Bibliography on Available Materials Pertaining to the 100th Pennsylvania Volunteers, "The Roundheads"

 Primary Reference Material- Campaigning with the Roundheads, The History of the Hundredth Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Regiment in the American Civil War 1861-1865, The Roundhead Regiment, By: William G. Gavin, 1989, Morningside Publishers, 773 pp.

Portions of Bibliography, Infantryman Pettit-The Civil War Letters of Corporal Frederick Pettit, Edited By: William G. Gavin, 1990, White Mane Publishing Company, Inc.

Other contributions as noted on specific webpages of the 100th Pennsylvania Website, Property of David L. Welch, All Rights Reserved

WILLIAM G. GAVIN HISTORY OF THE ROUNDHEAD REGIMENT

A large portion of the content of this website draws on William G. Gavin's history of the regiment.  This book is out-of-print, and when found on the aftermarket (eBay, antique booksellers, etc.) it fetches at least double the original retail value of $50.00. The history is extensive (773 pages) and has many wonderful images of soldiers from the regiment as well as a complete roster and history as recorded by Samuel Bates.  The history draws heavily on first hand accounts of the soldiers, including letters and diaries.

INFANTRY PETTIT-THE CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF CORPORAL FREDERICK PETTIT BIBLIOGRAPHY

MANUSCRIPTS

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNA.

Historical Collections and Labor Archives, Patee Library.

Doctor M. Gyla McDowell Collection. Referred to as McDowell, HCLA.

1. The McDowell Collection has been the primary manuscript source for this work. Dr. McDowell was designated the regimental historian in the veterans' organization of the "Society of the Roundheads" and in this position was able to collect a large quantity of manuscript material over a period of many years. The collection is an extensive one necessitating six archival file boxes to house it. Both Dr. McDowell, and Dr. Silas Stevenson, a veteran of Company K, were untiring in their efforts to collect any and all material pertaining to the regiment from regimental survivors. They were eminently successful in their effort as judged by the quantity and quality of the material comprising the McDowell Collection.

2. The collection has been inventoried and files have been created which facilitate access to the material. The following annotated list includes the important files within the McDowell Collection which have been untilized in the writing of this book.

3. Doctor M. McDowell, "Stories of the Roundheads." This is the manuscript history of the 100thPennsylvania Regiment which was written over a period of several years by Dr. McDowell. It contains a total of nineteen chapters covering the activities of the Roundheads in their 47 months of service from 1861 to 1865. This history was never published. It does contain a vast amount of eyewitness accounts by members of the regiment which is not to be found elsewhere. This history has been of great value in the preparation of "Campaigning with the Roundheads." Dr. McDowell's objecive was to let the "boys tell their story in their own words." It was to be a "reflection of the life of the boys of ‘61 in camp, at the front, in battle, prison, at home on furlough." Unfortunately, Dr. McDowell's history is somewhat disconnected and does not give the reader an understanding of the tactics and strategy of the various campaigns in which the regiment was involved. There were no maps included, but there are photographs and illustrations, some of the latter being original sketches of wartime scenes by a member of the regiment. Despite the shortcomings of "Stories of the Roundheads", this work has an invaluable source of information and guidance in preparing "Campaigning with the Roundheads".

4. Reverend Robert Audley Browne, "letters" written 1861-1863. This collection of Dr. Browne's wartime letters written when he was the regimental chaplain have been transcribed. Dr. Browne wrote his wife on an almost daily basis during his tour of duty with the regiment from September of 1861 until his resignation in December of 1863. Browne wrote well and his description of the environment, the personalities of men in the regiment, and the everyday life and activities of the Roundheads is superb. There are several hundred letters in the collection and some thought should be given to given to publishing them as a separate entity. Reverend Browne submitted news stories from the field to New York newspapers as a sort of unofficial war correspondent. There are some unexplained gaps in the period in which the letters cover, but these are of limited consequence. The U.S. Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, has a great number of the originalss of the Browne letters.

5. James C. Stevenson, "The Roundheads, A Condensed history of the Noted Regiment, etc." James Stevenson served in the regiment for four years in Company E. After the war he became the very active secretary of the "Society of the Roundheads." His history was published in New Castle in Stevenson's publication entitled the "Volunteer". A copy of this brief, but concise history of 18 pages is in the McDowell Collection. It was never published for general distribution elsewhere. An 1861 diary kept by Stevenson is in the McDowell Collection and has fine details on the early experiences of the Roundheads. In the McDowell Collection is a bound scrap book of 140 pages which Stevenson compiled. In it are extracts from New Castle newspaper articles on the regiment including Captain Joseph T. Carter's account of the 1864-1865 campaigns, articles on prisoners of war, and Stevenson's own "Condensed History" quoted above. There are 140 pages of excellent information in this scrap book.

