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Collection Number: 04273

Collection Title: George H. Johnston Papers, 1861-1871

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 the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

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Size 90 items (1 reel of microfilm) items
Abstract Papers relating to the Civil War activities of U.S. Army Capt. George H. Johnston. The majority of the material dates from January-July 1863 and deals with the occupation forces centered at New Bern, N.C., and St. Helena Island, S.C.; the relief expedition by Union forces to Washington, N.C.; and the planned, but aborted, expedition against Charleston, S.C., in the spring of 1863. Included are personal letters between Johnston and his wife Amanda in which he discussed black soldiers and the command attitude toward their use; official letters to and from Brigadier Gen. Henry M. Naglee; other correspondence; bound volumes of general orders, special orders, and correspondence initiated by Naglee, which includes a letter book documenting Naglee's position during a command dispute with Major Gen. J. G. Foster and Major Gen. David Hunter; and newspaper articles, most of which are about George H. Johnston or Henry M. Naglee.
Creator Johnston, George H., fl. 1863.
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 George H. Johnston Papers #4273, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Purchased from the Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, Ala., in May 1981.
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: Suzanne Ruffing, August 1996

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

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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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Microfilm copies of papers of Captain George Henry Johnston held by the Birmingham Public Library. The papers cover the period of occupation of various costal areas of North and South Carolina during the Civil War. Included in the correspondence are several items that describe First Bull Run and the final phases of General George B. McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. The majority of the material dates from between January and July 1863 and deals with the occupation forces centered at New Bern, N.C., and St. Helena Island, S.C. Two major combat expeditions are also among the items planned and discussed within the papers: the relief expedition by Union forces to Little Washington, N.C., in April 1863; and the planned, but aborted, expedition against Charleston, S.C., during the spring of 1863.

These papers do not provide a full chronological description of the expeditions. They have been divided into five major groupings as follows:

1. Personal Correspondence: Letters between George H. Johnston and his wife, Amanda, covering 6 February 1862 (possibly misdated and actually 1863) to 22 May 1863, with remarks about African-American soldiers and the command attitude toward their use.

2. Official Correspondence: Letters to and from Brigadier General Henry M. Naglee, covering 14 February 1863 to 19 June 1863, with initial orders outlining the expedition to Charleston, S.C.

3. Miscellaneous Correspondence: Items from 21 January 1862 to April 1863 including the official printed report of Little Washington, N.C.

4. Bound Volumes: Volumes including general orders, special orders, and correspondence initiated by Brigadier General Henry M. Naglee from January to July 1863, and a letterbook documenting Naglee's position during a command dispute with Generals Foster and Hunter.

5. Newspaper Articles: Undated clippings from a variety of Boston area newspapers dealing with the career of George H. Johnston from later 1861 to 1871, including a heavy concentration of articles on the Peninsular Campaign and Brigadier General Henry M. Naglee's removal from command at Port Royal, S.C.

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Contents list

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