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Collection Number: 04839-z

Collection Title: George W. Bowen Diary, 1863-1881

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Abstract George W. Bowen, musical director and later drum major of the Drum Corps, 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery (African Descent), United States Army, during the Civil War. The volume was printed as a diary for 1864, with three days per page. Bowen kept daily entries, 1 January-8 May, 24 June-8 August, and 11-23 September 1864. At the end, five entries from April and May 1863 appear. During most of this period, Bowen and his regiment were encamped in Washington, N.C., but, in late April 1864, they moved north towards Richmond, Va. Between 1871 and 1881, Bowen used the diary for miscellaneous notes and calculations. War-time entries describe Drum Corps practices; monitoring and fighting Confederates; the regiment's social life in Washington, N.C.; the move into Virginia; and a furlough to Pennsylvania. Included are lists of letters send and received, clothing and its cost, instruments for a band, and a financial account. The notes from later in his life include, among other things, several songs and recipes, measurements for shoes, and the amounts due from his boarders.
Creator Bowen, George W.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
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 George W. Bowen Diary #4839-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum, dealer, of Watchung, N.J., in October 1996.
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.
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Processed by: Meg Phillips, October 1996

Updated by: Laura Hart, June 2021

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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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.

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George W. Bowen, musical director and later drum major of the Drum Corps, 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery (African Descent), United States Army, during the Civil War.

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The volume was printed as a diary for 1864, with three days per page. Bowen kept daily entries, 1 January-8 May, 24 June-8 August, and 11-23 September 1864. At the end, five entries from April and May 1863 appear. During most of this period, Bowen and his regiment were encamped in Washington, N.C., but, in late April 1864, they moved north towards Richmond, Va. Between 1871 and 1881, Bowen used the diary for miscellaneous notes and calculations. War-time entries describe Drum Corps practices; monitoring and fighting Confederates; the regiment's social life in Washington, N.C.; the move into Virginia; and a furlough to Pennsylvania. Included are lists of letters send and received, clothing and its cost, instruments for a band, and a financial account. The notes from later in his life include, among other things, several songs and recipes, measurements for shoes, and the amounts due from his boarders.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse George W. Bowen Diary, 1863-1881.

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