Street view of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 34: Farner Shaw 4th Minnesota Infantry

Farner Shaw was born in Dane County, Wisconsin, in 1844 to Henry W. Shaw and Susan J. (Sunderman) Shaw. The family moved to Freeman, Minnesota sometime before 1860. He…

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William Clemmons 7th Tennessee Infantry Company K.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 33: William Clemmons 7th Tennessee Infantry

William Clemmons was born in 1843 to Edwin and Patience (Harris) Clemmons of Lebanon, Tennessee. He enlisted on May 20, 1861 in “The Blues,” company K of the 7th Tennessee Inf…

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Illustration of Holly Springs, Mississippi from Harper’s Weekly issue dated January 10, 1863 via archive.org

Research Arsenal Spotlight 32: Henry Markham 2nd Illinois Cavalry

Henry Markham was born in 1840 to Lane Markham and Margaret (Griffin) Markham of Laporte County, Indiana. Both of Henry Markham’s parents died when he was quite young and he w…

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A bombproof shelter for the soldiers during the siege of Petersburg, August 10, 1864

Research Arsenal Spotlight 31: Charles Miller 140th New York Infantry

Charles Miller was born in 1843 to Ransom Randolph Miller and Francis “Fanny” Maria (Warner) Miller of Gates, New York. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company D of the 140th …

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A Battery at Chain Bridge, Washington, DC, overlooking the Potomac River.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 30: Cornelius Van Houten 1st New Jersey Light Artillery

Cornelius Van Houten was born in 1841 to Ruliff “Ralph” Van Houten and Catherine (Van Wagoner) Van Houten of Pompton Plains, New Jersey. Before the war he had campaigned for A…

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Photo of a young Albert Jenkins Barnard.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 29: Albert Jenkins Barnard 116th New York Infantry

Albert Jenkins Barnard was born in 1841 to Albert Barnard and Elizabeth Atwater (Jenkins) Barnard of Buffalo, New York. His father died in 1849, and he had one brother,…

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Illustration of the Battle of Cedar Creek made in 1890 and published by Kurz & Allison.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 28: Jacob Claar 138th Pennsylvania Infantry

Jacob Claar was born June 19, 1865 to Simon Walter Claar and Rachel Alice (Croyle) Claar. His father, Simon, died in 1849 leaving Rachel with 8 children to care for. In 1859,…

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View of Knoxville, Tennessee taken from Fort Sanders looking southeast. The University of Tennessee is visible in the background.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 27: William Fish 11th New Hampshire Infantry

William Fish enlisted in Company C of the 11th New Hampshire Infantry at the age of nineteen. He was the son of John Blaney Fish and Mary Holmes (Barrett) Fish. William Fish…

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Harper’s Weekly illustration of the Battle of Pea Ridge from 29 March 1862.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 26: David Patten 35th Illinois Infantry

David Patten was born in 1838 and lived in Illinois. When war broke out, he enlisted in G.A. Smith’s Independent Regiment, which was later designated as the 35th Illinois I…

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Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper dated April 22, 1865 via Wikimedia Commons. The 30th Illinois Infantry was part of the 3rd Division of the 17th Corps.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 25: David Poak 30th Illinois Infantry

David Watson Poak was born in 1842 in Mt. Jackson Pennsylvania to John Poak and Sarah (Duff) Poak. The twelve letters in our Research Arsenal collection were written to his…

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