Vicksburg National Military Park has received seven diaries of an Iowa soldier documenting his service during the Siege of Vicksburg.
The diaries of Fifth Sgt. John Hughes Jr. of Company G of the 28th Iowa Volunteer Infantry were donated to the park by Hughes’ great-grandson, Bruce Davidson of Coronado, Calif., USS Cairo Museum Curator Elizabeth Joyner said in a press release.
“The diaries give an eyewitness account of the events that transpired during the summer of 1863 including the mining of the 3rd Louisiana Redan that occurred on June 25, 1863,” Joyner said.
One entry expresses the sheer joy Hughes and his fellow Union soldiers felt at the fall of Vicksburg.
“10 a.m. White flags are displayed! The rebel regiments are marched out in front of their works where they stack arms and colors and return. The renowned Gibraltar of the Confederacy is ours!” Hughes wrote.
The accounts of the war begin on April 16, 1861 and continue through 1864. Another diary picks up in 1906 when Hughes was named to the governor’s commission that traveled to Vicksburg and Chattanooga, Tenn., to dedicate monuments to Iowa soldiers on those battlefields.
“The diaries of John Hughes Jr. will play an invaluable role in enlightening the staff of Vicksburg National Military Park as well as future researches on the events that occurred over 150 years ago,” Joyner said.
A ceremonial transfer of the diaries will be made at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Iowa State Memorial on the South Loop at the park.
Iowa contributed more troops per capita than any other state during the Siege of Vicksburg, though Illinois contributed the largest number of troops.
In addition to his service in the Civil War, Hughes contributed to Iowa history as a court clerk, lawyer, legislator and banker.
“With his varied experience in business life, Mr. Hughes will enter the house fitted to ably represent his Iowa county friends. He is a forcible speaker, an active man, and will make himself felt in legislation,” members of the Iowa General Assembly wrote in a resolution when electing Hughes as state senator in 1907.