Crandall, Richard Bailey, 1837-1864

Journal (Typescript), 1864 January 1-June 17
18 pp.

Crandall, Richard Bailey, 1837-1864
Rank:	Maj.
Regiment:	6th Vermont Infantry Regiment. Co. K (1861-1865)
Service:	1861 October 15-1864 June 7

Biographical information:

Richard Bailey Crandall left his senior year at Dartmouth College to enlist as an Adjutant in the 6th Vermont Infantry. He was later promoted to Captain of Company K, and finally Major and acting commandant of the Regiment. After a lengthy leave of absence in early 1864, during which he visited relatives in Vermont, and spent time in New York City and Washington, D.C., observing congress, Crandall rejoined the 6th Vermont Infantry for the Spring campaigns of the Army of the Potomac in May and June, 1864.

The regiment was decimated during the course of fighting in the Wilderness, the Spotsylvania campaign, and at Cold Harbor, where Crandall himself was killed on June 7th, 1864. Crandall was, above all, a sensitive, intellectual man who cared deeply for his law studies and for the woman whom he loved back home.

Scope and Contents:

The 18 page typescript contains daily entries from January 1st, 1864, until Crandall's death on June 7th. Entries are very brief, but have an interesting flourish to them and contain occasional romantic expostulations up until the time of the Spring campaigns. Thereafter, the diary reflects the fatigue and losses suffered by the soldiers of the 6th Vermont. Crandall is very terse when refering to the engagements themselves.

Provenance:

The typescript was donated to the Clements in 1991 by Robert F. Hoffman of Ann Arbor, whose wife, Frances Crandall Hoffman, is a great grand-niece of Crandall's. The original is in the possession of the Vermont Historical Society in Montpelier, Vt.

M-2663
Cat. 6/92 rsc

Link to subject index to the Richard Bailey Crandall Journal (Typescript)

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