Collection is open for research.
Permission to publish material from the Henry L. Burnell Diary must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Henry L. Burnell Diary, Ms2013-036, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The collection was purchased by Special Collections in July 2013.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Henry L. Burnell Diary was completed in July 2013.
Henry L. Burnell, born June 2, 1841, was a resident of West Baldwin, Maine. There he was a member of the Temperance Society and participated in a local band as a percussionist. On August 8, 1861, Burnell enlisted in Captain McArthur's company for three years, but when the company took a leave of absence, Burnell enlisted in the state service for a term of three years. He began his service in coastal South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Transferred to Virginia in 1864, he participated in actions near Petersburg. Captured at Drewry's Bluff, Burnell landed in Andersonville via Libby Prison and Danville, Virginia. Following several prison transfers, Burnell eventually arrived home in May of 1865. Burnell would marry a Clara Bliss, of West Baldwin, Maine, by 1871 and he died on May 11, 1912.
The collection contains the diary of Private Henry L. Burnell, Co. "I," 8th Maine Volunteer Infantry, 1859 - 1865. Burnell served in the Union Army from September 7, 1861 until July 22, 1865. Burnell's journal is written in short, often one-line, entries. The war-date material is often entered without regard to chronology and documents movements rather than details.