Title: John W. Colbert papers
Description: This unique pair of diaries offers an unforgettable account of the life of an average Northern family coping with the dangers and tensions of the Civil War. There were thousands like them, but few left such a clear and indelible record of their experiences. Rachel Cormany (nee Bowman) met Samuel Cormany at Otterbein University in Ohio. After her husband enlisted in a cavalry unit, she writes poignantly of her anxieties, poverty, and loneliness. Samuel, on the other hand, is ambitious in his military career, and tells enthusiastically about his engagements that include camp life, cavalry raids, army politics, and his battles with alcohol. Editor James C. Mohr has arranged the diaries so that the voices of husband and wife alternate, and his notes enlighten many of the issues relating to the diarists and their daily lives.
Subjects: Foreign Physicians, World War, 1914-1918, Tropical medicine, Politics and government, Officers, France, United States, France. Armée, World War, 1939-1945, Female Participation, Medical care, Earthquakes, History, Medical personnel, San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906, Woman's Ambulance and Defense Corps of America, Nursing, Fires, Study and teaching, United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces, Social conditions, United States. Army, Women, Social life and customs, Personal narratives, Diaries, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, personal narratives