Series 6. Telegrams

Containers:

Box 9

Scope and content:

This series includes over 850 original and facsimile telegrams, most of which are addressed to Pierpont. He was elected governor of the "Loyal" or "Restored" Government of Virginia, which was formed in Wheeling shortly after the state's Richmond government left the Union to join the Confederacy in May 1861. The bulk of the telegrams span 1861-1863, documenting Pierpont's efforts to maintain Union rule in western Virginia during the first two years of the Civil War. Concerning matters such as military personnel and recruitment, troop movements and engagements, orders, and provisions, the telegrams provide nearly a daily record of military developments in western Virginia during this period. Spellings and punctuation in the transcriptions provided in the Contents List are maintained from the original documents. Notable correspondents include Arthur I. Boreman, John S. Carlile, Thomas M. Harris, Abraham Lincoln (facsimiles), J.A.J. Lightburn, George B. McClellan, J.C. Paxton, J.C. Rathbone, W.S. Rosecrans, William H. Seward, Edwin M. Stanton, Benjamin F. Wade, and others.

Digitized copies and transcriptions of the majority of this series can be found online at the Francis H. Pierpont Civil War Telegram Series 1861-1865 website (https://civilwarwv.lib.wvu.edu/).

Access and use

Contents