This lot consists of two diaries kept by Samuel P. Tate (1840-1924), a Confederate soldier who saw hard service with the 22nd North Carolina Infantry. Tate was wounded twice during his service, once severely during the Battle of 2nd Manassas. The 22nd North Carolina Infantry was continuously engaged in the Eastern Theatre of the War and is best remembered today for its actions at the Battle of Gettysburg, where over half its men were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. When the 22nd NC Infantry was initially organized it comprised over 1,000 enlisted men and officers. By the regiment’s surrender at Appomattox, only ~100 remained. Captain Samuel P. Tate was one of those fortunate men.

The first diary comprises 50+ pages of entries and begins at the start of Samuel P. Tate’s service in 1861, noting the organization of the 22nd North Carolina in North Carolina. Tate tracks his company’s movement from Raleigh (at places like “Camp Carolina”) to Virginia and states “the sunny South shall not be forgot.” As the regiment began to be regularly engaged in skirmishes and battles, Tate records details regarding warfare. In one notable passage, he wrote (after arriving at Yorktown in 1862) that “2 schooners were captured…the Yankees burnt our schooners…one gun bursted at Battery 1, killed one man instantly.” Tate was meticulous in recording his regiment’s movement until mid-1862, recording Charles E. Lightfoot’s appointment as commander of the 22nd NC and the unit’s experience during that time.

The second diary comprises 40+ pages and is inscribed by Tate on its front flyleaf “S.P. Tate’s Book, July 1869” and on another page “”Samuel P. Tate’s book, Upper Creek, NC, Christmas Day, Dec. 25th, 1866.” Additional inscriptions seem to indicate it was given to Tate by his wife.

Though less thrilling than Tate’s wartime account, this diary is nonetheless an important record of life in the South during the Reconstruction era and offers valuable insights into the challenges faced by individuals and communities as they navigated the aftermath of the Civil War. The diary contains poems written by Tate, a lock of hair (perhaps his wife’s), and pages that detail expenses related to farming. More a ledger than a diary, this book includes numerous notes written by Tate recording men he has hired for agricultural work.




[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Books, Ephemera, Documents, Manuscripts]