Joseph M. Raymond was born on October 6, 1837 in Ohio. He worked as a schoolteacher and corresponded with his friend Hila Bennitt, also a teacher. During the first year of the American Civil War, Raymond confided to Bennitt that he was in ill health and feared the rigors of military service might hasten his demise. However, on August 13, 1862, he enlisted in the Union Army in Tiffin, Ohio, and served in Company I of the 101st Ohio Volunteer Regiment.

Starting on August 25, 1862, Raymond began recording a diary of his activities and observations. He also continued to exchange letters with Hila and other friends from Ohio. Raymond's diary ended abruptly in June of 1863, and it remains a mystery whether he ceased writing voluntarily or if the pages from that period were merely lost. On September 19, 1863, Raymond participated in the Battle of Chickamauga. He had carried a mortally wounded comrade, Isaac Rule, to a field hospital that Confederate forces promptly captured. Raymond thus became a prisoner of war.

Raymond was included in a prisoner exchange between the opposing armies, and he was returned to Ohio in November of 1863. By the end of the year, Raymond was stationed in Camp Chase, Ohio in a "parole" unit, awaiting the return of additional prisoners. He also resumed his diary during this time. By June of 1864, Raymond had rejoined his regiment and saw further combat in the Atlanta Campaign.

In 1868, Raymond and Bennitt were married. They eventually settled in Kansas and operated a dairy farm. The Raymonds had two sons, William and Frederick. The latter became a professor at the University of Kansas and reconstructed his father's war service by studying his diaries and letters. Joseph M. Raymond died in 1910.