This collection contains a diary maintained by Stephen R. Kelsey, a private in Company I, 5th United States Artillery during the American Civil War. The diary entries commence on January 1, 1865, with Kelsey apparently writing from the general hospital at Troy [New York]. Soon thereafter, he writes of being transferred to the front at Fort Fisher, Virginia, and briefly describes his route and the ship on which he travels. Kelsey comments daily on the weather and activities in camp, noting weather conditions, proximity to the enemy, and nearby shelling and firing, and notes his battery's transfer to Fort Samson, then to Fort McGilvory. He frequently mentions the tasks he is assigned, particularly building quarters at the fort. He reports on soldiers executed for desertion and bounty-jumping, trading between the lines, seeing Confederate prisoners and deserters, and cheering along the lines in response to war news. He describes at length the Battle of Fort Stedman on March 25 and its aftermath: "[L]ook in any direction and you see signs of the recent struggle knapsacks haversakcs canteens guns and equipment all kinds of clothing shot shell dead & wounded are scattered everywhere." He reports on the Confederate abandonment of Petersburg a few days later and on being in the first artillery battery to enter the city. He relays news of Lee's surrender and the resulting celebration, of Lincoln's assassination ("I am now one of the souths bitterest enemies"), Jefferson Davis's capture, and John Wilkes Booth's death. In early May, Kelsey chronicles his battery's move to northern Virginia. The entries conclude with Kelsey's discharge on May 30, 1865. Also included in the collection is a two-page, typescript essay by Kelsey's nephew, Ernest Flint Kelsey, providing further information on Kelsey's military service and commentary on the diary's contents.