The diary opens with the following identifier: Joseph B. Husted
Co. K 12th Regt
Camp Stockton
Tent No. 6
Transferred to tent No. 3.
The diary (111 pages) is composed of short daily entries from August 11, 1862- January 24, 1863, most consisting of only one line, describing daily camp life and drills. Husted was probably stationed around Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland, while he was writing the diary. In several entries he mentioned the capture of Confederate prisoners, and in the January 17, 1863, entry he described his division's review by General Burnside. The last 17 pages of the diary list members of the regiment and their statuses: dead, wounded, 1st and 2nd relief, and those who were paid out.
Though the brief entries offer just the essence of soldier life in the Union Army, they do supply a consistent level of detail throughout, especially in regard to food, drills, travel and activities, inspections, entertainment, weather, prisoners, and skirmishes.
Husted, Joseph B.
Rank: Cpl.
Regiment: 12th New Jersey Volunteer Regiment, Co. K. (1862-1865)
Little is known of Joseph B. Husted, the author of this Civil War diary. His diary mentions sisters Elizabeth (October 28, 1862) and Mary (November 3, 1862) but few additional clues to identify his family. We do know that he was a corporal in Co. K of the 12th New Jersey Regiment starting on August 6, 1862, and was discharged from the Army General Hospital on a disability claim at Fairfax Seminary, Virginia, on Oct. 24, 1863.
The 12th New Jersey Infantry Volunteers was organized in the summer of 1862 by Captain William B. Royal with a total of 992 men at Camp Stockton in Woodbury, New Jersey. It traveled to Baltimore and Washington D.C. where it joined the Army of the Potomac. Husted fought with the regiment in many key battles including Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Falling Waters.
