113

Martin Register Andrews.

Diary kept with the Signal Corps in eastern Tennessee.

Various places, 18 March 1864 to 20 January 1865
[172] manuscript diary pages plus 2 letters bound in. 8vo, up to 9 x 5 inches, mailed to family members in 16 separate unbound "volumes," these 16 sections later bound together with 3 brass fasteners, with fragment of heavy paper front wrapper reading "East Tennessee in 1864, Journal Kept by Martin R. Andrews, Signal Corps, U.S.A."; binding has slightly obscured a few words in the inner margins, 8 pages faded, minimal wear

  • Notes: Martin Register Andrews (1842-1913) lived in York, OH and taught at a commercial school before the war. He served as a lieutenant in the 62nd Ohio Infantry, but was discharged in January 1863 due to disability. He then re-enlisted in the United States Signal Corps under XXIII Corps, and wrote this diary while stationed in and near Knoxville, TN. It was written in numbered sections which were periodically mailed back to family members in Ohio, and later bound together; one section covering 25 October to 8 November 1864 was apparently lost in the mail. 

    Andrews had a scholarly disposition, translating Bible verses in his spare time. On his 22nd birthday he wrote "Have twice enlisted in the U.S. service for three years, and now am living at its expense and studying the metaphysics of Cicero's treatise on moral philosophy. In times of war, I am preparing for peace, and a nobler duty" (6 April 1864). Although as a signal corpsman, he did not see any combat, his diary is articulate and observant.

    On 12 April 1864, he saw the arrival of the Union Republican convention in Knoxville, including the raising of a new flagpole—the old one "was cut down by the Rebels." There he heard Governor Andrew Johnson of Tennessee speak: "Afterwards short addresses were delivered by . . . Gov. Johnson in conclusion. The Governor was very severe in his denunciations of the Rebels and supported the President. I liked his appearance and his speech very much." Johnson would soon become Vice President and then President.

    Serving in a border state, Andrews came into frequent contact with African Americans, most notably his unit's camp cook, known as "Uncle Ben." On 25 June he wrote " 'Uncle Ben,' our Negro cook, took a couple of mules which our boys had picked up, and started with a wagon for his wife who lives about 20 miles above this place." 

    Andrews nearly witnessed one lynching on 17 April, after a civilian shot an abusive Union soldier: "The crowd soon swelled and some were in favor of lynching the Negro. The soldier had been intoxicated and said something which insulted the Negro, but not anything that would justify the murder." The killer was executed by soldiers the following day. On 27 May, Andrews reported: "Saw a Negro hung for committing an outrage upon a white woman at London. The Negro showed no signs of fear or penitence but ascended the scaffold without any resistance." 

    On 15 October, Andrews was ordered to Chattanooga with 3 other men, and offered a bit of insight into the actual work of the Signal Corps: "Got two signal kits, a large can of turpentine, and 5 telescopes. The kit consists of long canvas case containing the lamps and signal poles and flags and fixed for being carried on horseback, a haversack containing wicking for the lamps, one pair pincers, &c, and one large copper canteen of turpentine." Additional notes on the diary contents are available upon request.

    After the war, Andrews graduated from Marietta College in 1869 and taught political science there from 1895 to 1910. In 1902 he published his "History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio."

    Provenance: purchased by the consignor along with a family portrait painted by the author's brother, the noted portrait artist Eliphalet Frazer Andrews.
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