A Lost Diary Finished by Both Finder and Loser. And Both Survived

By Carl L. Sell, Jr. · Originally published August 2022 · pp. 12–13

This amazing story is about a lost diary that turned into competing reports about Gettysburg, a capture that brought an enforced tour of Confederate Prisons, an escape, recapture, and release. Finally, the war ended, and the lost diary returned. Robert Douglass of the FortySeventh Virginia Infantry Regiment wrote in a letter after the war that he had been involved in every major battle fought by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the entire Civil War. He added there were about 500 skirmishes; he escaped unscathed.

Robert Douglas.

Forty-Seventh Virginia Infantry Regiment wrote in his diary that he was wounded twice, including at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, as well as captured, escaped, recaptured, and then released before he was exchanged two months before the war ended. The paths of these two soldiers crossed at Chancellorsville on May 4, 1863, when Douglass picked up a diary that belonged to Owen. Owen, along with others in his regiment, had left his knapsack, containing the diary, behind as they advanced to the battlefield to close the break in their lines caused by Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson’s famous flank attack. The Confederates, including Douglass, pushed back the Federals. Douglass and his comrades collected the knapsacks and anything else left behind, a standard operating procedure for soldiers on both sides. Instead of tossing the diary aside, Douglass decided to continue recording entries, albeit from a Confederate standpoint. Ironically, Owen decided to start a new diary. Both documents survived the war. After the war, Douglass decided to write to the family mentioned in the diary he had taken, asking if the writer had survived the war. He offered to return the original diary to the owner. According to Douglass, Owen replied that he had survived and would like to receive his diary. Douglass mailed it with a note referring to Owen as “once an enemy in one sense of the word but now a friend.” The two armies returned to their respective camps after Chancellorsville, the Federals to regroup and the Confederates, under General Robert E. Lee, reorganizing from two corps to three following Jackson’s the death. The Confederates soon moved north toward Maryland and Pennsylvania. It didn’t take long for Major General Joe Hooker’s Union army to follow. Douglass continued Owen’s diary until the end of 1863. Most of his entries were about marching, cooking, playing ball, taking baths, and writing to his mother. He mentioned very little about combat. Between May 10 and the end of the year, he said he bought two pairs of shoes and was issued another pair. The Forty-Seventh’s march into Pennsylvania brought little reaction from Douglass, although he did say that it was very pretty country, but the citizens look sour at our “secesh” soldiers. Near Greenwood [sic, Greencastle?], he observed a “hard looking crowd in this country, mostly Dutch.” He also mentioned eating cherries and drinking lemonade. Nearing Gettysburg, Douglass said Colonel John Brockenbrough’s Brigade, and the Forty-Seventh, supported Brigadier General [J. Johnston] Pettigrew’s Brigade on

June 30. Pettigrew’s troops went on to drive the Yankees toward Gettysburg and then returned to camp near Cashtown without firing a shot. On July 1, the Forty-Seventh marched toward Gettysburg and helped Heth’s Division drive the enemy back through town, then was detailed to cook rations and was not engaged on July 2. The regiment was part of the Pettigrew-Pickett charge on the afternoon of July 3, losing twenty-three percent of the 209 who attacked Cemetery Ridge. Douglass wrote that his regiment was “drawn up in the line of battle ready to charge the enemies’ breastworks. The boys are busy throwing up dirt with their hands for shelter.” He continued “heaviest cannonading going on I ever heard in my life. Our line advanced on the enemy but soon [sic] repulsed.” Douglass’ description of the attack paled in comparison to what happened. Brockenbrough’s Brigade included the TwentySecond, Fortieth, Forty-Seventh, and Fifty-Fifth Virginia regiments, was badly mauled by the Union defenders on Cemetery Ridge, many when the regiment was fully enfiladed by the 8th Ohio’s volley fire. On July 4, the Forty-Seventh engaged in picket firing before receiving orders to fall back. They began to retreat back toward the Potomac about 8

