Charles Herbst Papers, ca. 1861-1897
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Charles Herbst Papers, ca. 1861-1897
- Creator
- Herbst, Charles, fl. ca.1860-1890
- Extent
- 1 box, .5 c.f.
- Subjects
- Herbst, Charles -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
- Confederate States of America-- Army--Kentucky Brigade, First
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Veterans
- Scrapbooks -- Kentucky
- Thompson, Edwin Porter, 1834-1903
- Repository
- Kentucky Historical Society
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- This collection contains a notebook, scrapbook, and correspondence of Charles Herbst. Herbst, a member of the famous "Orphan Brigade," the First Kentucky Brigade of the Confederate Army, worked for a time after the war for the Macon (Georgia) Historical Society and was a rare book dealer. He also kept up with his old comrades through correspondence and reunions. He traveled across the South after the war, marking the graves of fallen Orphans or helping to have their bodies reburied in Kentucky.
- Scope and Content
- The collection includes a notebook or journal Herbst kept during the Civil War. It has newspaper clippings, written orders, a few letters, notes made by Herbst and a few postage stamps. The remainder of the collection consists of letters dating from 1868 to 1897. They generally concern prospective reunions of Confederates, particularly the Orphans; and requests for books and newspapers from Herbst. Included are two letters from Ed Porter Thompson, the Orphans' chronicler, seeking information for his second work on the units, published in 1898.
- The collection also contains an order signed by Brigadier General Alexander P. Stewart March 18, 1863, for officers to investigate conditions surrounding his army's campsite. The order particularly addressed concern about dead animals left unburied and garbage left unburned or unburied. The order has notes on the reverse made by Herbst in September 1865 concerning an article in the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER about advantages allegedly derived from the Civil War. Herbst took exception to the conclusions drawn in the article, which is not included in the collection.
- There is also a scrapbook primarily filled with engravings of literary and historical scenes and persons, but which includes a few letters, documents, and photographs. It was compiled in 1868.
- Occupation: Soldier, librarian, rare book dealer
