Civil War Diary of Private Harvey Hogue, 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, POW

About Auction

Live

American Historical Ephemera & Photography, I...

By Cowan's Auctions

Jun 26, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-06-26 10:00:00 2020-06-26 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Including African Americana:Premier Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/american-historical-ephemera-photography-including-african-americana-premier-auction-5208
Cowan's Auctions is delighted to present the June 26 American Historical Ephemera and Photography Auction, including 55 lots devoted to the African American experience, over 175 lots dating from the Civil War Era, and more than 60 lots documenting life in the American West. Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com

View Full Catalog (383)

• Lot Description
  Civil War Diary of Private Harvey Hogue, 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, POW
  
  Pocket diary, approx. 3.25 x 5 in., with leather cover and flap closure, printed one page per day for the year 1864. Identified to Private Harvey S. Hogue, Co. G, 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Entries made daily from January 1, 1864 to December 31, 1864, also with notes in "Memoranda" and "Cash Accounts" sections. Daily entries describe service in a regiment primarily devoted to protecting the crucial Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad from Confederate forces. Includes references to Wheeler's Raid of Aug 31, 1864, the Battle of Franklin, and Hogue's description of captivity after surrendering to Confederate General John Bell Hood's forces near Murfreesboro, TN.
  
  Harvey Hogue (1843-1914), a resident of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, enlisted as a private on July 28, 1862 and mustered into Company "G" of the 115th Ohio Volunteers in September 1862. HDS records indicate that he was listed as a POW on 12/5/64 in Antioch, TN, escaped a rebel prison in Cahaba, AL at an undetermined date, and returned to his regiment on 2/11/65. Weeks after promotion to Corporal, he mustered out on 6/22/65 at Murfreesboro, TN. 
  
  Both the diary offered here and Hogue's later accounts of his Civil War service prove him to be a man of affable humor and wry wit. Daily diary entries are written with a characteristic levity that often defies the gravity of his situation both before and after his capture. Even in December 1864 after a 16-mile march with his captors through knee-deep mud and water, Hogue would sign-off the day's diary entry with his signature indicator of good health and spirits, "Feel bully." Hogue is a consistent diarist who records weather, drills, picket duty, foraging, correspondence, health matters, and stories about other soldiers in the unit. He seems to have particular dislike for Co. G's own Capt. Deming N. Lowry, who is described by Hogue as an "old tyrent" and an "arbitrary Brute."
  
  While Hogue's duty in early 1864 appears to have afforded him relative calm and safety, by the second half of 1864 his regiment was increasingly under Confederate threat. Soldiers from the 115th not mounted were stationed at blockhouses near Murfreesboro in June 1864 and tasked with defending the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, a vital and singular supply line to General Sherman's troops as they marched towards Atlanta. Hogue notes this new assignment in his diary on June 4, and thereafter details the Confederate incursions threatening his regiment. He describes Gen. Joseph Wheeler's Confederate Cavalry raid on August 31, 1864, saying: "...about 9AM a negro reports that Wheeler is coming and tareing up the track. Just after dinner some of the boys go up to the Fork [?] and find about 20 Johnys cutting the wire and destroying the track / They fire on them and they light out. At 9 PM they are fighting over on the pike! Fight nearly all night." He notes hearing heavy cannonading all day during the Battle of Franklin on Nov 30, 1864.
  
  Days later attacks on the blockhouses would begin. Hogue writes on December 2: "Rebels attack Bhouse No.2 fight all afternoon." Then on December 3 and 4th: "Rebs attack us with rifles at 10AM. At 3PM they advance with flag of truce and demand a surrender. We don't see it. They fire 77 guns at us 12 perimeters... [Dec 4] Morning fine. Rebs resume their fire on us at 7AM. Fire 16 guns. We surrender at 12PM on conditions that any personal property be respected. After are [?] out. Our guns, blankets are taken. [The Confederates] kept our money then our overcoats. Hats, boots, almost everything. / We march about 6 miles. Are put under guard near Gen. Hood's headquarters." So begins Hogue's POW experience which he then documents daily through December 31. With as much detail as possible given the page per day format, Hogue describes daily marches and travel in rail cars through Tennessee, then Alabama, then Mississippi, while en route towards the infamous Andersonville prison camp. He notes the brutality and difficulty he experienced along the way, as on Dec 5: "An Italian citizen shot about daylight to get the suit of good clothes he wore, was stripped and wrapped in an old dirty blanket and buried just beneath the Earth...." Then on December 13: "We draw three days additional rations, about enough for one meal." 
  
  Closing his diary on December 31, 1864, Hogue reflects solemnly: "Would like to be at old Cuya-Falls tonight. And will be there before many months or die making the attempt to get there." Clearly, Hogue had already decided upon making his escape when the opportunity presented itself. The details of that escape attempt - the epilogue to this diary's fascinating story of captivity - were recorded in Hogue's war reminiscences published in the Highland, KS newspaper The Vidette in 1900. Hogue details how he and two others from the 115th seized an opportunity in late January 1865 and jumped from a moving rail car. Amazingly, after a harrowing weeks-long journey behind enemy lines, Hogue successfully evaded Confederates and arrived at the safety of a Union gun boat on the Tennessee River. According to Hogue, enslaved people operating as part of the Underground Railroad conducted him and his fellow soldiers to safety. Hogue recalls traveling by night, hiding in swamps and fields, river crossings, and more, all of which add to the significance of this diary which somehow survived to provide a living record of the early days of his captivity. Hogue's daring escape from the Confederates also saved him from the fate of so many other members of the 115th who, after parole from the infamous Andersonville prison, were killed aboard the Sultana on April 27, 1865. 
  
  Note that Hogue indicates on February 17, 1864, as well as on the diary's FFEP, that he received a diary on the Feb 17th. It is unclear how or when the diary entries that predate the 17th were made. 

  Condition

  Leather flap closure torn. Diary written in a mixture of ink and pencil with some fading to pencil. A small number of entries have erratic pencil markings on them. Overall, good condition and very legible.
• Shipping Info

  • Buyers are required to pay for all packing, shipping and insurance charges. Overseas duty charges are the responsibility of the successful Bidder. Be aware that for larger and/or valuable items, shipping charges can be substantial. - If there is no shipping amount on listed your invoice, you will need to make arrangements to pick up or ship your purchase through an alternative shipping company. Our shipping department can be contacted at 513.871.1670 (ext. 219) or email shipping@cowans.com. - Shipping charges include insurance for your order while in transit. If you have private insurance we will adjust your charge to include only packing and shipping. - Please allow 14 – 21 days after payment to package and ship your purchase as carefully as possible.

• Buyer's Premium

  • Hammer Price	Premium (%)
    $0	28.00
    $250,001	23.00
    $3,000,001	15.00