Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Charles William Dustan Letters, #3458-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Robert K. Black, dealer, Montclair, N.J., January 1960.

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, July 2010

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Dustan, Charles William, 1834-1892.
• Families--New York (State)--Social life and customs.
• Memphis (Tenn.)--Social conditions.
• Mississippi--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Mutiny--United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• New York (State). Militia. Regiment, 71st.
• United States. Army--Military life--History.
• United States. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
• United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 53rd (1861-1865)
• Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Charles William Dustan (1834-1892) of Staten Island, N.Y., was the son of Isaac K. Dustan, captain of the steamer Atlantic. Charles entered the New York state militia in 1854 and served in the 71st New York Militia Regiment in 1861 and as captain in the 53rd New York Infantry Regiment 1861-1862, in Virginia, Mississippi and Tennessee. After the war, Dustan served as an Alabama state legislator, treasury agent, postmaster, and member of the 1867 Constitutional Convention. He was married to Edith Whitfield in 1865.

The collection includes Civil War letters from Charles William Dustan, a federal officer in the 71st New York Militia Regiment, the 53rd New York Regiment, and other units, to his mother and sister on Staten Island, N.Y., written from Virginia and Mississippi, 1861-1863, and from Memphis, Tenn., 1863-1865, where he was captain in the United States Army and brigadier general of enrolled militia. The letters discuss camp life, troop movements, morale, and discipline problems, including a mutiny in the 53rd Regiment, conditions and events in Memphis, and family matters.