Research Guides: Wars Involving the U.S.: Civil War & Reconstruction

Reference Materials

State Specific Resources

Civil War Atlases & Maps

Browse and Search the Shelves

If you aren't sure exactly what you're looking for, walk around and see what books you stumble upon.

Most books dealing with the Civil War are on the 4th floor of the library between call numbers E456 and E655; most books focusing on Reconstruction are on the 4th floor at call number E668. Start in these call number areas:

E456 - E655 - Civil War period, 1861-1865
- E456 - E459 - Lincoln's administration, 1861-April 15, 1865
- E461 - E655 - The Civil War, 1861-1865
- E482 - E489 - Confederate States of America
- E491 - E586 - Armies. Troops
- E591 - E600 - Naval history
E666 - E670 - Andrew Johnson's administration, April 15, 1865-1869
- E668 - Reconstruction, 1865-1877

To find the call number areas for more specific subjects, check out the call number outline at the Library of Congress website.

Subject headings allow you to find books according to broader and narrower topics.

Below are sample subjects. To browse for different, broader, or narrower subjects, go to the library catalog and click "Exact Search." Enter a term and click "subject."

You can start browsing for a broad subject like Education, then look for more specific subjects, such as Education England History 18th century.

Once you know some subject headings, you can also just use them as keywords during an advanced search, using the subject row.

United States history Civil War, 1861-1865 Personal Narratives
United States history Civil War, 1861-1865 African Americans
United States history Civil War, 1861-1865 Women
United States history Civil War, 1861-1865 Campaigns
United States history Civil War, 1861-1865 Regimental Histories
Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863
Antietam, Battle of, Md., 1862
Shiloh, Battle of, Tenn., 1862
Appomattox Campaign, 1865
Or search for just about any other battle or campaign with a subject like "[Place Name], Battle of"
Confederate States of America
Slaves emancipation United States
Southern states Social conditions
Reconstruction
Texas history Civil War, 1861-1865
Or search for any other state with a subject in this same format, "[State Name] history Civil War 1861-1865"

Often a variety of primary documents are collected together into a book (usually related to a time period, topic, or theme).

Below are just a few collections in the Library; each book contains many original documents. Search the library catalog for more Civil War sources...

Browse or search these journals online, inside the Project Muse database. If you are off campus, log in when prompted using your SHSU username and password.

Articles from Southern Cultures
Choose "Civil War" from the subject list for articles by Drew Gilpin Faust and many others. (Center for the Study of the American South at the Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
Civil War at 150: Origins (April 2011 issue of the OAH Magazine of History)

Print Collections

Historical Documents and Other Guides

Nineteenth (19th) Century U.S. Newspapers Digital Archive
New York Times Historical, 1851 to 3 years ago
Civil War, Parts 1-7 (Accessible Archives)

- Regimental histories, rosters, and muster lists representing all Union regiments.
- Commanding officer memoirs, strategies and tactics (mostly Union, some Confederate).
- Selected newspaper content from 1850s and 1860s representing Union
America's Historical Newspapers 1690-1998
African American Newspapers 1827-1998
Hispanic American Newspapers 1808-1980
The Times Digital Archive, 1785 to 2014

The library has a large collection of Southern women's diaries from the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.

Read the online guide to Southern women's diaries to find the women's names, dates of the diary, and an overview of the topics discussed.

There are also several New England Women's diaries that cover the Civil War and Reconstruction period.

Read the online guide to New England women's diaries to find the women's names, dates of the diary, and an overview of the topic discussed.

Both sets of diaries will be found in the Microforms Room on the 1st floor of the library, call number HQ1412 .A54.

SHSU Special Collections

Click to view a complete list of the Confederate Imprints held in SHSU Special Collections.

Contains a number of Civil War-era maps. Especially strong in maps depicting the South, including MS, AL, VA, SC, GA, AR, LA, TN, and FL.

Browse the Finding Aid to the Map Collection

Click to view a complete list of the Regimental Histories held at SHSU.

