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West Virginia and Regional History Center

Walter Fields McWhorter, Transcribed Civil War Diary

0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1 in.
A transcription of a diary of a Civil War soldier from West Virginia who was the third man from the state to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. There are extensive notes, including maps, and commentary by the transcriber that provide a background interpretation to the stark factual entries of the diary. Entries in the diary refer to camp life, Civil War battles, mustering out and Washington, DC at the end of the war. There are entries for the remainder of the year which indicate post-war adjustments and economic conditions of the author. McWhorter, though a man of few words, does provide many statistical details as to prices paid, rations received and wages earned. A member throughout the entire war of the West Virginia Third Cavalry Regiment, McWhorter was in Gen. George Custer's illustrious Third Cavalry Division which in 1865 was stationed in the Shenandoah Valley and along the line at the siege of Petersburg. Custer's forces pursued, harassed and effectively stymied the movement of Lee's forces from Petersburg to Lynchburg. The Battle of Sailors Creek, a part of the successful Union campaign that stopped Lee at Appomattox, was where this Lewis County native distinguished himself for the Medal of Honor by capturing the battle flag of the Tennessee Sixth Infantry Regiment.
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Walter Fields McWhorter, Transcribed Civil War Diary 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1 in.

McWhorter, Walter Fields.
A transcription of a diary of a Civil War soldier from West Virginia who was the third man from the state to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. There are extensive notes, including maps, and commentary by the transcriber that provide a background interpretation to the stark factual entries of the diary. Entries in the diary refer to camp life, Civil War battles, mustering out and Washington, DC at the end of the war. There are entries for the remainder of the year which indicate post-war adjustments and economic conditions of the author. McWhorter, though a man of few words, does provide many statistical details as to prices paid, rations received and wages earned. A member throughout the entire war of the West Virginia Third Cavalry Regiment, McWhorter was in Gen. George Custer's illustrious Third Cavalry Division which in 1865 was stationed in the Shenandoah Valley and along the line at the siege of Petersburg. Custer's forces pursued, harassed and effectively stymied the movement of Lee's forces from Petersburg to Lynchburg. The Battle of Sailors Creek, a part of the successful Union campaign that stopped Lee at Appomattox, was where this Lewis County native distinguished himself for the Medal of Honor by capturing the battle flag of the Tennessee Sixth Infantry Regiment.

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