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Index to service records of volunteer Union soldiers in Virginia and West Virginia, compiled from Record Group 94 in the U.S. Adjutant General's Office.

Civil War diaries authored by First Lieutenant (later Major) Fabricius A. Cather from Flemington, Taylor County, West Virginia, records his experiences in the military and political conflicts of the Civil War. The six diaries, and a transcribed copy of the original 1864 and 1865 diaries, contain entries for the years 1860 to 1865 regarding western Virginia's grassroots efforts to secede from the Confederacy and establish a new state, and of the first battles and skirmishes such as Rich Mountain and Corricks Ford. He describes campaigns involving his regiment, the First West Virginia Cavalry, including the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign under Sigel, Hunter, Sheridan, and Custer against Breckenridge, Early, and Mosby's Rangers; the last battles of Petersburg as Grant broke the Rebel lines; and the continuous fighting during Lee's retreat. Although most diary entries are one or two sentences in length, some entries in 1864 and 1865 are longer, perhaps due to his full involvement in combat. The collection also contains 18 items stored in pockets inside the covers of the diaries, including headquarters passes, business cards, and a complimentary pass for Lt. Cather to attend the June, 1861 "NorthWestern Virginia Convention" in Wheeling. An Addendum includes two scans of photos of Cather, two scans of Civil War military service papers, photocopies of an 1873 Kansas Land Grant, and genealogy material documenting the Cather family.

Single leaf with two documents on front and back (recto and verso) respectively. On one side is an apparently unsent letter authored by Colonel John Castelli Rathbone, 11th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, from Spencer (West) Virginia to the commanding officer at Ravenswood, (West) Virginia, dated 2 September 1862. Rathbone urgently requests reinforcements against an expected attack by Confederate cavalry. The verso is a "true copy" of the parole pledge signed by Rathbone and other members of his unit after their surrender to Confederate General Albert G. Jenkins, dated 2 September 1862. Rathbone's unit was captured during Jenkins' Raid on western Virginia. See historical note for further information concerning Colonel Rathbone.

Letter written by Thomas H. McBee to his father Zadoc McBee from "Camp on Rapidan River", dated 14 August 1862. The letter regards the fight between Union troops under the command of General Nathaniel Banks against Stonewall Jackson's Confederates at Cedar Mountain. Although McBee was not present at the battle, he reports his impressions of the aftermath of the fighting. McBee also relays news of personal interest to his family. Collection also contains the original envelope of the letter, as well as a news clipping of an article written about the letter dated 20 October 1951. For additional letters to Zadoc McBee, see A&M 25.

Diary of Uz Barns of Ritchie County, a volunteer in the Union Army who served as a private in the 10th West Virginia Infantry. The diary covers the years 1862 through 1865 and contains daily entries, mainly regarding weather conditions. Barns also wrote about marches and distances marched per day; encampments at various places in eastern West Virginia and in Winchester, Virginia; and engagements with Confederate forces at Beverly, (West) Virginia, Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia, and Deep Bottom, Henrico County, Virginia. He also records number of prisoners taken. Barns was in Richmond at the time of Lee's surrender and mentions the number of cannon and the supply of shells and powder left there by the Confederates.

Three pocket diaries authored by William M. Goudy of Wheeling, (West) Virginia, a corporal in the First West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, Company G, who was mustered into service on 31 October 1862. The entries run from January 1862 through November 1864, when Goudy's company was mustered out at Wheeling. Diary entries are brief and sporadic; subjects discussed include weather, marches, encampments, drilling and inspection, combat, eating, church attendance and sermons, and social visits and events. Goudy also makes record of letters received, money sent home, and items and money received from home. See Scope and Content note for more information. For Goudy's Military Memorial War Record, see A&M 4102, "Civil War Memorial Record of William M. Goudy and Other Material."