tambourine, 1 Flute, 2 Violins."
December 30, 1864: "A large body of troops from Sheridan's Army went past Camp before dark and relieved the troops on the front."
December 31, 1864: Attended a dance in the "Hotel de Galvin on James Farm, Va."
January 4, 1865: Snowball fight with a sergeant; attended a party at the "Hotel de Galvin."
January 5-14, 1865: Spends much of the day working on reports and personnel returns, ordnance papers, clothing accounts and muster rolls.
January 16, 1865: Hotchkin's boots repaired by Sidney Smith of Battery A, 1st U. S. Artillery.
January 22, 1865: Suffering another "teethache" [see November 20, 1864].
January 23-24, 1865: Constant shelling by both sides.
January 29, 1865: Union monitors and ironclad vessels on the river and "a ram that which was captured from the Rebs at Mobile."
February 2-12, 1865: Working on passes, discharges, clothing and rations reports, muster rolls.
February 3, 1865: "Reported that Old Abe and Secretary Stanton are down at Fort Monroe to meet the Reb Commissioners" [Hampton Roads Peace Conference; President Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward represented the Union; Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was not present] February 10, 1865: "Had an awful toothache" [see January 22, 1865].
February 14, 1865: A game of baseball held in camp this afternoon [see February 28, 1865].
February 15, 1865: "The discharge papers made out were wrong and so made out another set."
February 28, 1865: An afternoon game of baseball [see February 14, 1865].
March 4, 1865: Played baseball this afternoon [see February 28, 1865].
March 17, 1865: Visited City Point via steamer Trumpeter; had his picture taken; sent $30.00 home.
March 26, 1865: Inspection by Brigadier General James F. Hall; a salute fired for General Grant who is meeting with generals Custer, Sheridan, and [William Howard Irwin? ?-1886] March 28, 1865: Members of the 121st New York Infantry visited Hotchkin's regiment.
April 3, 1865: Capture of Petersburg; sees General Ulysses S. Grant "on the Southside Railroad about noon and gave three cheers for the fall of Richmond."
April 4, 1865: "Broke camp at sunrise-- cheered Gen. Grant, who passed us up to Generals [Edward O.] Ord and [George Gordon] Meade."
April 5, 1865: Pursuit of Confederates to Nottoway Court House, Virginia [which Hotchkin misidentifies as a North Carolina county seat].
April 6, 1865: A breakfast of pork, salt ham, chicken, turkey, molasses, hardtack, and hoecake.
April 9, 1865: Announcement of Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox; saw 40 captured cannon and 35 battle flags.
April 11-20, 1865: Regiment marches to and is stationed at Appomattox Court House, Farmville, Petersburg, Manchester, and Richmond.
April 16, 1865: Arrival of new recruits; the all- black 25th Corps and Battery M (Langdon) of the 1st U. S. Artillery are marching ahead; "Report that Lincoln is assassinated--shot."
April 18, 1865: Encamped at Petersburg, "a desolate looking town with narrow streets & poor houses . . . a good many have holes in them."
April 22, 1865: "Worked hard all day on Discharge Reports and monthly papers. Had for a seat my Knapsack & for a desk a book."
April 23, 1865: Toured Richmond; visited Libby Prison, Castle Thunder, "Jeff's House" [the White House of the Confederacy], State Capitol, equestrian statute of George Washington, and other prominent sights.
April 24-30, 1865: Resumed paperwork on muster rolls and discharges.
May 1-7, 1865: Paperwork on muster rosters, furlough applications, clothing accounts, and discharges.
May 9, 1865: Visits Richmond again; tours a Confederate munitions factory [Tredegar Iron Works?].
May 10, 1865: "Quite an excitement was created by a party of Sherman's men [General William T. Sherman] who are encamped around trying to clean out Sutler at 9 P. M. but we were ordered under arms by Major [Joseph] Walker but their Officers coming around, they were soon stopped by them."
