The Lost Civil War Diary of Captain John Rigdon King by Donald B Jenkins

Author:Donald B Jenkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fonthill Media
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

VII

The Lost Diary and Nisewanger/Hillyard Families

The discovery of John R. King’s Civil War diary raised several important questions. First, what did the Confederate cavalrymen who captured both John and his traveling companion, John Burgess, do with the diary? Secondly, if they gave it to one of their officers at Stonewall Jackson’s camp, what did that officer do with it? Thirdly, who gave diary to the Nisewanger family in Newtown, Virginia? Lastly, who moved the diary from the Nisewangers in Frederick County, Virginia, to Broadway, Virginia, in Rockingham County where it was found?

John R. King had his diary, Mr. Newcommer’s borrowed wagon and horse, his ambrotype camera and all of his photographic chemicals and materials with him at the time when he was taken prisoner sometime after his last diary entry on May 22, 1862. The Confederate cavalrymen who took the boys were probably men of Ashby’s cavalry. The two teenagers were found wandering around in the mountains west of the Valley Pike (current Route 11). The two Johns became entangled in the rout made by General Stonewall Jackson when he attacked General Nathaniel Banks’ Union troops at Battle of First Winchester. Most likely, whoever went through the boys’ belongings noticed the diary written in beautiful script. One of the cavalrymen would have next taken the diary to an officer to determine if the diary was of any military importance or had any intelligence value. When the Confederate officers realized that the book was simply a young man’s diary, it was probably discarded by someone on Jackson’s staff. A staff officer may have spotted the Nisewanger surname or another soldier who had the opportunity to skim the diary saw the name. One of them most likely noticed the diary entry of May 8th, 1862:

We transferred our load had the horses put away & got permission to stay in the Toll House, kept by Mrs. Niswanger, she has a couple Young Daughters & we passed the evening very pleasantly.

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