Scope and Content Note: 

Military papers accumulated between March 10 and August 4, 1862, by William Yerger, aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Charles Clark. During most of this period, General Clark commanded the First Division, First Corps, Army of the Mississippi, which fought the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862.

The papers include general orders, special orders, and circulars of the First Division, the First Grand Division, the First Corps, the Army of the Mississippi, and the Western Department issued at Humboldt, Tenn., and Corinth, Baldwin, Saltillo, and Tupelo; morning reports, returns, and reports of the First Division and its brigades; and letters and instructions from higher headquarters to General Clark. Late in July, General Clark was transferred to Louisiana to serve under Major General John C. Breckinridge, and 12 papers pertaining to his activities there.

The collection contains only three printed items as follows:

  • General Orders, No. 27, Head Quarters, Army of the Mississippi, Corinth, April 28, 1862 (General P. G. T. Beauregard)
  • General Orders, No. 3, Head Quarters, Army of the Mississippi, Corinth, May 11, 1862 (General Braxton Bragg)
  • Circular, Head Quarters, Army of the Mississippi, Corinth, May 14, 1862 (General Braxton Bragg).

Six papers dated after 1862 are of a personal nature, including a statement by Yerger on November 6, 1910, concerning this collection of papers.