Although diaries are personal memoirs not usually meant for public viewing, they can sometimes reveal history more vividly and accurately then actual history books. With that said, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft presents three manuscript volumes, totaling 1,240 digital images, that document daily life in Washington, DC through the eyes of Horatio Nelson Taft (1806-1888). An examiner for the US Patent Office, Mr. Taft logged events in Washington during the Civil War years, including his connection with Abraham Lincoln and his family. Of special interest is Taft's description of Lincoln's assassination, based on the accounts of his friends and his son, the latter being one of the attending physicians at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, the night Lincoln was shot. Donated as a gift from Mrs. Willoughby Davis, a Taft descendant, the three-volume diary is now housed in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress. This online collection spans the years 1861 to 1865 and is browseable by date of entry.