Charles McElroy 1865 Civil War Diary

Introduction
Charles McElroy, my maternal grandmother's maternal grandfather, was born in Hamburg, Sussex County, New Jersey, on 9 April 1837 (1). He married Harriet Electa Wadsworth of Hopewell Center, Ontario County, New York, on 5 November 1862 (2).

Charles enlisted in the Civil War on 18 August 1862 in Dix, New York and was mustered in as a Private in Company B, Regiment 161, on 9 September of that year (3). They were stationed near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he was appointed Corporal on 28 March 1863 (4). Charles served a total of 38 months and was discharged at Fort Jefferson, Florida, on 20 September 1865 (4).

Click on a category to the right to read the diary pages for that month.

Notes
(1) "New York, Grand Army of the Republic Records, 1866-1931," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 May 2015), Post 253, no. 23, Chas. McElroy.

(2) Marriage certificate, Charles McElroy and H. E. Wadsworth, 5 Nov 1862, author's personal files.

(3) "New York, Grand Army of the Republic Records, 1866-1931," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 May 2015), Chas. McElroy.

(4) "New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 May 2015), Charles McElroy.

The 1865 Diary
Charles McElroy kept a daily diary of his life during the war for the the year 1865. This was passed down from my great-great-aunt Estelle McElroy (Charles' youngest daughter) to my mother to me. In following posts, my third cousin Sharon McElroy Weiss (descended from Charles' youngest son Harold) and I will be transcribing his writings so you can follow along.

To get us started, some photos and scans I took of the front of the diary are pictured below. Then you can read the diary, month by month, by using the Categories navigation in the upper right.

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