Digitized Content from the Stephen Alfred Forbes Papers | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

The digitized content of the Stephen Alfred Forbes Papers consists of Civil War diaries and correspondence of Captain Stephen Alfred Forbes, a soldier in the 7th Illinois Cavalry, as well as a photograph of him in uniform.

Stephen Alfred Forbes (1844-1930) enlisted at age 17 to serve in the 7th Illinois Cavalry during the Civil War, attaining the rank of Captain. During the war, he faced a number of challenges, including imprisonment and disease, but he survived to become a premiere natural historian for the state of Illinois.

The digitized content contains the entirety of Stephen Forbes's original Civil War diaries from 1861, 1862, and 1864-1865 as well as over a dozen letters from the same era. The digitized materials also include a photograph of Stephen A. Forbes in uniform, circa 1862.

The Stephen Alfred Forbes Papers were partially digitized in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Items are available online at the University of Illinois Digital Library. A preservation copy of the items is available to IHLC and digital preservation staff at the Library Digital Repository: https://medusa.library.illinois.edu/collections/1344.