Content:
Two small scraps pasted together. On one side is a sentence describing
Whitman's visits in Civil War hospitals, probably drafted for
Memoranda During the War
(1875–76). On the reverse are three words/fragments of words, which
bear an uncertain relationship to Whitman's published writing.
Whitman Archive Title: [Most all of the wounds very bad]
Content:
A manuscript describing Whitman's time spent in the army camps and hospitals near Fredericksburg in late December, 1862. The manuscripts are fairly neat and on the verso on the fourth leaf Whitman has written "Proofs," indicating that these were likely handwritten proofs for one of the several newspaper articles that Whitman published about these experiences, articles that would later be incorporated into
Memoranda During the War
. Some of the lines here first appeared in "Our Wounded and Sick Soldiers," published in the
New York Times
on 11 December 1864, and were later reprinted in a series of articles written for the
New York Weekly Graphic
in 1874.
Whitman Archive Title: A Night Battle in the late War
Content:
This is a brief note, dated May 2, 1863 and titled "A Night Battle in the late War." The night battle to which this note refers is probably the battle of Chancellorsville. Similar phraseology appeared in
Memoranda During the War
(1875–76), in the section headed "May 12—A Night Battle, Over a Week Since."
Content:
Notes made about a visit to Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C. in 1863. Revised versions of these lines were published in "'Tis But Ten Years Since (Fourth Paper)", the fourth of six articles about the Civil War that Whitman published in the New York
Weekly Graphic
in January and February, 1874. The fourth number appeared on 21 February 1874. The articles were later gathered and republished as
Memoranda During the War
in 1875.
Content:
In this manuscript, entitled "For Note," Whitman seems to be drafting an
introductory note for
Memoranda During the
War
, published in 1875-1876.
Although the note does not appear verbatim in
Memoranda
, some passages of this manuscript bear
resemblance to the introductory paragraphs in which Whitman reflects on
the impossibility of writing a complete and accurate history of the war and offers the rationale for
his decision to record a "few glimpses" of "the Hospital part of the drama from
'61 to '65."
Content:
This manuscript contains preparatory material for
Memoranda During the War
, published in 1875-1876. (Although the note does not appear verbatim in
Memoranda
, the fact that Whitman
titles the manuscript "for war memoranda note," using a different pen,
clearly indicates that he thought of using the note for the
book.) On the verso is a draft of the section titled "An Afternoon Scene" published in
Specimen Days & Collect
, see the entry for loc.06100.
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.
Whitman Archive Title: Brooklyn, Jan 19 & 20, 1865
Content:
Whitman's response to learning of George Whitman's imprisonment at Danville during the Civil War. This manuscript contains much of the same information about George and his status as a prisoner of war that Whitman published in "A Brooklyn Soldier, and A Noble One," which appeared in the 19 January 1865 issue of the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
. Material in this manuscript also contributed to "The Fifty-first New-York Volunteers," published in the
New-York Times
, 24 January 1865 as well as portions of
Memoranda During the War
(1875–76).
Whitman Archive Title: [(Major) Col. Clifton K. Prentiss]
Content:
Notes on the Death of Clifton K. Prentiss, which were revised and
appeared in
Memoranda During the War
(1875–1876) before being collected
in
Complete Prose Works
(1892).
Content:
Fragmentary draft of an introductory essay that was apparently never
published. The note at the top suggests that it was intended for some
version of
Democratic Vistas,
which was first published
in 1871, or of
Memoranda during the War,
which was first published in 1875–76. The idea
expressed in this manuscript occurs frequently in Whitman's published
writings, though never in these particular phrases.
Content:
A manuscript fragment that, on the recto, contains lines similar to those found in the opening paragraph of
Memoranda During the War
(1875), and may have been an alternate or earlier version of that introduction. The paragraph first appeared in a slightly different form in the New York
Weekly Graphic
on 24 January 1874, part of a five-part series about the war that Whitman published in that paper. The verso contains lines which appear in the final paragraph of Whitman's introduction to
Memoranda
, and were likely written later than the lines on the recto.
