This Civil War era pocket diary and account book records the daily life and finances of 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry surgeon Dr. Robert Robison McCandliss (1826-1908) from May-December 1863. It includes Major General Horatio G. Wright's 1865 letter authorizing McCandliss to administer to the wounded during the final days of the war.
Born in Warren County, Ohio, Dr. McCandliss enlisted in the Union Army as a medical officer on 25 August 1862. Along with his wife, Priscilla (née Youart), and two orderlies, he rode with the 110th Ohio Volunteers in an ambulance. Surrounded by Confederate troops during the Battle of Winchester, the surgeon, his wife and hundreds of others were taken as prisoners. McCandliss was ultimately incarcerated in Libby Prison, his wife in Castle Thunder.
The diary's entries cover a wide range of topics, including the daily life of a medical officer in the Union Army, personal relationships, regiment fatalities, and brief mentions of skirmishes with Confederate Bushwackers. His account also provides readers with information regarding his capture, transfer, imprisonment and anticipated release. The diary concludes with his arrival in Washington, D.C. as workers were placing Thomas Crawford's statue atop the U.S. Capitol 2 December 1863. Supplementary pages include addresses of boarding houses and roadside inns, as well as notations regarding McCandliss's finances.
A small pocket within the binding contained a separate letter, dated 7 April 1865, authorizing the surgeon to administer to wounded soldiers until their impending transfer to Burke Station, Virginia. This was removed to a four-flap enclosure due to preservation concerns.
The Robert Robison McCandliss Diary is identified as University Archives accession number 2015-16.042. Preliminary processing of the diary was completed by Paul A. Thomsen on August 17, 2011.