Typescript copy of the original diary written and published in 1880 by Edmund Newsome, Jackson County, Illinois. Newsome was a member of the 81st Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The diary is of particular interest because the 81st Infantry Regiment was stationed in Mississippi. There are numerous references to Oxford, Jackson, Port Gibson, Raymond, and Vicksburg. The 81st Infantry was involved in the siege of Vicksburg from May 18, 1863, until the surrender of that city on July 4, 1863.