About this record
Captain Nathaniel Rollins of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry kept a daily diary throughout the Civil War. Writing about everything from the weather to presidential inspections and meals he cooked while on kitchen duty, Rollins provided a comprehensive portrait of the daily life of a soldier in the Iron Brigade. Because the diary is too long and faint to digitize in its entirety, we've excerpted several pages from it that describe the Battle of Gettysburg. During the battle Rollins was taken prisoner, and he spent the remainder of the war in Confederate prisons (his account of those months is included elsewhere at Turning Points in Wisconsin History). We've enhanced the page images significantly to make them easier to read. To see a typed version of any page, click "Page & Text" at the upper right-hand corner of the document viewer.Citation
Rollins, Nathaniel. Diary excerpts from Gettysburg Battlefield, June 30-July 6, 1863. Unpublished manuscript in the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives (Wis Mss UW);