Scope and Content Note
The papers of Joseph Bloomfield Osborn (1842-1876) span the years 1862-1865 and consist mainly of Civil War correspondence of Osborn, who served in Company F, 26th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry and in the U.S. Navy, together with a biographical sketch of Osborn.
The papers describe enlistments, camp life, training, and marches in Maryland and Virginia. Other topics include discipline and morale, the attitude and condition of Confederate prisoners of war, casualties, and the effect of the Emancipation of Proclamation on federal troops. Included are details on the Peninsular, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville campaigns; Osborn’s service aboard the Vanderbilt in the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic Blockading Squadrons; and the Fort Fisher expedition of January 1865.