Manuscripts Collection
Ransom Augustus Chadwick was born on August 22, 1831, in Granville, New York, to Hosea and Mary (Derby) Chadwick. In September 1861, both he and his brother Hosea Napolean Chadwick enlisted in the 85th New York Infantry Regiment, Company K, at Ischua, New York.
Under command of Brigadier-General Henry W. Wessell, the 85th New York Infantry Regiment helped defend the siege of Plymouth, North Carolina (April 17-20, 1864). Outnumbered five to one, Wessell's brigade was forced to surrender on the fourth day. Chadwick and his regimental mates were taken to the Andersonville Prison (Georgia), arriving on April 30, 1864. He was held captive in Andersonville, Georgia (April-September 1864), Charleston, South Carolina (September-October 1864), and Florence, South Carolina (October 1864-March 1865). Chadwick was granted his release on March 1, 1865.
Chadwick was mustered out on June 7, 1865, at Elmira, New York. He eventually lived in Winona, Minnesota, and was a member of its Grand Army of the Republic's John Ball Post #45.
Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.
Accession number: 4098
Processed by: Processing staff
Digitized by: Patrick Blaine, May 2011
Digitization of reserve material was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Catalog ID number: 001732030
Chadwick's diary contains almost daily observations of prison life—including a grim accounting of prisoners' deaths. The entries are not in strict chronological order: volume 1's first written entry is its last, chronologically while volume 2 contains his initial entry (April 20, 1864).
Volume 1 covers the regiment's surrender, capture, and movements through Tarboro, Goldsboro, and Wilmington, North Carolina; Florence and Charleston, South Carolina; and Savannah, Americus, and Andersonville, Georgia. It concludes roughly halfway through Chadwick's Andersonville imprisonment.
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Transcript (volume 1), Digital version
Volume 2 covers Chadwick's relocation from Andersonville to the other prisons. His last entry states that he was admitted to a hospital in Wilmington, North Carolina, a city captured by Union forces eight days prior.
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Transcript (volume 2), Digital version
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