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Collection Number: 05346-z

Collection Title: William H. Broughton Letters and Other Materials, 1862-1865, 1935

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.


This collection was processed with support from Elizabeth Moore Ruffin.

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Size About 60 items
Abstract William H. Broughton mustered into the Union Army on 4 August 1862 and was later made captain of Company D, 16th Maine Infantry Regiment. He was captured at Weldon Railroad, Va., circa August 1864, and mustered out on 5 June 1865. The collection consists of letters from William H. Broughton to his father and other family members, written chiefly from camps in Maine, Maryland, and Virginia, describing Broughton's service with Company D of the 16th Maine Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. The letters describe Broughton's experiences in the army, including his entry into the Union Army, training, duties, movements, promotions, and general camp life, among other topics. The letters also contain requests for food, money, supplies, and assistance in obtaining a commission and promotions. Some letters mention games and sports, including baseball, ice skating, chess, and checkers. The letters include discussion of the war's general progress, as well as several specific events. In one letter, dated 20 January 1865, Broughton wrote to his father describing his enthusiasm over the capture of Fort Fisher, N.C., and his sadness over the deaths of two officers, Lieutenant B.H. Porter and Lieutenant Preston, who were killed during the assault. Also included are two newspapers noting his military promotions, the cover of a volume that originally enclosed the letters, a 1935 note describing the contents of the volume, and a drawing of William H. Broughton.
Creator Broughton, William H., 1846-1882.
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.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
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 William H. Broughton Letters and Other Materials #5346-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Purchased from Historical Collectible Auctions in January 2008 (Acc. 100842) and April 2008 (Acc. 100901).
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: Kiley Orchard, May 2010

Encoded by: Kiley Orchard, May 2010

This collection was processed with support from Elizabeth Moore Ruffin.

Finding aid updated in February 2012 by Anna Kephart because of addition.

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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

William H. Broughton mustered into the Union Army on 4 August 1862 and was later made captain of Company D, 16th Maine Infantry Regiment. He was captured at Weldon Railroad, Va, circa August 1864, and mustered out on 5 June 1865.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection consists of letters from William H. Broughton to his father and other family members, written chiefly from camps in Maine, Maryland, and Virginia, describing Broughton's service with Company D of the 16th Maine Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. The letters describe Broughton's experiences in the army, including his entry into the Union Army, training, duties, movements, promotions, and general camp life, among other topics. The letters also contain requests for food, money, supplies, and assistance in obtaining a commission and promotions. Some letters mention games and sports, including baseball, ice skating, chess, and checkers. The letters include discussion of the war's general progress, as well as several specific events. In one letter, dated 20 January 1865, Broughton wrote to his father describing his enthusiasm over the capture of Fort Fisher, N.C., and his sadness over the deaths of two officers, Lieutenant B.H. Porter and Lieutenant Preston, who were killed during the assault. Also included are two newspapers noting his military promotions, the cover of a volume that originally enclosed the letters, a 1935 note describing the contents of the volume, and a drawing of William H. Broughton.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse William H. Broughton Letters and Other Materials, 1862-1865, 1935.

60 items.
Folder 1-3

Folder 1

Folder 2

Folder 3

Letters, 1862-1865

The collection consists of letters from William H. Broughton to his father and other family members, written chiefly from camps in Maine, Maryland, and Virginia, describing Broughton's service with Company D, 16th Maine Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. The letters describe Broughton's experiences in the army, including his entry into the Union Army, training, duties, movements, promotions, and general camp life, among other topics. The letters also contain requests for food, money, supplies, and assistance in obtaining a commission and promotions. Some letters mention games and sports, including baseball, ice skating, chess, and checkers. The letters include discussion of the war's general progress, as well as several specific events. In one letter, dated 20 January 1865, Broughton wrote to his father describing his enthusiasm over the capture of Fort Fisher, N.C., and his sadness over the deaths of two officers, Lieutenant B.H. Porter and Lieutenant Preston, who were killed during the assault.

Folder 4

Other papers, 1862 and 1935

Two Maine newspapers dated December 1862 noting Broughton's military promotions, the cover of a volume that originally held all of the letters, and a note dated 1935 and written by one of Broughton's descendants describing the volume's contents.

Oversize Paper OP-5346/1

Drawing of William H. Broughton.

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