Benjamin F. Nourse Diaries
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Scope and Contents
The collection consists of three wartime diaries kept by Private Benjamin F. Nourse during his service with the Chicago Board of Trade Independent Light Artillery Battery from 1863 to 1865. These diaries provide a firsthand account of daily life as a Union soldier, chronicling military engagements, camp life, personal reflections, and logistical details such as supplies and movements.
1863 Diary (363 pp.): Nourse details military operations, personal experiences, and daily occurrences.
1864 Diary (366 pp.): This diary continues Nourse’s documentation of his service, including significant battles and movements of his unit.
1865 Diary (171 pp.): Entries stop on July 10, 1865, shortly after Nourse’s discharge from military service on July 3, 1865. The diary captures the conclusion of the war and his transition out of military life.
Additionally, the collection includes Nourse’s official discharge paper, dated June 30, 1865, with the original envelope. This document marks the formal end of his military service.
Dates
- Creation: 1863 - 1865
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections.
For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which the University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.
Biographical / Historical
Benjamin F. Nourse was born on February 25, 1843, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Francis Nourse (1818–1898) and Sarah Nourse. By 1850, the family had moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where Francis worked as a carpenter. Sometime between 1851 and 1857, the Nourse family relocated to Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois. By 1860, they were residing in a hotel, with Francis listed as an agent and Benjamin working as a clerk at the age of 17.
In August 1862, during the American Civil War, Nourse enlisted as a private in the Chicago Board of Trade Independent Light Artillery Battery, also known as Stokes’ Independent Battery. Initially assigned to the Army of the Ohio, the battery later served with the Army of the Cumberland from November 1862 to October 1864. In March 1863, it transitioned from mounted field artillery to flying horse artillery, becoming the only such unit in the Union’s Western armies. Nourse participated in major campaigns, including the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), the Tullahoma Campaign, Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign (Resaca), and the Battle of Nashville. The battery suffered nineteen fatalities, with ten men killed in action or dying from wounds and nine succumbing to disease.
Following the war, Nourse returned to civilian life in Chicago, where he worked as a clerk for a wholesale grocer. On October 24, 1872, he married Martha A. Merriman, a Vermont native. The couple had at least five children: Daniel (1874), John (1876), Guy (1878), William (1881), and Helen (1886). By 1880, Nourse had transitioned to the management of a baking powder company, likely in connection with his father and brother Frank, who were also involved in the baking powder industry.
By 1900, Nourse was still residing in Chicago, where he worked as a general agent for a baking powder company. Most of his children were still living at home.
Benjamin F. Nourse passed away on June 18, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois, and was buried two days later in Rosehill Cemetery. At the time of his death, he was listed as a merchant, and his wife survived him.
Extent
.85 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The University of Alabama Libraries acquired the Benjamin F. Nourse Diaries from Michael Brown Rare Books in 2019.
Physical Description
1863- 363 pp., with 18 pp. of memoranda, notes and accounts in rear, bound in black limp leather, 6cmx10cm, pocket diary, 1 day's entry per page format, entries written in pencil and ink, in a legible hand, to binding worn, rubbed, and scuffed, some entries written over the course of two pages.
1864-366 pp., with 12 pp. of memoranda, notes and accounts, bound in black limp leather, 8cm x15cm, pocket diary with flap, day's 1 entry per page format, entries written in ink, in a legible hand, several pages faded, but readable, binding worn at edge.
1865-171 pp., with 21 pp. of memoranda notes and accounts, bound in red limp leather, 8cmx12 cm, pocket diary with flap, 1 day's entry per page format, entries written in pencil and ink, in a legible hand, binding worn at edges. Diary stops on July 10th 1865, Nourse was released from military service on July 3, 1865.
Pvt. Benjamin F. Nourse's discharge paper, with envelope, dated June 30, 1865, also enclosed.
Processing Information
Processed by Courtney Tutt, March 2025.
- Title
- Guide to the Benjamin F. Nourse Diaries
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid created by Courtney Tutt, March 2025.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository