| Author | Post |
|---|
Wordpix John
Member
|
Posted: Sun Apr 26th, 2009 10:40 pm |
|
Has anyone seen seen/read the "Diary of Elsie Caroline Duncan Hurt"? She was the daughter of Harriet and Joseph Duncan (Duncan Field) and would have been nine years old at the time of the battle. She was my g-grandfather's sister. My family believed that she wrote a journal, and we've been searching for it for 25 years. Now, I'm hearing that someone found it and gave it to the Memphis Public Library. It IS listed in the library's online catalog. If you've seen it, does it include much information about Shiloh, and do you know if there is a way to buy/download/obtain a copy? (Amazon doesn't have it--I take that to mean I'll probably need to take a field trip to Memphis.)
Thanks,
John
|
Wrap10
Administrator
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27th, 2009 02:31 am |
|
John,
I was going to say that you might be able to get a copy through the inter-library loan, but I imagine that's not an option with an original diary. You might give the library there in Memphis a call, to see what is or isn't possible. Maybe they could make a copy of the pages and arrange to send them to you or your local library, although my guess is probably not. Never hurts to ask though. But off-hand, it does sound as if a trip to Memphis would probably be required.
Even if there's nothing in there about Shiloh though, it would be pretty interesting to see the diary. Especially after such a long search.
Wish I could help more, and perhaps someone else here can, but please keep us posted on how things go.
Perry
____________________
"And all is hushed at Shiloh." - Herman Melville
|
mona
Member
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27th, 2009 06:27 pm |
|
I'll check (since I'm at the library right now)to see if they will look into the book.OK>
Mona
|
Grandpa
Member
|
Posted: Fri May 8th, 2009 02:25 am |
|
Wordpix,
I was at the main Memphis library today. The transcribed diary is in their reference section. I didn't find out if they have the actual diary. They have only one copy; at least that is what they told me. I didn't have time to do much reading, but I did copy it up to Dec. 1862. It is not really a daily diary, but memoirs or recollections. It has some very interesting things about Shiloh.There are several (ok, many) discrepancies but is very interesting. After several SDG members have read it, it will make a good discussion topic.
In the back portion are copies of some wills and deeds or such. I only thumbed through it except for the battle part.
The copy that they brought to me was hardback bound, but the pages were obviously copied from typewtitten pages. So there must be other copues somewhere.
Grandpa
|
Wordpix John
Member
|
Posted: Fri May 8th, 2009 03:41 am |
|
Thanks, Grandpa. Since my last post, I've seen a couple of stories about the "diary" that appeared in the Commercial-Appeal in 2000. Based on those, I'd agree with you about discrepancies. Mainly, I think she got things out of chronological order. The events she reports very well could have happened. They just may have happened at different times than she reports. In at least some cases, she appears to have moved events back and forth from pre-battle to post-battle. For example, she writes of the Duncan family living in the house and interacting with Union soldiers AFTER the battle. My grandmother always told me that the house was badly damaged and no longer fit to live in after the battle. Her sources would have been her father (Elsie's brother), Elsie's other siblings and maybe even Elsie herself (or "Caroline" as people in my family call her). If you toss out Elsie's chronological order, there would have been plenty of opportunity for interaction with soldiers BEFORE the battle.
Elsie tells of her older brother enlisting in the Confederate army. That much is true. James K. P. Duncan drew a Confederate pension. Reportedly there is a large file on him in the Tennessee Archives. Maybe C.D. will go downtown with me to look at it.
One possible explanation for her chronological order issues may be that this is really a NOVEL, not a DIARY. Elsie's obituary from the Commercial-Appeal states that she was working on a novel based on her experiences as a child during the war. The book at the library may be a copy of the manuscript for that novel.
I've seen some indications that the "diary" or manuscript or whatever was actually published a few years ago. The library's online catalog seems to indicate as much, but I've never been able to find another copy.
I'd love find a way for the members of the SDG to read this diary and discuss it.
John
|
Grandpa
Member
|
Posted: Fri May 8th, 2009 11:46 pm |
|
John, I agree to your idea about chromological order. Also, I get the distinct impression that the house she is talking about most of the time was not at Duncan field. She does mention that the house was severely damaged, but does not give the impression that she was in that house. She said that a gunboat shell took off most of the roof. That is very plausible. I'm guessing that they had a second house.
I find her descriptions of interacting with Union soldiers after the battle very believable. After the battle she may well have lived in a house that was just very near the battlefield. I remember my daddy telling me that the 'old' folks told him that Union soldiers were camped all over the hills near the battlefield all summer of 1862.
I find that almost everything she mentions is very plausible, even though time and place are jumbled up. However, with some serious review of the document, I think everything can be sorted out and put in proper order and location.
All in all, I found the document to be an important addition to knowledge about the events concerning the battle at Shiloh.
Grandpa
|
rrrwright
Member
| Joined: | Wed Jan 7th, 2009 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 97 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: |    |
|
Posted: Sat May 9th, 2009 04:43 am |
|
I think the Union army kept a field hospital in the immediate battlefield area for at least several weeks after the battle. First close to the battlefield itself for several weeks and then a couple months later at Corinth which Halleck finally took in late May. That book about the 14th Iowa at Donelson and Shiloh mentions specific soldiers that died at Shiloh in the last week of April of disease, not wounds. The book also mentions soldiers being discharged from Corinth for disability from the temporary tent hospital in late July, and quotes some letters from a paroled prisoner who wrote about his volunteer duties at the field hospital in Monterey in late July, written while he waited for official exchange and worked at the field hospital at Monterey out of sheer boredom. In these letters he mentions going back and forth from Monterey to Corinth to visit his friends in the regiment until almost August.
