John McBride Harville (also spelled Harvill) was born in Illinois on January 29, 1839. His family seems to have moved to Beetown, Wisconsin, around 1843, though other records indicate this may have occurred later. Before the early death of his mother when he was five, his parents appeared to have had three other children: Caroline (later Young), who Harville refers to as "Carrie" or "Cary" in his diaries; William; and Elizabeth (later Nickerson), who Harville calls "Lib." For several years, he lived with a foster family (the Sargents). His father, William, remarried and had five more children. By the start of the American Civil War, Harville was living with the Batie family in Tafton, Wisconsin.

Although Tafton did not have enough men to raise its own company, volunteers from the area, including Harville, joined others to form Company F, 7th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry in Lancaster during the summer of 1861. Harville served primarily in and around Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Chronic health problems resulted in his spending most of September 1862-August 1864 in hospitals in Baltimore, Maryland, though he continues to report on his personal experiences, as well as war news. In January of 1864, he transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps until he mustered out in August 1864.

In October 1864, he married Harriet E. Trine (1846-1916), who he had known since before the war. As early as his first diary in 1861, he records having received letters from Hattie and Lizzie (presumably her sister) Trine. They settled in Wyalusing and had five children: William A. (1865-1894), Annie Laure (b. 1867), Frank D. (1869-1883), Edgar R.(b. 1872), and John M., Jr. (b. 1879). Following the war, Harville was both a farmer and a newspaperman. He died from pneumonia in Wisconsin at age 74 in June 1913.

The 7th Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers, along with the 2nd Wisconsin, 6th Wisconsin, and 19th Indiana, formed the "Iron Brigade" in the autumn of 1861. In October 1862, the 24th Michigan joined the brigade. The Iron Brigade was under the immediate command of Brig. Gen. Rufus King and made up a part of the 3rd Brigade of the Army of Potomac, under Major General McDowell. Near the front of the battle at Gettysburg, Antietam, The Wilderness, Second Bull Run, and several other major campaigns, over the course of the war, the Iron Brigade suffered the greatest losses in proportion to its numbers.

Additional biographical information is available in the collection. More information on Wisconsin Regiments can be found on the Wisconsin Historical Society website: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/research.asp.