Scope and Contents:
Col. Philip Sidney Post commanded the 59th Ill. Vol. Inf. from 1862 until he was promoted to brigadier general in Dec. 1864. This collection includes seven maps prepared for Post during the Civil War, including sketches and reconnaissance of land in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The collection also contains a camp newspaper issued on Jan. 11, 1862, by the 9th Missouri Vol. Inf. at Otterville, Mo., and an English land indenture of 1838.
Michael H. Shirley, Post's great-grandson, donated the collection to the Library in 1993. On Post, see the collection of his papers in the Knox College Library. See also Peter Cozzens, "Forgotten Hero: Philip Sidney Post," Illinois Historical Journal, 84:2 (Summer 1991).