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West Virginia and Regional History Center

James K. Robson, Soldier, Civil War Diary, 1862

0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1/2 in. (ca. 160 pages)
Civil War diary of ca. 160 pages kept by Private James K. Robson of the New York 8th Cavalry, Company E, for the year 1862. Though diary entries are short, they are pithy and informative for every day of the year, documenting highlights from the perspective of an army private. The diary begins with a description of guard duties and camp life in the vicinity of Washington, D.C. (January to March), and activities during the Valley Campaign guarding the railroad and Harpers Ferry from Thomas Jackson's army (March to June). Robson's unit was then withdrawn to Relay House near Baltimore to be mounted, fully equipped, and drilled as a cavalry unit (June to August), and subsequently deployed to the defense of Harpers Ferry in response to the invasion of Maryland by Confederate forces during the Antietam Campaign (September). Sick in the hospital, Robson was among the 12,000 Union soldiers who surrendered at Harpers Ferry, and then paroled with nine others of his unit to Camp Douglas near Chicago, Illinois (September to November). After his exchange he ended the year at Fort Albany within the Washington, D.C. fortification system.
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James K. Robson, Soldier, Civil War Diary, 1862 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1/2 in. (ca. 160 pages)

Robson, James K.
Civil War diary of ca. 160 pages kept by Private James K. Robson of the New York 8th Cavalry, Company E, for the year 1862. Though diary entries are short, they are pithy and informative for every day of the year, documenting highlights from the perspective of an army private. The diary begins with a description of guard duties and camp life in the vicinity of Washington, D.C. (January to March), and activities during the Valley Campaign guarding the railroad and Harpers Ferry from Thomas Jackson's army (March to June). Robson's unit was then withdrawn to Relay House near Baltimore to be mounted, fully equipped, and drilled as a cavalry unit (June to August), and subsequently deployed to the defense of Harpers Ferry in response to the invasion of Maryland by Confederate forces during the Antietam Campaign (September). Sick in the hospital, Robson was among the 12,000 Union soldiers who surrendered at Harpers Ferry, and then paroled with nine others of his unit to Camp Douglas near Chicago, Illinois (September to November). After his exchange he ended the year at Fort Albany within the Washington, D.C. fortification system.

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