Scope and Content Note
The papers of James Sanks Brisbin (1837-1892) span the years 1861-1957, with the bulk of the material dating from 1862 to 1866. The collection documents Brisbin's military service during the Civil War and his personal relationship with his first wife, Mary Jane Wagner Brisbin (1845-1887).
The collection consists predominantly of correspondence from Brisbin to Wagner during his service with the Army of the Potomac and while serving in various Trans-Mississippi campaigns. One letter (August 12, 1862) includes description of a woman disguised as a male soldier in the Union Army. Additional material in the collection includes battlefield sketches of the 1st Battle of Bull Run (1861) and the Battle of North Anna River (1864), an order for artillery review by President Abraham Lincoln (1863), the certificate confirming Brisbin's appointment to brevet major for meritorious service during the Battle of Beverly Ford in 1863 (1866), and other papers. Also included in the collection is correspondence (1952-1957) with Brisbin and Wagner's daughter Kathryn Brisbin Power regarding her father's postbellum military service in the American West. Included with these later letters is a typed and edited transcript of a letter (1892) from Brisbin to Edward Settle Godfrey regarding George A. Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Select original letters between Brisbin and Wagner show signs of editing by Power.