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Civil War diaries authored by First Lieutenant (later Major) Fabricius A. Cather from Flemington, Taylor County, West Virginia, records his experiences in the military and political conflicts of the Civil War. The six diaries, and a transcribed copy of the original 1864 and 1865 diaries, contain entries for the years 1860 to 1865 regarding western Virginia's grassroots efforts to secede from the Confederacy and establish a new state, and of the first battles and skirmishes such as Rich Mountain and Corricks Ford. He describes campaigns involving his regiment, the First West Virginia Cavalry, including the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign under Sigel, Hunter, Sheridan, and Custer against Breckenridge, Early, and Mosby's Rangers; the last battles of Petersburg as Grant broke the Rebel lines; and the continuous fighting during Lee's retreat. Although most diary entries are one or two sentences in length, some entries in 1864 and 1865 are longer, perhaps due to his full involvement in combat. The collection also contains 18 items stored in pockets inside the covers of the diaries, including headquarters passes, business cards, and a complimentary pass for Lt. Cather to attend the June, 1861 "NorthWestern Virginia Convention" in Wheeling. An Addendum includes two scans of photos of Cather, two scans of Civil War military service papers, photocopies of an 1873 Kansas Land Grant, and genealogy material documenting the Cather family.

A transcription of a diary of a Civil War soldier from West Virginia who was the third man from the state to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. There are extensive notes, including maps, and commentary by the transcriber that provide a background interpretation to the stark factual entries of the diary. Entries in the diary refer to camp life, Civil War battles, mustering out and Washington, DC at the end of the war. There are entries for the remainder of the year which indicate post-war adjustments and economic conditions of the author. McWhorter, though a man of few words, does provide many statistical details as to prices paid, rations received and wages earned. A member throughout the entire war of the West Virginia Third Cavalry Regiment, McWhorter was in Gen. George Custer's illustrious Third Cavalry Division which in 1865 was stationed in the Shenandoah Valley and along the line at the siege of Petersburg. Custer's forces pursued, harassed and effectively stymied the movement of Lee's forces from Petersburg to Lynchburg. The Battle of Sailors Creek, a part of the successful Union campaign that stopped Lee at Appomattox, was where this Lewis County native distinguished himself for the Medal of Honor by capturing the battle flag of the Tennessee Sixth Infantry Regiment.