According to material included by the donors and inserted at the end of the first journal, Samuel Storrow was born in Boston on July 24, 1843, the youngest son of Charles S. and Lydia Calot (Jackson) Storrow. He entered Harvard in July 1860, later leaving to enter military service in the 44th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia Infantry, where he served as a corporal from September 20, 1862 to June 18, 1863. He re-entered Harvard in September 1863, graduated July 20, 1864, was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant on September 22, 1864, and assigned to the 2nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, then stationed in Atlanta. Storrow was promoted to 1st lieutenant January 16, 1865 while on the staff of Brig. Gen. William Cogswell, but was killed March 16th at the Battle of Avorysboro, North Carolina.
The two Civil War journals of Samuel Storrow in this collection are unbound photocopies of the originals (which were retained by the donors). The first photocopied journal totals 38 pages copied from a small pocket notebook whose facing pages together measure 4”x 5”, with entries dating January 31 to April 22, 1863 while Storrow was serving as a corporal in the 44th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. The second journal totals 89 pages copied from a ledger whose pages measure 4¼” x 7¼”, with entries dating from September 26, 1864 to February 26, 1865, during which time Storrow was assigned to the 2nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, where he was promoted to 1st lieutenant. Storrow’s journal entries give detailed descriptions of troop and equipment movements, military actions and injuries, terrain, weather, and camp life.
This material is open for research.
Permission to publish from the Samuel Storrow U.S. Civil War Journals, MS 192, must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.
See additional Civil War collections in the Woodson Research Center.
Samuel Storrow Civil War Journals, 1863-1865, MS 192, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Storrow, Houston, TX, received April 30, 1970.