Civil War Diary of P. L. Loufman

Philip's grave with a beautiful view of Pittsburgh in the background. Philip Leon Loufman is my great-great grandfather on my mother’s side of the family along the Zeber line. I have very few, vague memories of meeting some Zebers when I was very young and have lost contact with that branch of the family. I have had a difficult time finding specific information relating to Philip. However, by searching on Ancestry and Google, I have been able to piece together some information on his life before and after the Civil War. His last name is also spelled “Laufman” in different sources which makes the searches more difficult. Philip Leon Loufman was born in 1842 in the United States to Leon Loufman and Margaret Weaver. Philip had a younger brother, James, and a younger sister, Katherine. James’ birth certificate gives his place of birth as Mobile, Alabama. I also found documents indicating that the Loufmans spent time in Ravenswood, West Virginia. I believe the family was living in Washi...

In today’s post I’ll simply let Philip describe his journey home. While transcribing this last part of the diary, I was surprised how excited I felt when he finally received his orders to go home. I’ll apologize in advance for the blanks in the text. There were many words throughout this last part that I simply could not make out. The last 2 pages of Philip's Civil War diary. _______ MAY 23 RD The Army of Georgia was reviewed this day at 9 o’clock AM. General Sherman rode by the stand. He was greeted by tremendous cheering which he gracefully returned with a nod of his head to either side. Next came the army. The troops were about the same in appearance as the Army of the Potomac. I saw on the stand President Johnson, his Cabinet officers, Stanton the Secretary of War, and all the foreign ministers and very many distinguished persons. In civilian life, the following military men that I knew, Generals Grant, Sherman, Mead ( General George Meade ), Hancock ( General Winfield Scott Ha...

At the end of April 1865 and into May, Philip is relieved at the capture and death of John Wilkes Booth and he is looking forward to the day he can go home as the armies gather and prepare for the Grand Review. Philip is obviously still greatly affected by the loss of Abraham Lincoln as he describes the first day of the Grand Review on May 22 nd . On Wednesday, April 26 th , detectives and Union soldiers of the 16th New York Cavalry arrived at the Richard Garrett farm located near Port Royal Virginia after receiving a tip that John Wilkes Booth was sheltering there. As the soldiers were roughing up Richard, his son ran over and told the soldiers that Booth and co-conspirator David Herold were in the tobacco barn. When the fugitives refused to come out, the soldiers set fire to the barn. Herold surrendered and Booth was shot in the neck while attempting to put out the flames. He was pulled to the farmhouse where he later died. Philip reports that the disposition of Booth’s body is unkno...

In today’s blog, I’m including a longer than usual excerpt from Philip’s diary. I decided to let Philip describe the events of April 1865 without additional exposition from his great-great granddaughter.  April 1865 starts out hopeful with Philip looking forward to peace and mentioning some of the celebrations taking place after Lee surrenders his army to Grant.  In the midst of the celebrations, Philip describes the horror and heartbreak of Lincoln’s assassination. __________ APRIL 7 TH Was on pickett. Rained very near all day. Suffered with cold a little during the night. Good news from the front. Grant is confident of Lee’s capture. APRIL 8 TH Grant and Lee have been corresponding on the subject of surrender. Lee wants peace and Grant wants him to surrender his forces to the Army of the United States. We are looking for to get the whole rebel army. APRIL 9 TH This morning, the Reb General Lee surrendered his army to Grant together…on the condition of paroling the Rebel offi...

With the exception of a bad storm on March 22 in which “a number of lives were lost,” Philip’s entries from March 19 through April 5, 1865 report continued good news for the Union efforts. On April 5, Philip takes some time to tour the USS Monadnock. The Monadnock was launched in March 1863 and commissioned in October 1864 and was the first ironclad built in the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The Monadnock was one of four Miantonomoh-class monitors commissioned by the US Navy during the Civil War. The Monadnock was constructed with wooden framing and hull, sheathed with 12- to 14-inch thick wooden planks, and armored with multiple layers of one-inch thick wrought-iron plates. The ship had two turrets, each housing two 15-inch caliber Dalgren cannon. USS Monadnock Source: The Siege of Petersburg Online   After touring the Monadnock, Philip went to the circus. Isaac Van Amburgh started out as a cage cleaner with the Zoological Institute of New York, which was actua...