Thursday, June 18, 1863.
Exciting i ever witness we went to see the boyes start for harrisburg i left home about 11 o clock it was almost 12 when i came home this morning the first thing I heard
Friday 19
was that the boyes had bin sent back i feel glad and sorry last night we had quite a Disloyal meeting about mr gibbs the trustees were about to turn mr gibbs right
Saturday 20
out of the church the meeting was posponed it was almost 12 when we left the church the boyes are still talking about going to ware[war]
Annotation 1
Emilie notes other events on this date in the memoranda pages at the end of her diary. To view this entry, click here.
Annotation 2
Section 2 of the Militia Act of July 17, 1862 allowed black men to join as federal soldiers. Massachusetts was the first state to begin forming black regiments, recruiting and filling black regiments early in 1863. Recruiting began in Pennsylvania in mid-1863, and Camp William Penn began training black recruits. By the end of the war, 11,000 black men from Pennsylvania had served in the United States Colored Troops (USCT). Binder, “Pennsylvania Negro Regiments,” 383-417.