Contents and Arrangement
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Volunteer service, 1861-1865

2 boxes

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The correspondence and papers for 1861-1865 document MacMurray's volunteer service with the First Missouri Light Artillery during the Civil War, and with the Second Missouri Light Artillery during the Powder River Indian Expedition of June-November, 1865. Descriptions of conditions at the camps may be found in letters to his mother Eliza Wilson MacMurray (November 6, 1861, and July 14, 1863) (box 2, folder 3). MacMurray's army commissions may be found in series 10 (box 200).

The bulk of the correspondence and papers covering the Civil War include quartermaster's lists, invoices, and returns. In addition, the folders contain affidavits concerning the loss of horses and ambulances, papers concerning MacMurray's initial application for commission in the regular army (July 1863), and reports to superiors about the movements and actions of battery "M", of which he was in charge (October 20, 1862, April 28, May 5, May 25, and August 7, 1863). The reports include a detailed description of the battery's involvement in the Vicksburg Campaign, supplemented by typescript copies of reports by military commanders about the Battle of Jackson (May 14, 1863), which MacMurray copied and added at a later date. Two pocket diaries for 1863, which cover the Vicksburg Campaign, may be found in Series 4 (Box 83, folder 6).

The records for June-December 1865 document MacMurray's participation in the Powder River Indian expedition (Eastern Division) from Franklin, Missouri, to the Valley of the Powder River, Montana, from June 1 to November 12, 1865. He accompanied Colonel Nelson Cole with the 2nd Missouri Light Artillery, while being in charge of reconnoissance. The records include handwritten and typescript copies of communications between military commanders, which MacMurray added later, as well as draft reports by MacMurray. The typescript copies include an eight-page report from Cole to General P.E. Connor, with a handwritten draft, which suggests that MacMurray wrote the report for Cole (September 25, 1865). Of particular interest are drafts of an undated report about the expedition covering July through an unspecified part of October 1865. Found with the latter are several pages of another undated report or log, presumably by MacMurray, which includes a sketches of findings and a small map.

Records concerning MacMurray's renewed application to join the regular army include a detailed service record (December 21, 1865) and recommendations.

Arrangement

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Collection History

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Sponsorship:

The John Van Antwerp MacMurray Papers were reprocessed with the generous support of Adelaide MacMurray Cooper, Shirley S. French, Joan Ipsen, Frank G. MacMurray '40, Worth D. MacMurray '77, Alison Starkey, Lois MacMurray Starkey, Mills Ten Eyck Jr., Christine Wainwright, and William Waldron. Digitization of the films in Box 161-167, 172, and 176-184 was made possible by the generous support of the East Asian Studies Program, Princeton University.

Processing Information

This collection was reprocessed by Victoria Coleman '99 in 1998 and by Helene van Rossum in 2002 and 2008-2009 with the assistance of Jessica Solano, Ganga Bey '09, Pauline Nalikka '11, Marli Wang '11, and Jamie LaMontagne '11, and additional help from Liz Parsons '11 and Jeremy Russell '12. Finding aid written by Helene van Rossum in 2002 and 2009-2010. With thanks to Nancy N. Tomasko, East Asia Library Journal, Princeton University, for help with transcriptions, and to Shuwen Cao, East Asian Library, Princeton University, for assistance in identifying the contents of the films.

As part of a collections survey in 2020 this finding aid was updated to reflect the consolidation of the following ranges of boxes containing av materials: 161-175, 176-184, 185-190, 202-214. Each box now retains the first box number in the range, with item-level notes detailing the previous number. All labeled items retain their original titles;only the box numbers have changed.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Volunteer service; John Van Antwerp MacMurray Papers, MC094, Public Policy Papers, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (mudd): Box 2-3