Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Scope and Content Note
The Civil War diary and correspondence of Samuel J. Gibson (1833-1878) date from 1864. The diary relates the capture by Confederates of the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry at the federal garrison at Plymouth, North Carolina, April 17-20, and his life as a prisoner of war at Andersonville, Georgia, and Florence, South Carolina. Gibson records the war news and rumors received by the prisoners, the state of his physical and emotional health, the deaths of fellow prisoners, and the importance of his diary in maintaining a sense of time. Also in the collection is a letter of June 12, 1864 to his wife written from Andersonville Prison.