Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss, 1816-1894. Letterpress copybook, 1863-1864. 1 vol. Location: B:12. Congressman, governor of Massachusetts, and general in command of the Union Gulf Department in the Civil War. Letterpress copybook of official letters written by Banks from his headquarters, Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, during fall 1863 and early winter 1864. Letters comment on civilian life in New Orleans, freed slaves, and the cotton trade. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2326.

Payne, Eugene B. [Beauharnois], 1835-1910. Letters, 1863-1864. 3 items. Location: Misc.:. Union soldier in the 37th Illinois Regiment. Letters describe New Orleans, Louisiana, its residents, the lack of rapport between the Union troops from the West and those from the North (ca. Sept. 1863), military pay and illness among troops (Aug. 13, 1864), mail delivery, and changes in command. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3792, 3796.

McGrath, John, 1835-1924. Family Papers, 1785-1924. 208 items; 15 ms. vols.; 9 printed vols. Location: S:27; O:21; OS:M; 99:M; Mss. Mf.:M. Journalist who worked on the New Orleans Picayune and the Baton Rouge Gazette. McGrath was a Confederate veteran who later founded the Baton Rouge Daily Truth and Weekly Truth. Papers include correspondence (among it McGrath's Civil War letters to his wife); an anonymous Confederate soldier's diary; legal documents; and scrapbooks relating to the interests and activities of McGrath's three daughters. Collection also includes accounts for St. Joseph's Church in Baton Rouge. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3281.

Reed, A. R. Diary, 1860-1861. 1 vol. Location: M:18. Son of Isaac Reed, who was part owner of the ship Ocean Belle. Diary records incidents and observations during his ocean voyages from Waldoboro, Maine, to New Orleans, Louisiana, on the ship Weston Merritt and from New Orleans to Liverpool, England, then to Nova Scotia aboard the ship Ocean Belle. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1582.

Royce, James B. Letters, 1862-1863. 3 items. Location: Misc:R. Union army corporal stationed on the Gulf Coast during the Civil War. Three letters describing living conditions at Camp Stoughton, Pensacola, and Camp Parapet, near New Orleans. The Camp Stoughton letter refers to actions by Generals Banks and Hooker, and the Camp Parapet letter includes a detailed map of the camp. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3835.

Ruggles, Daniel, 1810-1897. Letter, 1861 December 2. 1 item. Location: Misc:R. Brigadier general in the Confederate army in the Civil War. Letter written from New Orleans to Captain George W. Holmes, the commander of a military unit called the Ruggles Guard, responds to a request for arms and comments on the social positions of the men in the units. Available on microfilm 5735: University Publications of America Confederate Military Manuscripts Series B, Reel 17. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2798.

Roy, John. Diary excerpts,, 1860-1862. 13 typescript leaves. Location: Misc.:R. Assistant superintendent of construction for the U.S. Custom House in New Orleans and Confederate captain in the Civil War. This typescript of excerpts from Roy's diary includes entries from April 1860 to February 1861, including the construction of the Custom House and Post Office and his service in the Civil War. He relates the defense of Fort McGee near New Orleans in detail. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 608.

Fairbank, Luther M. letters, 1862-1893 (bulk dates 1862-1863). 35 items. Location: T:90; OS:F. Letters describes the Union bombardment of Fort Jackson in 1862; the arrival of Union forces in New Orleans, their looting of the post office, reception by civilians and their soliciting soldiers for food, and Union employment of slaves on a nearby sugar plantation. Fairbank condemns northern newspapers for inaccurate reporting. His letters further relate camp life. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4909.

Edwards, Marianne. Letters, 1855-1866 (bulk 1855-1863). 72 items. Location: U:239. Marianne Edwards, formerly of Evansville, Indiana, was the wife of Guy M. Edwards, a Massachusetts sea captain. She took voyages from Boston to New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Letters concern voyages to New Orleans, France, and Spain, among others. Letters (1862-1863) about a voyage along the lower Mississippi River, describe conditions during the Union occupation of New Orleans and the Battle of Port Hudson. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1850.

Edwards, Albert F. B. Diary, 1862-1863, 1864, 1865. 8 items, 1 ms. Vol. Location: Misc.:E, OS:E. Union soldier from Chester, New Hampshire, and a member of the 15th New Hampshire Regiment in the Civil War. Diary documents ten months of camp routine, a sea voyage to New Orleans and encampment near there, the Port Hudson campaign, and the trip by boat and train back north. Papers also include a listing of personal expenses and miscellaneous items. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3384.