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Collection Number: 00007

Collection Title: Edward Porter Alexander Papers, 1852-1910

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 7.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 3,000 items)
Abstract Edward Porter Alexander was an engineer, United States and Confederate army officer, university professor, businessman, and planter. Civil War papers include diaries and notebooks, voluminous postwar correspondence with other officers concerning a proposed history of Longstreet's corps and preparation of Alexander's memoirs (published 1907), drafts of the manuscript and other writings, speeches, and collected histories of various army units. Other papers include letters from the Adam Leopold Alexander family of Savannah and Washington, Ga.; papers of the Alexander H. Mason family of Hagerstown, Md.; scattered business letters; E.P. Alexander's letters from Nicaragua, 1896-1899, while he served as arbitrator in the Costa Rica-Nicaragua boundary dispute; diary of a trip to Panama and Nicaragua in 1900; papers concerning South Island property, Georgetown County, S.C.; memoirs of early life; miscellaneous writings; and photographs of Alexander at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., "Mrs. Morris," a Confederate spy, various family members, and views of unidentified buildings and houses.
Creator Alexander, Edward Porter, 1835-1910.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Edward Porter Alexander Papers, #7, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Part of this collection is available on microfilm:
Reel 1: Volume 26
Reel 2: Volume 29
Reel 3: Volume 31
Reel 4: Volume 32-34, 40, 42-47
Reel 5: Volume 41
Reel 6: Volume 52
Acquisitions Information
Received prior to 1940.
Additional Descriptive Resources
Original finding aid is filed in folder 1a.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Revisions by: Kathryn Michaelis, August 2010; Nancy Kaiser, August 2020

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Edward Porter Alexander (1835-1910) was an engineer, United States and Confederate army officer, university professor, businessman, and planter.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Civil War papers include diaries and notebooks, voluminous postwar correspondence with other officers concerning a proposed history of Longstreet's corps and preparation of Alexander's memoirs (published 1907), drafts of the manuscript and other writings, speeches, and collected histories of various army units. Other papers include letters from the Adam Leopold Alexander family of Savannah and Washington, Ga.; papers of the Alexander H. Mason family of Hagerstown, Md.; scattered business letters; E.P. Alexander's letters from Nicaragua, 1896-1899, while he served as arbitrator in the Costa Rica-Nicaragua boundary dispute; diary of a trip to Panama and Nicaragua in 1900; papers concerning South Island property, Georgetown County, S.C.; memoirs of early life; miscellaneous writings; and photographs of Alexander at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., "Mrs. Morris," a Confederate spy, various family members, and views of unidentified buildings and houses.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Edward Porter Alexander Papers, 1852-1910.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

Introductory material

Folder 2

1853

Folder 3

1854-1855

Folder 4

1856

Folder 5

1857

Folder 6

1858-1859

Folder 7

1860

Folder 8

January-September 1861

Folder 9

October-December 1861

Folder 10

January-May 1862

Folder 11

June-July 1862

Folder 12

August-November 1862

Folder 13

December 1862

Folder 14

January-June 1863

Folder 15

July-October 1863

Folder 16

November-December 1863

Folder 17a

February-April 1864

Folder 17b

May 1864

Folder 18

1-10 June 1864

Folder 19

13-30 June 1864

Folder 20

July-August 1864

Folder 21

September-December 1864

Folder 22a

January-March 1865

Folder 22b

April-August 1865

Folder 22c

September-December 1865

Folder 23

1866

Folder 24a

1867

Folder 24b

January-July 1868

Folder 24c

August-November 1868

Folder 25a

January-August 1869

Folder 25b

September-December 1869

Folder 26

1870-1873

Folder 27

1874-1875

Folder 28

1876-1877

Folder 29

1878-1879

Folder 30

1880-1881

Folder 31

1882

Folder 32

1883-1884

Folder 33

1885

Folder 34

1886-1887

Folder 35

1888-1889

Folder 36

1890-1893

Folder 37

1894-1896

Folder 38

February-May 1897

Folder 39

June-July 1897

Folder 40

August-September 1897

Folder 41

October 1897

Folder 42

November-December 1897

Folder 43

January-April 1898

Folder 44

May-December 1898

Folder 45

January-March 1899

Folder 46

April-July 1899

Folder 47

August-December 1899

Folder 48

January-June 1900

Folder 49

July-December 1900

Folder 50

January-August 1901

Folder 51

September-December 1901

Folder 52

January-May 1902

Folder 53

June-July 1902

Folder 54

August-September 1902

Folder 55

October-December 1902

Folder 56

January-March 1903

Folder 57

April-September 1903

Folder 58

October-December 1903

Folder 59

January-May 1904

Folder 60

June-December 1904

Folder 61

January-June 1905

Folder 62

July-December 1905

Folder 63

January-March 1906

Folder 64

April-December 1906

Folder 65

January-April 1907

Folder 66

May 1907

Folder 67

June-July 1907

Folder 68

August 1907

Folder 69

September-December 1907

Folder 70

January-July 1908

Folder 71

August-November 1908

Folder 72

1909

Folder 73

1910-1935

Folder 74

Pamphlets

Folder 75

Undated

Folder 76

Undated

Folder 77a

Undated

Folder 77b

Undated

Folder 78

Writings: William H. Brearley on Knoxville Campaign

Folder 79

Writings: Weather and tides

Folder 80-81

Folder 80

Folder 81

Miscellaneous writings

Folder 82

Writings: Bessie A. Ficklins stories

Folder 83

Writings: Articles on snakes

Folder 84

Writings: Poems

Folder 85

Civil War maps

Folder 86

Volume 1: E. P. Alexander memoranda book, 1853-1855

Folder 87

Folder number not used

Photograph Album PA-7/1

Photograph album

Contains landscapes and formal portraits of E. P. Alexander and his fellow cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., 1857-1858. Includes volume 2.

