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Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)Ryan Speer, Archivist
Permission to publish material from John Holliday Diaries and Photographs must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Collection is open for research.
The first of the two diaries in this collection has been digitized and is available online .
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: John Holliday Diaries and Photographs, Ms2012-028, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.
John Holliday Diaries and Photographs were purchased by Special Collections in April 2011.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the John Holliday Diaries and Photographs, Ms2012-028, was completed in June 2012.
John Holliday was a non-commissioned officer in Company C, 91st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment; he joined the regiment in Spring 1864. During his service, he was promoted from corporal to sergeant, before mustering out.
The 91st Ohio was organized at Camp Ironton, Ohio, in August 1862 and mustered into service the next month. The regiment served briefly in the Ohio River Valley before transferring operations to West Virginia's Kanawha River Valley during winter 1862 and spring 1863. Apart from a brief foray into Ohio, the 91st spent most of the remainder of 1863 and early 1864 in West Virginia. After spring 1864, and until the close of the war, it operated in Virginia's New River and Shenandoah valleys, where it was mustered out in June 1865.
During Holliday's term of service, the regiment lost 63 men to battle and 90 to disease. Holliday survived, returning to his home in July 1865.
Holliday's diaries, the first covering 1 May through 8 August 1864 and the second covering 1 September 1864 through 4 July 1865, begin with the regiment's entry into Virginia's New River Valley and conclude with his return to Ohio at the conclusion of the war. Holliday includes information on his participation in action in and around the New River Valley, including the battles of Cloyd's Mountain and New River Bridge.
The collection also includes four photographs, believed to be of Holliday, and one of his wife. Two of the images have locks of hair under the glass and several have hand-painted details added.