Confederate Veteran, v.1-40 (1893-1932)
Call Number: E482 .C74
Harper's Weekly, v.5-10 (1861-1866)
Call Number: AP2 .H32
Southern Historical Society Papers, v.1-52 (1876-1959)
Call Number: E483.7 .S76

Official Records Links

Soldiers fighting on the battlefield at Antietam

Unknown author; Kurz & Allison, Art Publishers, Chicago, U.S.A. / Restored by Michel Vuijlsteke [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

McClellan Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.19:Part 1, pp. 24-33.
Lee Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.19:Part 1, pp. 141-153.
Burnside Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.19:Part 1, pp. 416-422.
A.P. Hill Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.19:Part 1, pp. 979-982.

Credit: This box of links was originally created by Northwest Michigan College Library

Battle of Boonville, by Orlando Richardson. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

N. Lyons Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.3, pp. 11-14.

Historical marker at the site of the Battle of Champion Hill, Mississippi

Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Grant Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.24:Part 1, pp. 44-59.
Pemberton Report (Pt.1)
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.24:Part 1 pp. 249-295.
Pemberton Report (Pt. 2)
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.24:Part 1, pp. 325-330.

Map of the First Battle of Bull Run

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.CWmaps.com [CC BY 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons.

McDowell Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.2, pp. 316-325.
Beauregard Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.2, pp. 484-504.

Image from page 342 of "The photographic history of the Civil War : in ten volumes" (1911), via Flickr.

Burnside Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.31:Part 1, pp. 272-279.
Longstreet Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.31:Part 1, pp. 455-466.

Ruins of Fort Sumter, Library of Congress.

Anderson Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.1, pp. 12.
Beauregard Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.1, pp. 30-35.

Map of field works at battle field in Franklin, Tennessee
Field works at Franklin, Tenn., occupied by the 23d and 4th corps during engagement of Nov. 30th , Maj. Gen. J. M. Schofield, comdg . [S.l, 1864] Map. .

Schofield Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.45:Part 1, pp. 339-347.
Hood Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.45:Part 1, pp. 652-662.

"Havoc," effects of a 32-pound shell from gun of Second Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. Confederate caisson and eight horses destroyed. Fredericksburg, May 3, 1863. Capt. Andrew J. Russell. Mathew Brady Collection. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Burnside Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.21, pp. 82-97.
Lee Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.21, pp. 546-556

Barlow's Knoll at Gettysburg [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Meade Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.27:Part 1, pp. 114-119.
Lee Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.27:Part II, pp. 313-325.

Oil painting of the sinking of the Monitor and the Merrimack

"The Monitor and Merrimac: The First Fight Between Ironclads" by Jo Davidson [Public Domain] via Wikipedia.

Buchanan Report
Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. ser.1:v.7, pp. 44-49.
S.D. Greene Report
Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. ser.1:v.7, p. 25.

Hand-drawn map of the battle of Kernstown

Sneden, Robert Knox [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Stonewall Jackson Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.12:Part 1, pp. 379-.384
N. Kimball Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.12:Part 1, pp. 360-361.

Painting of field hospital from Pickett's Charge

Hospital scene behind the lines of Pickett's Charge, Gettysburg, Pa. Boston Public Library CC BY via Flickr

James Longstreet Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.27:Part 1, pp. 357-363.
Winfield Scott Hancock Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.27:Part 1, pp. 367-377.

Historical marker commemorating the Battle of Rich Mountain
"Historical Marker", by Brian M. Powell [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikipedia.

McClellan Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.2, pp. 202-208.
J. M. Heck Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.2, pp. 254-259.

Grant from West Point to Appomattox, by Thure de Thulsrup. [Public Domain] via Wikipedia.

Grant Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.10:Part 1, pp. 108-111.
Beauregard Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1: vol.10:Part 1, pp. 385-392.

Kurz & Alison, "Battle of Stone River." Library of Congress [Public domain]

Sketch of battle positions of armies in the Battle of the Wilderness
Jed. Hotchkiss [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Grant's Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.36, Part 1, pp. 2-3.
Lee Report
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Ser.1:v.36, Part 1, pp. 1028.

Civil War Videos from Films on Demand

(Requires an SHSU username and password to view off campus.)

Or search for more films:

Videos Online

Find More Videos from American History TV in the CSPAN Video Library
Opens a Browse page for American History TV videos, including lectures, panel discussions, speeches by expert historians, and more. (CSPAN)

Just For Fun: Report of First Doctor to Reach Abraham Lincoln Found

[Video] The American Civil War: Every Day

Civil War Blogs

Civil War Day by Day

Disunion
This New York Times blog "revisits and reconsiders America’s most perilous period — using contemporary accounts, diaries, images and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded." (New York Times)