David McMurtrie Gregg papers, [ca. 1862]-1962.

0.63 linear ft. (1 box + 2 volumes)

English

Purchased from Michael Brown Rare Books on the Hall Park McCullough Fund, 2005.

David McMurtrie Gregg, farmer, diplomat, and Union cavalry general during the Civil War. Born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on April 10, 1833. Graduated from West Point in 1855, and was assigned frontier duty for six years before the start of the Civil War. Led cavalry troops during the Battle of Antietam and the Peninsular and Gettysburg Campaigns. Married Ellen F. Sheaff in October 1862 during a furlough. Resigned from service in February 1865 and settled with his wife in Reading, Pennsylvania. Applied for reinstatement to the Army in 1868 but did not receive the commission he requested. Appointed U.S. Consul to Prague in 1874. Gregg died in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1916.

Two daily journals kept by Gregg in 1865 and 1866, starting after he resigned his commission in the Union Army. The journals document Gregg's daily life, record the death of his mother, and offer details about the weather, religious meetings, farm business, local affairs, and visits with friends and family. Gregg also notes political and military events, including President Lincoln's second inauguration and assassination, the fall of Richmond and events leading up to and following the end of the Civil War. Two scrapbooks, begun by Gregg for his children according to a manuscript label on the first volume, hold newspaper clippings of Gregg's military and political career. Gregg's sons apparently continued collecting clippings, and the scrapbooks include notices related to their father's death and funeral. A manuscript letter laid in the second volume is addressed to Gregg's sons from a soldier who served under Gregg, and relates an account of Gregg's command. Papers also include fourteen photographs, mostly cartes-de-visite with captions on verso in manuscript, of Gregg, his wife and children, and other family members. There are also group photos and portraits of Gregg during his military career. Accompanied by a typed copy of "Brevet Major General David McMurtrie Gregg, a Biography", Kenneth Jack Gable's 1950 Master of Arts dissertation at Lehigh University and a copy of Historical Review of Berks County, Summer 1962 issue, containing articles related to General Gregg by Gable and other authors.

Archives or Manuscripts / Images

April 11, 2005

David McMurtrie Gregg Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

David McMurtrie Gregg Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.