Stephens, James C. (1844-1888), Papers, 1850s-1875 (C0169)

.4 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

The Stephens Papers consist of positive photostats and typescripts of a diary and battle descriptions written by a volunteer in Company K, Indiana Infantry, 20th Regiment, which was part of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. See also the diaries of Stephens's brother, the Thomas White Stephens Diaries, (C2282).

DONOR INFORMATION

The Stephens Papers were donated to the University of Missouri by Frank F. Stephens on 7 August and 11 November 1957 (Accession No. 3328). An addition to the papers was made on 20 February 1967 (Accession No. 3701).

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

James Colclazer Stephens was born to John and Sarah Stephens on 5 May 1844 in Indiana. In 1861 he and his brother Thomas White Stephens enlisted in Company K of the 20th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. He was mustered out on 30 July 1864. After the war he became a Methodist minister and held pastorates in Indiana and Iowa. He died in 1888.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Stephens Papers consist of positive photostats and typescripts of a diary and battle descriptions. Stephens kept the diary from 1 September 1863 through August 1864, then sporadically from 21 May 1867 through August 1870. Much of the diary concerns the daily routine of a soldier. Stephens describes the regiment's trip from Governor's Island in New York to Virginia in October 1863. He mentions skirmishes around Chancellorsville, the building of winter quarters, a reenlistment campaign, and the execution of a deserter.

Stephens was at the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania and writes of his being wounded in May 1864, his recovery, and the trip home to Indiana where he was mustered out. The entries from 1867 through 1870 list his sermons and other ministerial activities.

A constant theme in the diary is Stephens's reliance on prayer and God's mercy to help him through life. He attends numerous prayer meetings, reads the Bible almost daily, and hopes that the souls of his friends and fellow soldiers that have died before him are with God.

Descriptions of the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac, 9 March 1862, and the Battle of the Wilderness, 5-6 May 1865, written by Stephens from his diaries and recollections at an unknown date, complete the papers.

FOLDER DESCRIPTION

f. 1-7Diary, 1863-1864
f. 8-10Diary, 1863-1864 (typescript)
f. 11-19Battle of Monitor and Merrimac
f. 20-21Battle of Monitor and Merrimac (typescript)
f. 22-24Battle of the Wilderness
f. 25Battle of the Wilderness (typescript)
f. 26Letters and miscellaneous notes, 1850s-1875

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

  • Burch, John
  • Circuit riders
  • Civil War
  • Civil War--Army of the Potomac
  • Civil War--Battle of Monitor and Merrimac
  • Civil War--Battle of the Wilderness, 1864
  • Civil War--Desertions
  • Civil War--Diaries
  • Civil War--Indiana Infantry, 20th Regiment, Volunteers, Company K
  • Civil War--Naval operations
  • Civil War--Prayer
  • Civil War--Virginia
  • Diaries
  • Diaries--Civil War
  • Fort Monroe, Virginia, 1861
  • Maine, 3rd Regiment
  • Mansfield, [Joseph King Fenno] (1803-1862)
  • May, John
  • McBeth, Joe
  • McBeth, John
  • McClellan, George Brinton (1826-1885)
  • Meade, George Gordon (1815-1872)
  • Monitor (Ironclad)
  • Morton, Oliver H.P.T.
  • Nordyke, Paris
  • North Carolina, Cape Hatteras
  • North Carolina, Cape Hatteras
  • North Carolina, Pamlico Sound
  • North Carolina, Pamlico Sound
  • Porter, Brother
  • Prayer
  • Prayer
  • Preaching
  • Preaching
  • Reeves, Billie
  • Reynolds, J.G.
  • Rogers, Joe
  • Rosecrans, William Starke (1819-1898)
  • Sedwick, John
  • Sheridan, Philip H. (1831-1888)
  • Short, Sadie E.
  • Shultz, John H.
  • Smith, Joe
  • Sparks, L.
  • Stearns, Adjutant
  • Stephens, Elizabeth Bradshaw
  • Stephens, Frances Asbury
  • Stephens, Isabel Shultz "Belle"
  • Stephens, James Colclazer
  • Stephens, James Colclazer (1844-1888)
  • Stephens, Joel
  • Stephens, Thomas White
  • Stephens, Virgil A.
  • Stephens, Winifred Caroline "Callie"
  • Stevenson, John
  • Stone, Frank
  • Sweet, Frank
  • Thompson, Bishop
  • Timby, Theodore Ruggles (1819-1909)
  • Tyler, Mary Elizabeth (1839-1920)
  • U.S. Army, Department of the Potomac
  • U.S. Army, Department of the Cumberland
  • U.S. Army, Department of the Potomac
  • U.S. Navy, 1861
  • Warren, Gouverneur Kemble (1830-1882)
  • Whiteny, Bro.
  • Worden John L.