Civil War Diary of P. L. Loufman

In today’s excerpt, Philip skips from October 1, 1864 to an undated entry later in the month, then to October 26 th . He then only made 3 entries for the month of November, briefly discussing the results of the presidential election on November 8 th . In all of the other entries, he talks about being sick with chills and fever and “ague”. “Ague” is an old term that refers to malaria. It is estimated that one quarter of all illness during the Civil War was malarial in nature. About 10,000 Union soldiers died of malaria during the Civil War and that more than 1 million Union soldiers contracted the disease. Confederate armies also suffered from malaria although the mortality appeared to be less among the Confederate soldiers. A Civil War Hospital Source: American Civil War Disease Facts   At the time of the Civil War, doctors did not yet understand that malaria was transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito. An article published in Scientific American in 1861 states that, “It m...

On September 28, 1864 Philip wrote in his diary “Glorius news from the front and every place else.” However, he doesn’t elaborate on the “glorius news.” In researching events in the days leading up to the 28 th , I found a site that summarizes daily events of the war. Some of the events for the dates September 19 th through the 28 th are as follows… September 19, 1864: Confederate agents captured and burned two steamers on Lake Erie. Confederate Captain Charles H. Cole’s goal was to capture the USS Michigan which was guarding Confederate prisoners near Sandusky, Ohio. Cole’s accomplices. Acting Master John Yates Beall and 19 co-conspirators boarded and captured the steamer Philo Parsons and subsequently captured and burned the steamer Island Queen . Beall put the passengers and cargo of the two steamers ashore and proceeded to the planned rendezvous with the Michigan in Sandusky Bay. Meanwhile the Union Commander of the Michigan discovered and arrested Cole. Beall realized the pla...

On September 1 ST , Philip states that “Mosby is lurking about our lines.” John Singleton Mosby was a First Lieutenant in the Confederate Army in command of the 43rd Virginia Cavalry. “Mosby’s Rangers” engaged in a campaign of raids on Union supply lines and harassment of couriers. Their ability to seemingly appear and disappear earned Mosby the nickname “The Gray Ghost.” M osby famously captured Brigadier General Edwin H. Stoughton in Fairfax, Virginia in 1863. When Mosby found Stoughton asleep in bed, he awakened the General with a slap to the rear, and asked "Do you know Mosby, General?" The General replied "Yes! Have you got the rascal?" "No," said Mosby. "He's got you!" Philip also discusses two executions in this week’s diary excerpt; the first was a bounty jumper, the second, a soldier who assaulted a young girl resulting in her death. During the Civil War, it was legal to pay a bounty to someone to enlist in your place. It was actuall...