© The University of Tennessee Special Collections Library

Linear Feet: This collection consists of four items and occupies four folders of shelf space.

Abstract: The three journals of the Henry Pippitt collection describe life in Company G of the 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Among the topics discussed are camp conditions (including illnesses), troop movements, battle conditions, prisoners of war, and the Union Navy.

Administrative Information

Statement of Provenance: The Special Collections Library purchased this collection in February of 2005.

Copyright statement: Copyright © 2001. The University of Tennessee Libraries. All Rights Reserved. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute these materials for educational, research, and not-for-profit purposes, without fee and without a signed licensing agreement, is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph appear in all copies, modifications, and distributions. For commercial license to use contact, University of Tennessee Libraries, Office of the Dean, Permissions, 1015 Volunteer Boulevard, Knoxville, TN 37996-1000.

Biographical Note: Henry R. Pippitt was born to Susan R. and Joseph Pippitt on December 22, 1843 in Ohio. He had one brother, William, who was born in approximately 1841. At the time of the 1860 Census, the Pippitt family was living in Butler, Ohio, where Joseph and his two sons worked on the family farm.

Pippitt mustered into Company G of the 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment in August of 1862 as a private. The unit began its service with operations in Kentucky, where it remained until May of 1863. They were then moved to East Tennessee, where they participated in the East Tennessee Campaign (August 16 – October 17, 1863) and the Knoxville Campaign (November 4-December 23, 1863). They remained in East Tennessee until April of 1864, when they were assigned to the Atlanta (Georgia) Campaign (May 1 – September 8, 1864) and subsequent operations against General John Bell Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama (September 29-November 3, 1864). They then returned to Tennessee for the Nashville Campaign (November-December 1864). They saw their next major action in the Campaign of the Carolinas (March 1-April 26, 1865) and remained on duty in North Carolina until they mustered out on June 17, 1865.

After the war, Pippitt settled in Loudonville (Ashland County), Ohio. In approximately 1870, he married Elizabeth (her maiden name is unknown), and they had two children: Sarah Hoyland (born on July 20, 1877) and Harry Joseph (born in October of 1879). Harry Joseph relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in approximately 1900, where he worked as a watchmaker. No further information is available about him before his death in 1949 in Ashland, Ohio. Sarah apparently never left home, and was indeed still living in Loudonville at the time of her death on September 15, 1966. Elizabeth Pippitt died on April 02, 1917, and Henry followed on February 25, 1927.

Scope and Content: The Henry Pippitt collection is extremely unusual in that it covers a Civil War regiment’s entire term of service. Thus, it constitutes a history of the 104th Ohio as well as a glimpse into Henry Pippitt’s life as a soldier.

The first journal in this series covers September 18, 1862 to May 19, 1863, and speaks mostly of military matters. Pippitt talks extensively of camp life, including camp conditions, his personal jobs in camp, the general health of the troops (including his own sicknesses), and the weather. He also mentions his unit’s movements, including their reception in some of the towns that they pass. This journal is, however, unusual in that it provides detailed descriptions of military engagements, including troop movements, the battles themselves, and men wounded.

The second journal, originally bound using purple silk, covers May 13, 1864 to December 20, 1864. It is devoted primarily to descriptions of the battles that the 104th Ohio has participated in. It includes topics not covered in the previous journal, for example foraging and men taken prisoner.

The final journal, which is in nearly pristine condition, covers January 01, 1865 to June 29, 1865. Although it deals with many of the same topics covered in the previous two journals, it also introduces a new subject – travel over water. As such, it deals with conditions on Union ships, sea blockades, and blockade runners. It also deals with a one-day leave that Pippitt was granted in Washington, D.C. The journal ends with Pippitt’s release from the army and planned return to Ohio in June of 1865.

Keywords
104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Henry Pippitt
Civil War Diaries
Union Navy