Hello all! We're closing in on the final months of posts of transcribed entries from the George F. Parry Civil War diaries (George F. Parry family volumes, Collection 3694). If you're just joining us, in 2012 HSP acquired the diaries of Bucks County resident and Civil War veterinary surgeon George F. Parry. In that collection are three diaries he kept during the Civil War dating from 1863 to 1865, when he served with the 7^th Pennsylvania Cavalry. In celebration of Parry's work and the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, I'm providing monthly posts on Fondly, PA of transcripts of entries from his diaries.

To see other posts in the series, check out the links over on the right-hand side of this page.  Clicking on the diary images will take you to our Digital Library where you can examine the volumes page by page, along with other digitized items from the Parry collection.

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At the end of July 1865, Parry was recuperating at Cumberland Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.  He spent most of August in the hospital dealing with bouts of rheumatism and fever (as well as trying to avoid smallpox patients!). Though the month was mostly uneventful, things picked up by the the end of it, which saw Parry on his way back to Pennsylvania. Undoubtedly, he was happy to be home.

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Notes about the transcriptions: I've kept the pattern of Parry's writings as close as formatting here will allow, including his line breaks and spacing. My own additional or clarifying notes will be in brackets [ ]. Any grammatical hiccups that aren’t noted as such are Parry's own.

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Thursday, August 3

Not so well to Day[.]  received fourteen
sick men in the ward.

                                                Drs. held
a consultation over sick man in
this ward and diagnosed his case
to be small pox.  he was with
affects removed at once to Small
Pox Hospital[,]   After giving us all
a splendid chance to take the
Disorder.

*****

Monday, August 7
Very sick all night with rheumatism
and Fever.   Slept none of account[,]
some better during the day>

Cool and nice.  Sent a Louisville

Journal home.
                     About as leave be dead
as suffer as I have and live like
I have for over two years.

*****

Sunday, August 13
All day in quarters[,]  nothing
new. Regiment still at Marion[.]

Write a Letter Home.
                                     no news and
very dull.

*****

Monday, August 14

Sent a Louisville Journal home[.]
all quiet in Hospital[,]  very warm[.]
Waiting for a transfer.
                                       Received
by Dr. a Telegraph Dispatch from
Phila. asking if I had Typhoid
Fever or was bad.
                                 Sent a Letter
home.

*****

Wednesday, August 23
Bid adieu to Nashville at Seven
O clock by Hospital[.]  Train run
very fast till one o'clock when
an axel tree broke under the engine[.]
[illegible] bringing train to a stop by
throwing the front cars of[f] the track.
Delayed six hours when a Freight
train came along that pulled us
though to Louisville, KY[.]  reached
their[sic] two O clock night.  Ambulance
Train conveyed us to Hospital.

*****

Saturday, August 26
All North Eastern troops
Transferred from the Crittenden
Hospital to a steam boat on
the Ohio river.
                          Some fever to
day – and Heachak[headache]

*****

Thursday, August 31
On Cars all night on Penna.
Central R. R.[,] arrived at Harrisburg
10 O clock P. M. and at Philadelphia
at 12 A. M.
                        In evening Lt.
Sommers and I called on Paxson
and number of Others[,] had a
good time.  Spent some time
with Col. Sibert and Major
Davis.

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