The Ward M. Canaday Center

for Special Collections

The University of Toledo

Finding Aid

Cyrus Hussey Diaries, 1862-1864

MSS-017

Size: 4 items

Provenance: This volume was donated to The Ward M. Canaday of the University of Toledo Libraries in 1970 by Donald D. Duhaime.

Access: open

Collection Summary: Three diaries with daily entries document the period in which Hussey's regiment was stationed primarily in Tennessee, Mississippi, and at the siege of Vicksburg during the American Civil War. Typed transcription of the diaries is included with the collection.

Subjects:  War, Soldiers, and Veterans

Related Collections:Donald D. Duhaime 19th and 20th Century Photograph Collection, 1860s-1940s, Mss-152, Donald D. Duhaime Collection, Mss-077, Alice E. Huebner Collection, Mss-133, Weber Family Papers, Mss-126

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns. Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code. The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

Completed by:  Paul M. Gifford, April 1986; last updated: June 2014

 

Introduction

This collection consists of three diaries kept by an officer in the 48th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry between July 11, 1862, and December 3, 1864. There is a typed transcription of the diaries in addition to the original volumes.

Biographical Timeline

1838

Born Highland County, Ohio, son of Stephen and Katherine (Williams) Hussey

 

 

1859

Married Rebecca Hodson at Hillsboro, Highland County, Ohio

 

 

1861, Sept. 9

Enlisted at New Lexington, Highland County, Ohio; assigned to Company A, 48th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  Hussey was a schoolteacher at the time.

 

 

1861, Sept. 18

Promoted to 1st Sergeant

 

 

1862, Jan. 23

Promoted to 2nd Lieutenant

 

 

1862, Sept. 6

Promoted to 1st Lieutenant

 

 

1863, Feb. 14

Promoted to Captain

 

 

1865, Jan. 17

Mustered out at Columbus, Ohio

 

 

1865, Mar. 10

Joined 192nd Regiment, Field and Staff, with rank of Lieutenant Colonel

 

 

1865, Sept. 1

Mustered out at Winchester, Virginia

 

 

1865-1873

Attached to the Adjutant Generals office in Columbus; bookkeeper for Brooks and Hayden, wholesale grocers

 

 

1873

Moved to Toledo; bookkeeper for Osborn, Chase and Swayne

 

 

1976

Married Frances Whittlesey, by whom he had two sons, James and Arthur

 

 

1885

Secretary and Treasurer, Toledo Moulding Company

 

 

1900

Fire insurance agent, Whittlesey and Hussey

 

 

1926

Died, killed in automobile accident

 

Scope and Content Note

During the period covered by his diaries, Cyrus Hussey's regiment was stationed primarily in Tennessee and Mississippi.  It faced action in a number of skirmishes in Mississippi, but its most severe encounter with the enemy was at the siege of Vicksburg.  Hussey faithfully and with few exceptions made daily entries.  These record activities of his troops, with occasional mention of his personal activities.

Hussey's narrative style is concise and direct.  He concentrates on actions, rather than thoughts.  While he routinely comments on the state of his health, on the weather, and on his letter writing, the bulk of his writing concerns the actions of others.  Perhaps his most useful comments are those which provide his opinions of others.

His spelling is good and his handwriting legible.  In addition to the daily entries, each volume contains his daily financial accounts.  The physical condition of the volumes is good.

The user of the Hussey diaries would be well advised to consult the Canaday Center research file on Hussey, which contains further information regarding his military service and family.

 

Container List

Diaries
   July 11, 1862-June 1, 1863
   June 1, 1863-January 5, 1864
   January 1, 1864-December 3, 1864
Typescript version of diaries

  

Collection is located in R-4

 

Last Updated: 6/27/22