The collections in the Confederate Military Manuscripts cover the perspective of an army commander or an administrative department down to the level of the private soldier, covering all aspects of their military service and experience, while also offering glimpses of life on the home front. Several previously unpublished collections of records of the Union Army are also integral to this module. Highlights include papers of spies, scouts, guides and detectives, including a series on Allan Pinkerton; records on military discipline from courts-martial, courts of inquiry and investigations by military commissions; and records of the U.S. Colored Troops.
A collection of websites archived by the Library of Congress presenting various projects and events in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War.
Photographs, prints, and drawings housed at the Library of Congress relating to the Civil War. It includes the Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Printes collection, selected illustrations from pictorial newspapers, and many other image collections.
A composite of three collections from the Library of Congress, the Virginia Historical Society, and the Library of Virginia that includes nearly 3000 maps.
A digital history project that allows users to study, visualize, and theorize the complex changes in the city of Washington, DC between 1860 and 1865 through a collection of datasets, images, texts, and maps. For more information about the themes and digital projects, see the ebook Civil War Washington : history, place, and digital scholarship
The Hotchkiss Map Collection contains cartographic items made by Major Jedediah Hotchkiss (1828-1899), a topographic engineer in the Confederate Army. Hotchkiss made detailed battle maps primarily of the Shenandoah Valley, some of which were used by the Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson for their combat planning and strategy.
More than 6,000 special portrait photographs, called ambrotypes and tintypes, and small card photos called cartes de visite represent both Union and Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War (1861-1865).
Includes physical (height, weight), military (rank, enlistment date) and demographic (birthplace, ethnicity, occupation) information for Pennsylvania soldiers who enlisted in the Union army and subsequently were cited as deserters.
Presents documents related to all aspects of Southern life during the Civil War. This collection includes over four hundred Civil War era maps, broadsides, photographs, printed works, Confederate currency, and manuscript letters and diaries.
A digital archive of primary sources that document the lives of people in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, during the era of the American Civil War.
The William A. Gladstone Afro-American Military Collection (ca. 500 items) spans the years 1773 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the Civil War period, 1861-1865. Most items document African Americans in military service, especially the United States Corps d'Afrique and the United States Colored Troops, which were organized during the Civil War.
Full text archive of published memoirs, letters and diaries on almost every aspect of the Civil War. [1861 -1865]
Published memoirs, letters and diaries on almost every aspect of the war. Includes writings by politicians, generals, slaves, landowners, farmers, seamen, wives and spies. Descriptions of historical characters and events, glimpses of daily life in the army, anecdotes about key events and personages. Provides both the Northern and Southern perspective. Materials originate from all regions of the country.
The papers of diarist Betty Herndon Maury Maury (1835-1903) consist of a diary kept by Maury from June 3, 1861, to February 18, 1863. Maury wrote the diary primarily in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and it contains detailed comments on the progress of the American Civil War.
The papers of Civil War soldier and artist Charles Wellington Reed (1841-1926) span the years 1776-1926, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1862-1865, when he served with the Ninth Independent Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery.
An online presentation of correspondence, photographs, and other materials dating between 1861 and 1865 documenting the Civil War experience of Captain Tilton C. Reynolds, a member of the 105th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
The papers of nurse, educator, philanthropist, and lecturer Clara Barton (1821-1912) consist of 62,000 items (81,608 images, the bulk of which date from 1861 to 1912. They relate primarily to Barton's work providing relief services during the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War in Europe, her founding in 1881 and subsequent leadership of the American National Red Cross, and her establishment in 1905 of the National First Aid Association of America.
The collection consists of correspondence, financial and legal records, military orders and records, speeches, and miscellaneous items comprising Civil War material amassed by collector Donald Benham.
The papers of lawyer and Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton (1814-1869) span the years 1818-1921, with the bulk of the material originating between 1862 and 1870. The papers focus chiefly on Stanton's tenure as secretary of war under presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson and stress his role in the Union victory over the Confederacy and the first phase of Reconstruction.
Spanning the years 1783-1898, with the bulk dating from 1850 to 1885, the collection relates primarily to General George B. McClellan's Civil War service, particularly in the 1862 Peninsular Campaign in Virginia and battle of Antietam in Maryland.
The papers of educator, Confederate cartographer and topographical engineer Jedediah Hotchkiss (1828-1899) span the years 1835-1908, with the bulk of the material dating from 1875 to 1898.
The papers of laborer and Union soldier John Carvel Arnold (1833-1865) primarily contains correspondence with his wife during his Civil War service.
Jubal Anderson Early Papers
The papers of this United States and Confederate army officer, lawyer, and Virginia state legislator span the years 1829-1930. apers relating to Early's experiences during the Civil War include items concerning his participation in the battles of First Bull Run and Williamsburg, the Gettysburg Campaign, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864.
The Gresham family material in the Lewis H. Machen Family Papers consists of seven diaries kept by Georgia teenager LeRoy Wiley Gresham (1847-1865) during the Civil War, and approximately 550 items of correspondence, primarily letters exchanged by members his family's inner circle.
The papers of Union army officer and Freedmen’s Bureau advocate Nathan W. Daniels (1836-1867), spanning the years 1861-1867, consist of three volumes of a handwritten diary with photographs, illustrations, and newspaper clippings mounted throughout the text.
The papers of Union soldier Samuel J. Gibson (1833-1878) consist of a diary kept by Gibson in 1864 while serving with Company B, 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, and a letter to his wife while held as a prisoner at Camp Sumter in Georgia, the Confederate prisoner of war camp commonly known as Andersonville Prison.
This collection of documents relating to Winston's work as a surgeon for Illinois troops includes biographical materials, case histories, lists of medical supplies, and various documents related to soldiers.
This collection represents three manuscript volumes that document daily life in Washington, D.C., through the eyes ofU.S. Patent Offi ce examiner Horatio Nelson Taft (1806-1888), including Taft's connection with Abraham Lincoln and hisfamily.
The papers of General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) span the years 1810-1897, with the bulk of the material originating between 1848 and 1891. The collection consists of correspondence, a volume of recollections during and after the Mexican War, military documents, printed matter, memorabilia, and manuscripts of Sherman’s Memoirs. The manuscript of the Memoirs and a long narrative of wartime experiences supplement the correspondence for the Civil War period.
The papers of reformer, poet, editor, and clergyman William Oland Bourne (1819-1901) span the years 1841-1885, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1856-1867. As editor of the periodical The Soldier's Friend, Bourne sponsored a contest in 1865-1866 in which Union soldiers and sailors who lost their right arms by disability or amputation during the Civil War were invited to submit samples of their penmanship using their left hands. The papers include contest entries and some photographs of the participants. Bourne also served as a chaplain during the war and collected reminiscenses of patients in three autograph books.
Women and the American Civil War