Folder 88

Volume 3: E. P. Alexander engineering notebook, United States Military Academy, 1857

Folder 89

Volume 4: E. P. Alexander personal notebook, circa 1857-1858

Folder 90

Volume 5: E. P. Alexander personal notebook, 1858

Folder 91

Volume 6: E. P. Alexander diary, United States Engineers, 1858

Folder 92

Volume 7: Miscellaneous notes on military matters, Engineers Headquarters

Folder 93

Volume 8: Miscellaneous notes and diary entries, 1862-1865

Folder 94-96

Folder 94

Folder 95

Folder 96

Volumes 9a-9c: E. P. Alexander's copies of his personal diary, June 1963-May 1965

Folder 97

Volume 9d: Diary of Professor Fitzgerald, 21 June-27 October 1864

Folder 98

Volume 10: Book of codes relating to Masonic rituals, undated

Folder 99

Volume 11a: Small scrapbook containing Confederate clippings and poetry, 1865-1867

Folder 100

Volume 11b: Scrapbook of clippings (mainly poems) and other assorted materials, circa 1865-1932

Folder 101-103

Folder 101

Folder 102

Folder 103

Volumes 12-14: Notebooks on architecture, University of South Carolina, February 1868

Folder 104

Volume 15: Miscellaneous memoranda and addresses, 1986

Folder 105-110

Folder 105

Folder 106

Folder 107

Folder 108

Folder 109

Folder 110

Volumes 16-21: Diary of a trip to Panama and Nicaragua, 26 June-14 August 1900

Folder 111

Volume 22: Notes from trip to Panama and Nicaragua, June-August 1900

Folder 112

Volume 23: Notebook containing "Confederate States of America," an article written for the Encyclopedia American, undated

Folder 113

Volume 24: Data gathered by E. P. Alexander for a history of Longstreet's corps, undated

Folder 114

Volume 25: Two copies of a speech on the Wilderness Campaign, 19(?) and 1908

Folder 115-142

Folder 115

Folder 116

Folder 117

Folder 118

Folder 119

Folder 120

Folder 121

Folder 122

Folder 123

Folder 124

Folder 125

Folder 126

Folder 127

Folder 128

Folder 129

Folder 130

Folder 131

Folder 132

Folder 133

Folder 134

Folder 135

Folder 136

Folder 137

Folder 138

Folder 139

Folder 140

Folder 141

Folder 142

Volumes 26-53: Drafts of a volume of Civil War recollections, published in 1907 as Military Memoirs of a Confederate

Folder 143

Clippings on Military Memoirs, 1907

Folder 144

Miscellaneous clippings

Folder 145

Obituaries

Folder 146

Clippings on West Point speech, 1902, and other events

Folder 147

Clippings on Confederate matters

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-7/1

Oversize Civil War maps

Image P-7/1

Carte-de-visite of E. P. Alexander, circa 1862-1867

Image P-7/2

E. P. Alexander at Gettysburg battlefield, circa 1885-1905

Image P-7/3

Bessie Mason Alexander, daughter of E. P. Alexander, at about eight years old, circa 1869

Photographer: R. Wearn, Columbia, S.C.

Image P-7/4

Carte-de-visite of "Mrs. Morris," Confederate spy, circa 1862-1865

Photographer: Mathew Brady, Washington.

Image P-7/5

Cabinet card of unidentified young man with hand-tinted eyes and cheeks, circa 1870-1885

Image P-7/6

"Panorama of Greytown," Nicaragua, undated

Includes hand-written annotations describing the scene on the recto.

Image P-7/7

View of house, undated

Verso: "This is a view of the house from the front. The two windows on the third floor right hand side are in the front of the dormitory in which I sleep."

Original enclosure label: In letter to Grandma, from Florence Mason, Sausalito, CA, undated

Image P-7/8

View of tree, undated

Verso: "This is a horse chestnut tree which is very near one corner of the house."

Original enclosure label: In letter to Grandma, from Florence Mason, Sausalito, CA, undated

Image P-7/9

View of greenhouse, undated

Verso: "The green houses which are back of the house."

Original enclosure label: In letter to Grandma, from Florence Mason, Sausalito, CA, undated

Image P-7/10

View of school building, undated

Verso: "This is a picture of our Cooking School. Lafayette once dined in this building. The first floor is cooking school and second class room."

Original enclosure label: In letter to Grandma, from Florence Mason, Sausalito, CA, undated

Image P-7/11

View of house, undated

Verso: "The east side of the house. The two windows on the left hand side on the third floor are in our dormitory."

Original enclosure label: In letter to Grandma, from Florence Mason, Sausalito, CA, undated

Image P-7/12

View of tree-lined lawn, undated

Verso: "This is a view of the lawn on the east side of the house. It ends just before it gets to the house in the distance."

Original enclosure label: In letter to Grandma, from Florence Mason, Sausalito, CA, undated

Image P-7/13

Possible carte-de-visite of Bettie Mason Alexander, undated

Special Format Image SF-P-7/1

Daguerreotype of unidentified young boy, undated

M-00007/7

South Island log

Microfilm only.

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