Content:
A Civil War diary in which Whitman recorded notes relating to his
experiences in Washington D.C. during 1863. Some of these notes were used in
"A Case from Second Bull Run," a
short piece about the death of John Mahay, first published in the 11 December 1864 issue of the
New-York Times
under the title "Our Wounded and Sick Soldiers. Visits Among Army Hospitals, At
Washington, on the Field, and here in New-York." Whitman
included this paragraph in
Memoranda During the
War
(1876) and
Specimen Days & Collect
(1882). Other
portions of this diary contributed directly to
Memoranda During the War
and others were first published in
"Letter from Washington,"
New-York Times,
4 October 1863.