6. Doctor Silas Stevenson, History of the Roundheads. Dr. Stevenson compiled a history of the regiment which was used extensively in Dr. McDowell's "Stories of the Roundheads". Unfortunately, a complete copy of Stevenson's work is not in existence and exists in the McDowell Collection in "bits and pieces". It appears that Stevenson's work was mostly in diary format. Apparently it was never published. The portions of Stevenson's history that have been studied give much important and useful information of the activities of the Roundheads. Dr. Silas Stevenson served in the regiment during the last years of the war and later lived in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, where he remained active in veteran affairs of the regiment. A fifteen page pamphlet which Stevenson wrote is entitled "The Epitomized History of the Roundheads." A large number of manuscript pages of Stevenson's history can be found in File Box Number Four in the McDowell Collection.

7. Lieutenant William Taylor, Company G. Taylor kept a journal and was an excellent writer. Portions of his writings appear in Dr. McDowell's "Stories of the Roundheads". His account of the Vicksburg Campaign is excellent and has been incorporated into the text of "Campaigning with the Roundheads"

8. Sergeant G.L. Preston, Company B. Transcribed diaries for January to December of 1864.

9. Private Hamilton R. Dunlap, Company K, Letters and diaries 1861-1865. Hamilton's letters are filled with humor and are a delight to read. There is a vast amount of detailed information on the Roundheads in the Dunlap collection.

10. Colonel Daniel Leasure. Leasure was regimental commander. There are transcribed copies of many of his letters to his family for the period 1861-1865. There is also an extensive number of handwritten letters by Leasure for the same period. Leasure wrote portions of the history of the regiment, but there was never a complete history done by him. His account of Pope's Campaign in Virginia in 1862 is well written and was published by the Minnesota Commandery of the Miltary Order of the Loyal Legion.

11. Adjutant (Lieutenant S. George Leasure). A series of transcribed letters by Adjutant Leasure to his family give excellent details of the campaigning during the period May to July 1864. Adjutant Leasure was killed in action July 30, 1864.

12. Private Marius K. McDowell, "A Private's Story." McDowell served in Company F of the Roundheads until wounded in September 1862 at Antietam. His story, written fifty years after, exists in handwritten manuscript form in the McDowell collection. It contains excellent information on South Mountain and Antietam as well as a detailed account of the miseries of a wounded Civil War soldier. Marius McDowell was the father of Dr. M. Gyla McDowell.

13. Major Thomas Jefferson Hamilton. Hamilton was serving as regimental commander at the time of his death in 1864. There is a collection of transcribed letters written by and also some about him for the period 1861-1865. Some of the latter give details of his death and burial in Petersburg after the Battle of the Crater.

14. Lieutenant John W. Morrison, Company E. Morrison wrote several articles after the close of the war. One of these, "The Mine Explosion," was used by Dr. McDowell on the Battle of the Crater. It was Morrison's intention to write a history of the regiment, but he deferred in doing this after learning that others were preparing such a work. There are other writing and reminiscences by Morrison in the files of the McDowell Collection.

15. Captain Joseph T. Carter, 3rd Maryland Infantry Regiment. This regiment served with the 100thPennsylvania during the Virginia Campaign of 1964 and 1865. Carter wrote an excellent account of the history of the 3rd Brigade, of which the Roundheads and 3rd Maryland were a part. His history was published by the New Castle "Courant" newspaper but, apparently, no place else. A copy of this brief history is in the McDowell Collection and contains excellent and detailed original information on the Battles of the Wilderness and Fort Stedman.

16. Lieutenant John H. Stevenson, Company K, pamphlet, "Company K, Leasure Guards." Stevenson is another member of the Roundheads who intended to write a history of the regiment. An 1884 advertisement for this "forthcoming book" mentions that it will be "a large illustrated history." Unfortuneately, this was the last heard of it. Stevenson died in 1904.

The McDowell Collection is a vast one. The sources above comprise some of the more significant files in the Collection.

U.S. ARMY MILITARY HISTORY INSTITUTE, CARLISLE BARRACKS, PENNSYLVANIA.

