James Maughlin photograph, circa 1861

The James Maughlin diary contains 81 pages describing the daily events of the Civil War aboard the USS Kineo, January 1-July 29, 1863 by Third Assistant Engineer James W. Maughlin of Baltimore, Maryland. All entries begin with the location of the steamer and the date, followed by a few sentences on the day. Maughlin often notes the interactions with other vessels (who are named), the weather, his duties with the machinery, and sometimes relays news and rumors of the war. On January 17, he writes, "Heard Bragg was defeated badly by Rosecrans and that our forces had taken four parallels at Vicksburg, and were marching in the city."

Most of the diary entries are short, with a few exceptions. Maughlin's description of the events of March 14, 1863, on the Mississippi River relay in three pages of detail, Admiral Farragut's run past enemy fortifications at Port Hudson. The final entry in the diary, dated July 29, 1863, from New Orleans, contains just one sentence, "Very quiet all day. The Richmond got and proceeded to sea."

The collection also contains a full transcript of the diary, created by the donor and annotated with further description and sources. A photograph of James Maughlin taken circa 1861 is also included.