Administrative Information

Access

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

William J. Black Diary, mss 00015, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, Virginia.

Alternative Form

The William J. Black Diary is available in full-text format on the VMI Archives website at: http://www.vmi.edu/archives/manuscripts/ms015.html

Biographical/Historical Information

William Johnson Black was born at Lynchburg, Virginia on August 2, 1845. He was the son of Allen J. Black and Mary Haythe, both of Campbell County, VA. Black entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1862 and resigned in 1864 to join the Confederate Army. He served in Captain John J. Shoemaker's Battery (Breathed's Battalion, Stuart Horse Artillery). Following the Civil War he was in the express company business in Lynchburg, Virginia. He married Virginia Price on March 5, 1871 and the couple had two children (Charles and E. Stockton). Black died at the Confederate Soldiers' Home in Richmond, Virginia on January 24, 1935.

Scope and Content Information

The collection consists of the one volume diary of Confederate soldier William J. Black. The diary entries date from October 1864 - January 1865, written while Black was serving in Captain John J. Shoemaker's Company, Virginia Horse Artillery. Included are brief accounts of various skirmishes and the Battle of Cedar Creek; campsites and positions are recorded daily. Following the diary entries are copies of two of Shoemaker's reports detailing Battery activities, dated September 1, 1864 (covering the period May - August) and December 25, 1864 (covering the period September - Dec 25). The volume also contains Black's Virginia Military Institute account book, listing expenses incurred while a cadet (1862-1864) prior to joining Confederate Army.