William Walter Cleary Diary Available Online

We’re pleased to announce that the microfilmed copy of William Walter Cleary’s diary has been digitized and made available on KDL. The original microfilm also includes a typed transcript of his diary.

The diary dates from June 1862 to April 1864 and was kept by William Walter Cleary while employed as a clerk in the Second Auditor’s Office of the Confederate States Treasury Department. Entries in the diary discuss family news, Cleary’s journey through Kentucky and Tennessee in the fall of 1862, the Richmond Bread Riots in March 1863, local reaction to George Stoneman’s cavalry raid on Richmond in May 1863, Cleary’s brief service in Company D of the 3rd Infantry, Local Defense Troops, the arrival of Confederate wounded following the battle of Chancellorsville, and news of the Vicksburg and Gettysburg campaigns.