If took over seven weeks for Halleck to gather 100,000 men and then to move them slowly slowly at a pace of maybe two miles every few days to reach Corinth from Pittsburg Landing there would have been plenty of Union soldiers in the area for a long time after the battle.
Last edited on Sat May 9th, 2009 05:21 am by rrrwright
|
C.D.RICKMAN
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Sat May 9th, 2009 04:01 pm |
|
| in the diary of the 9th Ill. infantry, he tells of them staying on the battlefield for two weeks and the stench and sickness that they experienced while on the battlefield. after two weeks they were alowed to move to an area outside the battlefield. and there would have been detachments from the landing to corinth to guard their supply route when they first started and their alternate supply route after they took over the rail line. also in the report of the ohio rep. to the battlefield in the very early 1900's when he blessed the location of the ohio plaques and monuments, he stated how surprised he was at how the park had become overgrown with brush. he also stated that confederates were in the duncan house sharpshooting at their lines and received much attention from the union arty. and infantry, that being the case the house must have been almost destroyed.
|
Wordpix John
Member
|
Posted: Sun May 10th, 2009 11:09 pm |
|
Several thoughts:
First, that's an interesting comment about the field hospital at Monterey. I remember my grandmother telling me that the Duncans went to stay with relatives at Michie shortly before the battle. Isn't "Michie" just a different name for "Monterey"? It would seem reasonable that they stayed there for a while after the battle. (Grandpa, does the diary say where they were or when they got there? The family story is that they didn't leave home until the day before the battle.)
Second, C.D.'s comment on the destruction of the house sounds like what my grandmother used to tell me.
Third, I've seen comments about the overgrown brush before and can't help but wonder if it might be a time-of-year issue. Did the Ohio rep. report the date of his visit to the park? Was he there in April or some time later in the summer? I spend a lot of time hiking a piece of land in the southwestern corner of Bedford County. In latitude, it's about 20 miles (16'41" to be exact) north of Shiloh. In elevation, it's about 450 feet higher. Buttercups usually bloom about a week earlier in Duncan Field than at my place in Bedford County. There, the forest under brush is very heavy in the summer months but dies out almost completely after the first frost and doesn't return in force until some time in May.
|
C.D.RICKMAN
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Sun May 10th, 2009 11:18 pm |
|
| Halleck's maps of the area between shiloh and corinth show the field hospital on what is now post office road about 150 yds north north east of the sanders cemetery. where legend has it that there is a line of confederate graves that is very well defined, if that is them. James K.P. Duncan was in the 45th confederate infantry. it appears as though both james duncan and joseph both enlisted in co. F, 9th infantry regt. kentucky in savannah on jan.1 1862 they were both then both transferred to co. B,23th light artillery regt.,tenn. on 14 apr.1862. Joseph was promoted to full sargeant on 12 may,1862. will see if i can't track them through the war. james must have been transferred to the 45th at some point as that is where his pension was from. the joseph he is shown enlisting with must have been his older brother joseph riddel duncan. Last edited on Mon May 11th, 2009 01:12 am by
|
C.D.RICKMAN
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Tue May 12th, 2009 01:49 am |
|
| John, it appears as though both James K.P. Duncan and Joseph R. Duncan were with the ninth kentucky inf. at Shiloh. Company B, ninth Kentucky inf. was recruited wholly from savannah and as such were transferred to Newman's 23th batt. tennessee infantry in latter april. when with the ninth they had several men killed at shiloh from co. F. the rolls of co.F are very interesting as 98% of the men are from savannah and enlisted in jan. 1862.
|
Grandpa
Member
|
Posted: Tue May 12th, 2009 02:07 am |
|
Caroline Duncan Hurt says in her recollections that her father was a chaplain in the Confederate army. She also says that he recruited and drilled Confederate soldiers before the Union army occupied Pittsburg Landing.
Grandpa
|
C.D.RICKMAN
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Tue May 12th, 2009 02:40 am |
|
| o.k. John here's what I came up with James K.P.Duncan and Joseph R. Duncan enlisted in co F ninth kentucky infantry, Jan. 1, 1862. their unit then moved from there to Murfreesboro, in March they moved to burnsville and then to Shiloh where they were in some heavy fighting at the crossroads and hornet's nest(home). they were part of Trabue's brigade. after the battle they reached the corinth line apr.12. very shortly after they were transferred to the 23th tenn. inf. until 1864 when they were merged with the 45th tennessee. they were paroled at greensboro n.c in 1865. There are some good letters from Rees with the ninth kentucky inf that cover their time at burnsville and corinth. I LOVE THIS STUFF! Last edited on Tue May 12th, 2009 02:42 am by
|
Ron
Member
|
Posted: Tue May 12th, 2009 12:10 pm |
|
CD
Very good post.
Ron
____________________
Ron
|
Wordpix John
Member
|
Posted: Tue May 12th, 2009 01:15 pm |
|
| I love this stuff, too, and really appreciate all the help in learning about my ancestors. However, I think Joseph R. Duncan was Elsie's brother (or half brother) instead of her father. According to 1850 Hardin County census records, the Joseph Duncan household included Joseph R. Duncan, age 14, which would have made him 25 in January 1862. I've also seen a pension record that mentioned Joseph R. as James K.P.'s brother. Another interesting point on ages, James K.P. Duncan was just a couple of months past his 15th birthday when he enlisted. Joseph (the father) was 63.
|
Current time is 02:05 pm | Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...   |
|
