EXTRAORDINARY CIVIL WAR ANDERSONVILLE DIARY OF WM. HUBBELL, 23RD OVI

EXTRAORDINARY CIVIL WAR ANDERSONVILLE DIARY OF WM. HUBBELL, 23RD OVI

 02-22987-9

William H. Hubbell (1842-1864) son of Dr. Noble Hubbell, Cuyahoga, OH enlisted Feb. 23, 1864 in Company “A” 23rd Ohio Volunteers. William was educated and writes well. His diary begins on Feb. 20, 1864 “I’m going to enlist in the army of the Union and am also going to keep a diary for the whole year, as correct as I can….”. William did make detailed entries daily throughout the Kanawha Valley and Charleston, WVA camps & picket. The battle of Cloyd’s Mountain May 9 and aftermath was devastating to the William”s regiment who had 21 killed, 38 wounded, William was one of the wounded after injuring “my back by a severe fall from the enemies works.” Still in field hospital May 10 “Still bringing in the wounded and burying the dead. O’ Dear what awful awful work, how dreadful. A site is a battlefield dead all around for miles across the meadow where we drove them. There dead lay in heaps and many a poor wounded man lay all night in the cold damp rain and no aid could be given. There was but a few left with the wounded to do and those few was just worked to death. May this war soon end and made peace again…”. On the 11th William details more wounded from the battle coming in and “many of the dead are still unburied.” May 12th “… noon the rebs are advancing and our force is retreating. We shall soon all be taken prisoners… The 37th battalion Virginia cavalry came in front of our hospital and we have surrendered 70… so we are now all prisoners of war-but they have given us much more liberty than I expected. We are allowed to stay and attend to our wounded…”. Over the following days and weeks William still writes detailed daily accounts of the hardships of the March to his first prison at a Salt Works near Abingdon Virginia, May 18th “what a gloomy life a prisoners is. No comforts of life are allowed, just enough cornbread and fat meat to keep us alive. We are not allowed even to go out the door without a guard and our prison is nothing but a salt bin 14 x 40 feet and 139 men have to occupy…”. William and fellow prisoners would be moved to prison in South Carolina, then on June 3rd on train at Macon and “arrived at Andersonville at 2 oclock here we got off and went up to camp. It is a very strong place contains about 17 acres of ground palisaded up all around about 14 feet. A little brook runs through the center of the pen contains about 19,000 prisoners. Many they say die…. William continues to write detailed day by day accounts of the drudgery, loneliness, and pain throughout June and July and then starting August 19th his entries are only a part of a page, entries now tell of his sickness and pain. The last entry is written August 26th “today three years ago we fought the battle of Cross Lanes, West Va. Then I belonged to the 7th Ohio Co. A, Capt. Orrin J Crane now dead killed in the action of Ringgold GA…… today I feel somewhat better but am low.. but hope to be able to go when they commence paroling” William died August 31, 1864 of scurvy & is buried at: Andersonville National Cemetery, Andersonville, GA (Grave #7388). Diary has among the best detail of Andersonville prison life I have read, William Hubbell writes full pages in diary every day but the last few from June 3rd to August 26, 5 days before his death. Diary has a few illustrations; one is drawing of him leaving his sweetheart Anna saying goodbye. A CDV of his Anna is held in pocket of diary. Scattered through the early blank pages, William writes occasional thoughts while leading up to Cloyd’s Mountain and while at Andersonville.

NON-GUN