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(CIVIL WAR.) Elliot, Charles D.
Archive of a United States Army engineer
during the Civil War and in New Orleans.
7 volumes (various sizes and bindings) and
38 other items, including manuscript maps and drawings; condition generally strong.
Vp, 1856-1908, bulk 1856-66
[2,000/3,000]
Charles Darwin Elliot (1837-1908) spent most of his life in Somerville, MA as a civil engineer.
In 1862, he joined the 19th Army Corps as a draftsman with the topographical engineers,
serving mostly in Louisiana and Florida. Highlights of this collection are a notebook of field
sketches Elliot made in and near Pensacola, FL in December 1863; and an 1863 diary kept
by his wife Emily in New Orleans. Two manuscript plans of Virginia are interesting, although
apparently not by Elliot: a plan of the fortifications at West Point, VA circa May 1863 (illustrated);
and a plan of a fort to the northwest of Washington (possibly Fort Reno) with a small map of
Washington and neighboring parts of Virginia on verso. The correspondence includes letters
signed by Union generals Henry L. Abbot, Ambrose Burnside, Silas Casey, and Cuvier
Grover, as well as a few war-date family letters. Also included are his 1856-58 diary as a
young railroad surveyor, and his partial 1862 diary which describes his joining the army
engineers. A draft letter from Emily Elliot to her sister complains about the lax military rule in
New Orleans: ”A rebel can get favors at the hands of the authorities here much quicker than a
Unionist can, & it has been so ever since Banks has been here. We want Butler back, & he never
ought to have been taken away” (27 March 1864). Complete inventory available upon request.
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