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No restrictions. Open for research.

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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.

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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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Updated by: Laura Hart, June 2021

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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.

• African Americans--North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Band musicians--United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Bands (Music)--United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Bowen, George W.
• Diaries (Blank-books)
• Fife and drum corps--United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Military music--United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Soldiers--United States--Diaries.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Participation, African American.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Songs and music.
• United States. Army--African American troops.
• United States. Army. North Carolina Heavy Artillery, 1st (African Descent). Drum Corps.
• Washington (N.C.)--History--19th century.

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.