Description:

CIVIL WAR DIARY OF GILBERT MCLOON, 1ST MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY, WITH GETTYSBURG CONTENT
Pocket diary, approx. 220pp. 4" x 6", for the pivotal year 1863, belonging to Gilbert McLoon, a private with Company H of the 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry. Each page of the diary features a printed space for each day's entry, making Parnelle's entries necessarily short and terse. Most entries are also executed in pencil, and are very light in places. However, they still contain much information on his deployment and service. McLoon opens the diary while on duty in Northern Virginia. He notes the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, with the laconic note: "All niggers were freed today". The unit is primarily occupied during this first part of the year on picket duty defending against Confederate cavalry raids; the entry for Jan. 2 reads, in part: "...Have been expecting an attack from Steward's [Gen. J.E.B Stuart] Cavalry most ever night", while Jan. 9 bears the note: "...Started this eve at dusk with part of the briggade on an expedition to cut off Steward at Hartwood Chapel..." In the spring, the regiment is subjected to several official reviews, most notably on April 7, in part: "We had a grand review of the whole of the Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac by President Lincoln and his wife, the biggest review that ever took place in this army up to this date..." McLoon's first mention of combat comes on April 29, in part: "...took our line of march at 7 a.m. in pursuit of the Rebs advanced to Culpeper Court unmolested as the Rebs had retired during the night..." He continues the following day: "...at the Rappedan firing commenced at 8 o'clock..."The next major action that McLoon notes is the Battle of Brandy Station on June 9, in which the 1st Massachusetts formed part of the Union left wing under Brig. Gen. David McMurtrie Gregg. McLoon writes: "Across Kellys foard and marched meet the enemy. Found the foe at 20 minutes past 10 o'clock and had a crisp days work with enemy one of the greatest Cavalry fights yet known..." McLoon's assessment was prescient, as Brandy Station is commonly regarded as the largest cavalry engagement of the war. June 17 brings more action, as McLoon's company is engaged in the Battle of Aldie. He writes: "Took up our line of march from Manassas junction & marched to Oldee town here we wer ingaged in a very hard fight. Our regt wer very badly cut up Capt. Sargent mortally wounded or presumed to be..." McLoon goes on to record his actions during the Battle of Gettysburg, during which the 1st Massachusetts made up the rear guard of Gen. John Sedgwick's VI Corps, and thus missed most of the fighting. McLoon begins writing on June 2: "... Passed threw the place called Union Mills on the Pike Road leading to Getties Burg P.a. passing threw Little Town the Battle was in its hight of rage..." He continues on June 3: "The battle raging still in its Bloodiest fite at Getties Burg P.a. Our Regt. joined the Brigade this morning hard fighting. The Battle was rageing its hardest at 1 o'clock..." On June 4, he describes the aftermath of the battle: "Not much Fighting the men wer ingaged in picking up the wounded & Berying the dead." Following this historic action, the regiment returns to its typical picket duty, in which capacity it continues until the end of the year. The diary is bound in black cloth, with the year embossed on the cover flap in gold. Several pages are loose, and the text block in loose from the binding but not fully detached, with additional wear commensurate with age, else very good.

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August 1, 2018 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

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