Michigan in the Civil War
Bancroft, John Milton, 1838-1918.
Typewritten copy of a diary (1861-64) kept while he was serving in the 4th Michigan Infantry as sergeant and lieutenant. Most of the entries are short and terse. The chief items of interest concern his service with Professor Lowe and his balloon, and the following battles: Gaines' Mill, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. There is an outline of what a day in camp is like; descriptions of marches-the countryside, fatigue, the weather, food or lack of it, and campsites. He tells about foraging for food and for building materials, and describes his quarters. He speaks of McClellan and President Lincoln; of his reading, and of his bouts with dysentery and the remedies prescribed. He was mustered out in June of 1864. Bancroft was a resident of Wayne County, Mich. The original of the diary is in the Auburn University Special Collections and Archives, Alabama.
This collection is available on microfilm for interlibrary loan.