Rice Cook Bull
Guide to Papers in the Collection

Biographical Note:
Rice Cook Bull was born in 1842 in Hartford, Washington County, New York. He was a farm boy before the Civil War, enlisted in 1862 and served in the 123rd New York Volunteer Infantry. After the war, he returned to Troy, New York where he was banker, Secretary-Treasurer of the Troy and New England Railroad, and a member of the Ninth Presbyterian Church in Troy. He died May 19, 1930. Several years after the Civil War, he wrote his recollections of his experiences in the conflict. His son George had the recollections transcribed. A typescript of those recollections was used by K. Jack Bauer in his published edition entitled, Soldiering: The Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull, 123rd New York Volunteer Infantry, 1977.

Scope:
These papers consist of Bull’s 1864 diary, letters of Bull, the original manuscript of Bull’s recollections, a typescript of that manuscript, the manuscript of K. Jack Bauer’s book, a photograph of Bull as a Civil War soldier, and miscellaneous related items. He served at Chancellorsville, in Tennessee, in the Atlanta and Carolinas campaigns and his recollections are a vivid recounting of his experiences during the war.

Container List:

Box 1:
Original manuscript of my recollections of the Civil War, by Rice C. Bull, n.d..
“From the diary of Rice C. Bull, Sergeant Company D 123rd Regiment N.Y. Vol. Inf. kept for the period of service of that Regiment September 4, 1862-June 8, 1865.” (Typed transcript. (74.12.1)

Box 2:
Diary of Rice C. Bull, Co. D, N.Y.V., Jan. 10, 1864-January 1, 1865. (76.164.20).
Correspondence of Rice Bull,1862-1863; original letters and transcriptions.
Letters from Rice Bull:
to his brother Gurdon, Washington, DC, Sept. 11, 1962 (76.164.1)
to Gurdon, Camp Chase, Arlington Hgts., VA, Sept 21,1862 (76.164.2)
to Gurdon, near Harpers Ferry, Oct. 5, 1862 (76.164.3)
to Gurdon, Pleasant Valley, VA, Oct 21, 1862 (76.164.4)
to Gurdon, Hospital, Harpers Ferry, Nov. 20, 1862 (76.164.5)
to Gurdon, Loudon Valley, VA, Dec. 7, 1862 (76.164.6)
to Gurdon, Fairfax Station, VA, Dec. 19, 1862 (76.164.7)
to Gurdon,Fairfax Station, VA, Dec. 25, 1862 (76.164.8)
to Gurdon, near Fairfax Station, VA, Jan. 11, 1863 (76.164. 9)
to Gurdon, near Stafford Court House, Jan. 30, 1863 (76.164.10)
to brother George, near Stafford Court House, VA, Feb. 6, 1863, (76.164.11)
to Gurdon, Camp William, VA, April 5, 1863 (76.164.12)
to Gurdon, Camp William, VA, April 26, 1863 (76.164.13)
to George, Aquia Creek, May 17, 1863 (76.164.14)
Other Correspondence:
N[athaniel] Bull to Rice Cook, [Hartford, NY] June 12, 1842, (76.146.19): Letter mentions birth of Rice Cook Bull.
Letters (2) of Enoch Squires, Research Associate, New York State Civil War Centennial Commission to Ralph Mather Jillson, 1962 and Miss Helen Bull, 1963 related to Rice Bull’s diary and cane. Also one letter from Jillson to Miss Bull, 1962 (76.164.15-16)
Printed Material:
New York State Centennial Commission,, New York State and the Civil War, Nov. 1962 issue with article “Sergeant Bull gets a cane and wins a Rebel friend.” (76.164.17)
Daguerreotype photograph of Rice Bull in dag. frame and larger frame.(78.74.2)
Photographic print, enlarged, of photograph of Sergeant Rice Bull, n.d. ca. 1862-63. (64.113)
Newspaper clipped article. Troy Record, 1/15/1978, by Jack Casey, “Civil War Diaries paint grim picture.”

Box 3:
K. Jack Bauer, manuscript of his book, Soldiering including some research notes. (77.58.1-4).

Note: The Rensselaer County Historical Society also owns Bull’s cane.

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