For a study of a county in Northern Mississippi (Lafayette Co.), I'm interested
in tracking down diaries of Union or Confederate soldiers, or other observers,
of events in that county during the war. I have stumbled on a few excellent
diaries, and one memoir, detailing some events occurring in Abbeville and
Oxford. But I'm thinking there must be some more systematic method of tracking
down relevant diaries.
I am particularly interested in getting more details on the burning of oxford,
Miss., in August 1864, carried out by General A.J. "Whiskey" Smith in commmand
of a group of black and white union soldiers. Smith didn't issue a report, so
all the Official Record has is a bitter account by a Confed observer.
One suggestion has been Cole, Eyewitness ..., an annotated bibliography of
Civil War Diaries, but this appears to be limited to those published within a
fairly restricted time frame.
Does anyone have any other ideas about how to track down eyewitness accounts of
events taking place in a particular locale.
I would also be interested in getting diaries, memoirs by soldiers who are FROM
this particular locale. Again, I've come across a few, but wonder if there is
some more systematic way to track such sources.
I'll be grateful for your help.
--Don Doyle
Vanderbilt University
doylexdh@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu