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Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary
Special Collections© 2002 By the College of William and Mary
Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Processed by: Kathy Feeney, 1998.
Collection is open to all researchers.
Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
William Tell Cobb Papers, Manuscripts and Rare Books Department, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
Acc. No. 1993.45A; Purchased: 188 items, 7/01/1993.
William Tell Cobb (1840-1913) served in the Union Army during the Civil War, as a private in the 20th Pennsylvania Infantry, an orderly sergeant in Company F, 5th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers from 1861- 1862, and as a private in Company B, 2nd U.S. Cavalry from 1862-1864. He also served in the U.S. Navy as an ordinary seaman on the ships Allegheny , Daylight , Shenandoah , and Princeton from 1864-1865.
Edwin Cobb (b. 1838), younger brother of William Tell Cobb, served in the U.S. Navy as well, as a 1st Lieutenant on the ship C. W. Holmes in 1862.
Letters of William Tell Cobb (1840-1913), of Mauricetown, New Jersey, and his brother, Edwin Cobb (b. 1838), also of Mauricetown, New Jersey. William Cobb participated in the battles of Fair Oaks and 2nd Manassas while in the Army, and the battle of Fort Fisher while in the Navy; he describes these battles in his letters. Edwin Cobb provides an eyewitness account of the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac . Other topics dealt with in the letters are camp conditions and everyday life in the Army and Navy, interaction between Union and Confederate soldiers, and the financial difficulties faced by William Tell Cobb and his family during the war. The collection also includes a photo of William Tell Cobb, his copy of The Soldier's Guide and a collection of typescripts of the letters
This collection is organized into 3 series. Series 1 contains letters and typescripts; Series 2 contains miscellaneous material; and Series 3 contains transcripts.
ArrangementThis collection is arranged into series by item description and then by chronologically by date.
Mostly from William Tell Cobb, a soldier in the Union Army, to his father, Samuel Cobb of Mauncetown, New Jersey. Letters describe Union camp conditions and skirmishes with Confederate troops in Virginia and West Virginia. There are 12 letters included, each with typescripts.
Mostly from William Tell Cobb, in camps in Northern Virginia and the Peninsula, to his father, Samuel Cobb, of Mauricetown, New Jersey. Letters describe camp conditions, the battles of Four Oaks and 2nd Manassas, the death of William's wife, and William's attempts to get promoted or transferred to another regiment. Included in the letters is a drawing done by William of the position of artillery at Harrison's Landing, Virginia. Also included is a letter from William's brother Edwin Cobb to his father, giving an account of the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac .There are 26 letters included, each with typescripts.
Mainly from William Tell Cobb, in camps in Virginia and Maryland, to his father, Samuel Cobb, of Mauricetown, New Jersey, at the Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, fighting at Fredericksburg and Aldie, Virginia, and the lateness of wages. There are 10 letters included, each with typescripts.
Mostly from William Tell Cobb, in camp near Mitchell's Station, Virginia and on board Union Navy vessels in the Atlantic to his father, Samuel Cobb, of Mauricetown, New Jersey. Letters describe interaction between Confederate and Union troops along picket lines, life in the Navy, the Cobb family's financial problems, the battles of Fort Fisher (North Carolina), and conditions in Charleston, South Carolina after the city was captured by Union forces. There are 15 letters included, each with typescripts.
Miscellaneous items relating to William Tell Cobb, including an envelope, A Soldier's Manual , a photograph of William Tell Cobb, and negatives of the photograph.
Transcripts of letters written by William Tell Cobb and his brother, Edwin Cobb, during the Civil War. Including copy of transcripts on computer disk and information about the above photograph (Folder 5) of William Tell Cobb.