May 16, 1865: Visited by General Ord's orderlies "who are about to be discharged."
May 17, 1865: Usual workday at the office. [Final entry in this diary.]

MAY 6 TO JULY 15, 1865--BLACK POCKET DIARY
May 18, 1865: "Broke camp at Camp Southard [Captain Henry S. Southard, Company K, ca. 1818-1864, mortally wounded May 27, 1864] and marched to the bank of the James [River] near Manchester where we again encamped. This was done to be near the bridge on which our [company?] is at work."
May 20, 1865: Visits a Richmond Methodist church.
May 25, 1865: Three soldiers, while working on repairs to Mayo's Bridge [Mayo's Island Bridge, Richmond] fell unhurt 22 feet into the James River.
May 26, 1865: A salute fired in Richmond to celebrate the arrival of Virginia Governor Francis H. Pierpont.
May 29, 1865: Prepares a list of deserters.
June 4, 1865: "Were inspected under heavy marching order by General Hall" [there were six Union generals named Hall].
June 11, 1865: Visits a Richmond Catholic church; saw 107 freight cars at the depot.
June 22-28, 1865: Ill with bibulous fever [yellow fever]; "Never more sick in my life"; taking blue pills.
June 28, 1865: Mayo's Bridge finished.
June 29, 1865: 1st Regiment New York Engineers is mustered out of federal service; "after being mustered out I was set to work on dischargers for two hours. Got to Camp completely tired out but felt better . . . just 10 months from the day I enlisted."
July 1, 1865: Embarks for home on steamer Diamond ("some ladies were on board") from Richmond at 10:00 a. m.; a thunderstorm during the voyage; again mentions General Hall [see June 4, 1865], who commands a color guard that salutes Hotchkin's company; arrives at Fort Monroe, 9:00 p. m.
July 2, 1865: Departs for Baltimore, 11:00 p. m.; sleeps on deck; passes Point Lookout, Maryland, 7:00 a.m. and Annapolis, 1:00 p. m.; arrived at Baltimore, 5:00 p.m.; after marching to Soldiers Retreat the men received coffee and cold meat; trip resumed with a freight car ride toward Philadelphia and crossing of the Susquehanna River.
July 3, 1865: Arrived Wilmington, Delaware, 4:00 a. m.; Philadelphia, 6:00 a. m., and marched to Soldiers' Home for breakfast; boarded a steamer for New York, 3:00 p. m.; arrived in New York City 6:00 p.m. and marched to the armory of the 8th New York (state militia?) for supper.
July 4, 1865: Disappointed by the lack of a parade for the troops; visited several sights including P. T. Barnum's American Museum.
July 5, 1865: Troops turned in their haversacks and canteens; Hotchkin reviewed muster rolls with officers.
July 6, 1865: Returned the 1st's regimental colors to the 7th New York's (state militia?) armory; "after speeches, music and cheering we were formed and marched through Broadway to the Armory; had a good Brass Band."
July 9, 1865: "An alarm of fire on the Docks below us caused a number of Engines to turn out not much damage."
July 10, 1865: Visited Wall Street and Trinity Church; "have been in New York so long it is getting lonesome."
July 11, 1865: Troops disappointed they have not yet received their final pay; a delegation complains to General Hall [see July 1, 1865].
July 12, 1865: "Reported to the Armory at [9:30] A. M. to sign the rolls but there was considerable fooling us as usual and it was about 5 P. M. when I signed them. Had about $40 more due me than I expected. It seems as though Lieut. ? the Co. a grudge and does not [seem?] to take much interest in them."
July 13, 1865: After some shopping, took passage to Albany on steamer Hendrik Hudson; Barnum's Museum [see July 4, 1865] "was burned to the ground."
July 14, 1865: Arrived in Albany at 7:00 p.m. "and booked passage for home"; a huge crowd welcomed the troops.
July 15, 1865: Visited Albany sights including a horse track at the fairgrounds. [Final entry in this diary.]