p.m. and marched until sunrise the next day, Douglass wrote. Things were quiet, according to Douglass, for the rest of the year. Owen a new blank diary and started anew. Although Owen lost his diary on May 3, 1863, he backdated the new one to April 24 when Union forces broke camp and marched toward Chancellorsville. He wrote that on May 4, the day broke with a terrible thundering of artillery. At 8 a.m. the Eighty-Sixth New York went into battle, and he was wounded slightly in the shoulder and left the field. He thought his brother Cortland had been killed or taken prisoner. William was treated and released after three days and returned to camp. On May 21, he heard from Cortland, that he’d been captured and paroled. Owen and the Eighty-Sixth spent their time in camp, serving on picket duty and standing inspections until June 16, when the troops began the march north. Owen wrote he covered 16 miles that day and 17 on June 17. By June 30, the unit was camped at Emmitsburg, Maryland. The next day, the troops marched toward Gettysburg. Owen said he was sick and “rode in the ambulance for the first time.” On July 2, the Eighty-Sixth, along with the rest of Ward’s Third Brigade, III Corps, fell in line soon after daylight and went into battle at 3 p.m. Owen wrote that he fired five rounds before he was wounded in the side. “The same ball wounded my comrade,” Owen wrote. The action took place at Devil’s Den and the slope of Little Round Top. The EightySixth was flanked and pushed back by Texas and Alabama units, but the Union forces were able to blunt the advance. Owen was taken to the division hospital and remained there until July 7 when he was transferred to “our hospital up on a hill. Was able to go into Gettysburg to pray in a church on July 14.” On July 15, Owen took the train to Baltimore and arrived at McKim’s Mansion hospital on South Charles Street. He would remain there until September 30. On July 21, Owen wrote he “obtained a pass & went to town. Got a good dinner of ham & eggs.” He also went into town on several other occasions. On August 10, Owen wrote that he had “done nothing but read. Report that Gen Grant is to take command of the Army of the Potomac.” On September 30, he was transferred to Patterson Park Hospital and stayed there until October 3. The next day, he took the train to Alexandria. On October 9, he went by train to Culpeper and two days later was on picket duty along the Rappahannock River. On December 23, Owen put his name on the list for reenlistment and was mustered into service for three more years on December 31. “Duty calls & duty speaks louder tones than pleasure,” Owen wrote. On January 7, 1864, Owen wrote: “Relieved picket ten AM to go to camp to get pay and prepare for home. Marched to Brandy Station, took cars 8 PM, road [sic] all night. Arrived in Washington at daylight in the morning.” The next day, he rode to Baltimore, stayed the night and then took the train to Elmira. He then took the cars to Cameron and walked home to a “hearty welcome” at 3 p.m. He stayed in the area until Feb 26, visited relatives, friends, and his old school, went to church. Owen left Elmira for Baltimore, arrived the next morning. He continued on to Washington on the 27th, spent the night and left for Brandy Station at 3 p.m. on February 28. After Owen rejoined it, the Eighty-Sixth remained encamped, serving on picket duty, playing ball, chopping wood, attending church services, writing letters, standing for inspection, etc. “Nothing or exciting or entertaining,” Owen wrote. On April 22, he saw General Grant for the first time at a grand review. When the Overland Campaign began at the Wilderness on May 5, the Eighty-Sixth went into battle at 3 p.m. “Fought all the PM, drove the enemy some distance through the woods. Lost very few of our men. Stayed in battle all night.” He continued, “Charged them through the woods, drove them all the AM.” That afternoon a Union corps on the Eighty Sixth’s left “broke and the Rebels surrounded us. Marched out by the right flank through a perfect hail of bullets. PM engaged again, the most terrible musketry I ever heard. Rebs charged out breastworks & were repulsed with terrible slaughter.” The two armies marched, fought, and marched some more until the Confederates beat the Federals to Spotsylvania Courthouse. The Eighty-Sixth crossed the Pamunkey River on May 9 and fighting became heavy the next morning lasting until dark. During this time, the Confederates charged the enemy breastworks. The loss was heavy, and Owen was captured. He was held temporarily near

CivilWarNews.com General Lee’s headquarters, then marched for two days before reaching Gordonsville, where the prisoners took a train to Lynchburg. He reported they arrived in Danville on the morning of May 21 and were sent to a prison. The next day, they were back on the trains again and rode all night to Charlotte, N.C., where they changed trains for Chester, S.C. The prisoners changed cars again in Augusta, Georgia, before arriving at Andersonville prison on May 25. He remained there until September 13. Owen read in a Macon paper that an agreement for a prisoner exchange had been made. On September 7, three detachments of prisoners were sent on their way to be exchanged. Owen left later, going with a group on September 13, destination unknown. Two days later, he was in a prison camp in Florence, S.C. The next day, Owen and some comrades slipped past the guards and began a march toward Union lines. They marched at night and hid during daylight until October 8, when they were recaptured, taken to jail, and then put in Salisbury Prison the next day. Along the march, Owen reported the men were treated kindly by people along the way and that he hid in a haystack one evening. On November 25, 1864, Owen participated in an ill-fated prison break and suffered a slight wound to his arm. He was finally released from Salisbury on February 27, 1865, reached Union lines on February 4, and was exchanged. On March 4 he boarded a steamer at Wilmington, N.C., and arrived at Annapolis, Md., on March 10. The war ended less than a month later. Owen mustered out on May 30, 1865, at Elmira. He went back to farming and a little over two years later received a letter from Douglass saying he had the diary and wondered if the writer was still alive. It arrived at a fortunate time because William was getting ready to move west. Owen answered and Douglass sent him the diary in August. On April 12, 1868, Owen married Nancy Calkins in Hancock, Ill. The couple moved to a farm in Lincoln, Clarke County, Mo. They raised three boys, Francis, Henry, and William, and a girl, Minnie. They moved back to Illinois where Nancy died on April 22, 1920, and William on May 20, 1924. Both are buried in Kahoka County Cemetery. Robert Douglass went back to Lancaster County, Va., after the war and lived there the rest of his life. He worked as a Deputy Treasurer and Commissioner of

Revenue for Lancaster County. He married Virginia A. McNeale in 1868 and they had six children. He later married Eunice Blanche Roane in 1891. Robert died on November 24, 1913, and is buried at the White Marsh Methodist Church Cemetery in Lancaster County. The diary found by Douglass, plus his additions, was provided by Robert Weaver of Hanover, Penn., and Daniel Oullette of Detroit, Mich. They are the great-grandchildren of Timothy Edwards (Fortieth Virginia Infantry) and his wife, Virginia Ann, who was Robert Douglass’ sister. Sometimes, stories travel a strange route to the Civil War News. The Owen diary after Chancellorsville came from the history of the Eighty-Sixth Regiment. Authentications came from military records and the efforts of genealogist Karen Connair. It was especially interesting to the author, a baseball fan, that both Douglass and Owen said they played ball in camp in 1863. Carl Sell is a frequent contributor to Civil War News, concentrating on the soldiers and families of those who fought the war. Ideas are welcome. Sell can be reached at [email protected] or 703-971-4716.