Transcription of a Civil War diary kept by Alva Cleveland of Milwaukee, Wis., who enlisted in the 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a nurse in 1861. Included is a photocopy of a portrait of Alva with his twelve-year-old son, George Washington Cleveland, who enlisted as a drummer boy in the same unit. Beginning with his mustering in at Camp Scott, Milwaukee, the diary includes Alva's observations of his surroundings, accounts of events and activities, and description of his feelings about the war. The last entry finds Alva near Bowling Green, Ky.
