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Collection Number: 05007-z

Collection Title: William H. Tillson Diary, 1863-1864

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.


Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.

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Abstract William H. Tillson was mustered into Company E, 84th Illinois Infantry Regiment, United States Army, on 1 September 1862. He was captured by Confederate troops while foraging for water on 21 September 1863, the day after the Battle of Chickamauga. He was eventually taken to Libby Prison in Richmond, Va., travelling through Chattanooga, Tenn.; Atlanta, Ga.; Augusta, Ga.; Columbia, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C. (which he mistakenly called Charlottesville); Raleigh, N.C.; and Petersburg, Va. He spent the next several months as a prisoner of war before being exchanged in April 1864. He was discharged from the Army due to wounds on 22 September 1864. The collection contains William H. Tillson's handwritten transcription of the diary that he kept, 1863-1864, while a prisoner of war. The diary describes his capture while foraging for water the day after the Battle of Chickamauga, where he was serving with the 84th Illinois Infantry Regiment; his transportation from Georgia to Virginia through various locations in the South; and his confinement in a warehouse adjoining Libby Prison in Richmond, Va. The diary details conditions within the prison and the reaction of southern soldiers and civilians to the captured Union soldiers.
Creator Tillson, William H.
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 William H. Tillson Diary #5007-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy (filmed 2007) available.
  • Reel 1: Entire collection
Acquisitions Information
Received from McGowan Book Company of Chapel Hill, N.C., in December 1999 (Acc. 98530).
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: John Foster, November 2000

Encoded by: John Foster, November 2000

Revisions: Finding aid updated in February 2005 by Nancy Kaiser.

Updated by: Laura Hart, June 2021

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.

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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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William H. Tillson was mustered into Company E, 84th Illinois Infantry Regiment, United States Army, on 1 September 1862. He was captured by Confederate troops while foraging for water on 21 September 1863, the day after the Battle of Chickamauga. He was eventually taken to Libby Prison in Richmond, Va., travelling through Chattanooga, Tenn.; Atlanta, Ga.; Augusta, Ga.; Columbia, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C. (which he mistakenly called Charlottesville); Raleigh, N.C.; and Petersburg, Va. He spent the next several months as a prisoner of war before being exchanged in April 1864. He was discharged from the Army due to wounds on 22 September 1864.

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The collection contains Civil WarsoldierWilliam H. Tillson's handwritten transcription of the diary that he kept, 1863-1864, while a prisoner of war. The diary describes his capture while foraging for water the day after the Battle of Chickamauga, where he was serving with the 84th Illinois Infantry Regiment; his transportation from Georgia to Virginia through various locations in the South; and his confinement in a warehouse adjoining Libby Prison in Richmond, Va. The diary details conditions within the prison and the reaction of southern soldiers and civilians to the captured Union soldiers.

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Contents list

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