THE CIVIL WAR DIARIES

OF

LT. CHARLES NELSON WARNER, U.S.A.

1862-1865

At West Point, 1862.

With the Army of the Potomac, 1863.

As an elderly man, c.1918.

 

TRANSCRIBED BY HIS GREAT, GREAT GRANDSON
JAMES R. LAFFERTY, JR.
REDLANDS, CALIFORNIA

THE ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN DIARIES BEING AT THE
SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MONTROSE, PENNSYLVANIA

My Great Great Grandfather, 1^st Lt. Charles N. Warner (1839-1920) served as an officer with several batteries of the 4^th U.S. Artillery (A, H, & I) during the Civil War from late 1863 through the end of the war.  He was West Point class of 1862, and his class ring as well as his class album is on display at the U.S. Military Academy Library.

I have transcribed his hand written diaries which contain entries from nearly every day of his service from July 1862 until July 1865 during which time he fought at 2^nd Bull Run, Antietam, 1^st and 2^nd Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Selma, and others.  He also served with the 2^nd U.S. Field Artillery, Battery D (Williston’s Battery 1862 to mid-1863).  It is a great study in the life of a junior officer serving in the field.

Charles died in 1920 in Montrose. My grandfather told the family stories of a trip Charles and Edson took to Antietam for a reunion and how Charles showed them where his Battery had fought there. Charles also took his family back to West Point for several reunions. He married Eliza Scott Houston while at Lawrence, Kansas during the Indian Wars. She was a relative of Sam Houston.

About the Diary

Ed is Edson Scott Warner, Charles’ older brother by 5 years. Edson enlisted with Company D, 50^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on September 6, 1861. Shortly afterwards he was severely injured when his arm was crushed under the weight of a train while while attempting to board a troop train in Washington D.C. After recuperating from the injury he was promoted to First Lieutenant, Company K, 56^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on March 3, 1862. He was promoted to Captain on February 3, 1863, and honorably discharged on February 27, 1863, at Pratts Landing. It is my understanding that he did mostly recruiting duties as he was not fit for action after his injury.

Fletch was Fletcher Gustavus Warner (older brother to Charles by 2 years). From a newspaper clipping:

"Was a merchant in Montrose, Pennsylvania after the war. He served thirteen months in Company G, 50^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, was wounded in both legs at the Battle of Antietam and was not able to rejoin his regiment. He was found in an old barn by his brother Charles Nelson Warner (Bvt. Captain in Union Army) or he would have died from exposure and the wound. Mr. Warner had been a court crier."

Emma is Charles’ younger sister (by 6 years). She never married and we suspect that the materials that ended up at the Susquehanna County Historical Society in Montrose came from her home (letters, diaries, 4^th U.S. Artillery epaulettes, etc).

My researches has determined that there were 3 additional older sisters and one additional older brother but I have no birth or death info on them—I suspect more than one died young.

Col. Warner was Colonel Edward Raynsford Warner. He was Charles’ first cousin (also from Montrose). Appointed to U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1853 and was graduated as Second Lieutenant of Artillery four years later (1857—the year Charles entered the academy). During the Civil War he was Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st New York Artillery, the Inspector of Artillery for the Army of the Potomac, and was mustered out of the service in 1865. He was soon after assigned as a Captain to the 3rd Artillery of the regular army. During the Civil War he distinguished himself by gallant conduct in the battles of the Wilderness and Gettysburg, and for his valor in the Petersburg operations he was brevetted a brigadier-general. After military service of over 30 years he retired to his old home in Montrose. He died in New York City on January 5, 1905, at the age of 70. He left a large sum of money to found a public library and to erect a public building in Montrose. Edward never married.

Here is a photo album page that contains a picture of Col. Edward R. Warner, Insp. of Artillery. He is in the bottom row, second from the left.  The page contains pictures of the General Staff of the Army of the Potomac during the time of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Following his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, in June 1862, Charles N. Warner took leave at his home in Montrose, Pennsylvania. In mid-July, he began his journey to report to the Army of the Potomac. He had been temporarily assigned to Battery D, 2^nd U.S. Field Artillery, commanded by Lt. Edward Williston. His original appointment was to Battery H, 4^th U.S. Field Artillery, but at this time all newly minted artillery officers were ordered to join McClellan’s Army.

This part of Lt. Charles N. Warner’s diary was written in his hand in a blank orders book that has on the front page "Head Quarters, Left Grand Division, By Command of Major General Franklin." This portion of his diary was written while Warner was assigned to Batteries H and I of the 4^th U.S. Artillery throughout the Southern States of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.

All information on this page courtesy of James R. Lafferty, Jr., Great Great Grandson of First Lieutenant Charles N. Warner.

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