John R. Berger diary, 1863

John R. Berger and his wife Margaret lived in Bernville, Berks County, PA. This 1863 diary chronicles his daily activities as a Union soldier. Berger apparently was stationed first at Harrisburg before moving on to Virginia. He appears to have been in the vicinity of Gettsyburg during the first thre...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Date:1863
Dimensions:8 x 12.5 cm
Call Number:Am 0211
Format: Electronic
Subjects and Genres:
Copyright:Please contact Historical Society of Pennsylvania Rights and Reproductions (rnr@hsp.org)
Online Access:https://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/objects/11559
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Summary: John R. Berger and his wife Margaret lived in Bernville, Berks County, PA. This 1863 diary chronicles his daily activities as a Union soldier. Berger apparently was stationed first at Harrisburg before moving on to Virginia. He appears to have been in the vicinity of Gettsyburg during the first three days of July, and writes of having little to nothing to eat and sustaining an injury in town when a brick fell on his head due to Rebel shelling. The more routine entries include references to standing picket guard, writing to his wife and receiving foods from home. He sometimes notes names of his fellow soldiers and their circumstances, such as Joel Hefner suffering from the fits or John Koening being robbed of fifty-seven dollars.