Archives

1. Corporal Frederick Pettit, Company C. Pettit served with the Roundheads from 1862 until his death at Petersburg on July 9, 1864. Young Pettit was a prolific writer and left behind a large collection of letters giving details of the movements of the regiment during the period. The letters are well written and quite accurate in their description of the terrain and the battles in which the Roundheads participated. There are details in them which are not available elsewhere. In some of the letters, he relates minutia of soldier life with comments on the food, uniforms, and camp life. The Pettit letters comprise one of the important sources on the Roundheads. Pettit's letters are in the Civil War Times Illustrated collection at the archives in Carlisle. A complete copy was kindly furnished the writer (William G. Gavin) by Mr. T. C. Williams of New Castle, Pennsylvania.

2. Lieutenant Henry Applegate, Company H. Letter pertaining to the "mutiny" in the regiment. Beaufort South Carolina, March 7, 1862.

3. Private Robert W. Rodgers, Company E, Diary. January to 31 December, 1863.

4. Sergeant Elisha Bracken, Company C, letter, July 1862 to January 1863.. .

5. The "Camp Kettle." Eleven issues of the regimental newspaper.

6. Reverend Audley Browne, a collection of original Civil War letters written by the regimental chaplain. Another collection of Browne's original letters is in private hands. These letters cover the period May 23 to November 11, 1863.

7. Photographs. The Photographic Branch of the Archives of the Army Military History Institute had an excellent collection of photographs of members of the 100th Pennsylvania regiment, many of which have been utilized in "Campaigning with the Roundheads".

LAWRENCE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, NEW CASTLE, PENNYSYLVANIA

1. Captain Robert F. Moffat, Company F. Moffat served throughout the War with the Roundheads. His original diary is in the Lawrence County Collection. It covers the period August 28, 1861, the day his service began, until November 25, 1863. The diary was transcribed by Mr. T.C. Williams, New Castle, Pennsylvania, who graciously provided the author with a copy.

2. Photographs. There is an extensive collection of photographs of soldiers of the Roundhead regiment in printing block form in the collection of the Historical Society.

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

1) Corporal Alexander Adams, Company A, letters, "Civil War Letters of Alexander Adams" compiled by John A. Adams, grandson. These letters cover the period January 30th, 1862 until June 10, 1865. They were written by an enlisted men and contain many valuable comments on life in the Roundhead Regiment for over three and one half years.

100th PVI HISTORIAN WILLIAM G. GAVIN'S COLLECTION

1. Lieutenant David I. Gilfillan, Company F, letters written in 1863.

NEWSPAPERS

Harper's Weekly

Camp Kettle, Regimental Newspaper, 100th Pennsylvania Vols.

Courant, New Castle, Pennsylvania

New York Herald

New York Times

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

1. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.

2. Atlas to accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1891-1896.

3. Cold Harbor, A Study of the Operations of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac from May 26 to June 13, 1864. Major Charles J. Calrow, Manuscript form. U.S. Dept. Of the Interior, National Park Service. Written in 1933, Norfolk, Virginia.

4. Civil War Atlas to accompany Steele's American Campaigns, U.S.M.A, West Point, New York. Colonel T.D. Stamps, Department of Military History and Engineering, 1941.

5. Historical Report on the Troop Movements for the Second Battle of Manassas, August 28 through August 30, 1862. John Hennessy. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1985.

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES, BIOGRAPHIES, DIARIES, LETTERS, MEMOIRS, AND PERSONAL NARRATIVES

Bates, Samuel P., Martial Deeds of Pennsylvania. Phila., 1876.

Fox, William F., Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865

Jones, Vigil Carrington, The Civil War at Sea. New York, N.Y., 1960-62.

Longstreet, James, From Manassas to Appomattox. Phila., 1896.

Merrill, James M., Dupont, The Making of An Admiral. New York, 1986

Stevens, Hazard, The Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens. Boston and New York, 1900.

Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue. Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1964.

Weld, Minot, War Diary and Letters of Stephen Minot Weld, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1912.

Young, Victor, The Major. (Major James Harvey Cline) Privately Printed, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, No date.

OTHER WEBSITE CONTENT CONTRIBUTIONS

Other contributions of content are voluntary by friends and descendants of the Roundhead Regiment and are referenced on the specific pages where published to the 100th Pennsylvania website by Websmith David L. Welch.  The 100th Pennsylvania website is non-profit and is a sole project, owned, operated and maintained by the websmith.