Research Guides: HIST 4369: Civil War & Reconstruction: -- Online: Civil War & Reconstruction

History Librarian

Kristina Claunch

Contact:

936-294-1520
kclaunch@shsu.edu
Library (NGL) Room 223G

Civil War & Reconstruction Primary Sources

Abraham Lincoln: Digital Collections
(Library of Congress)
Abraham Lincoln Papers
(Library of Congress)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1841–1955) Important daily newspaper covering both regional and national news (Brooklyn Public Library)
Chronicling America Digitized newspapers from a number of states, with most coverage 1860-1922. Library of Congress project. More newspapers are being added regularly. Texas component: Texas Digital Newspaper Program.
Civil War Collections at Michigan State University Huge online collection of scanned letters, newspaper articles, images, photographs, diaries, and much more. (Michigan State Univ.)
Civil War Collection at Penn State
Includes diaries, newspapers, and other ephemera. (Pennsylvania State Univ.)
Civil War: Context and Conflict
Selected materials digitized from the LSU Special Collections. (Louisiana State Univ.)
Civil War Diaries and Letters Collections
Covers both sides of the war. (Auburn Univ.)
Civil War History Center: Primary Sources Primary sources, including photos and battle maps (including modern, historical, and even animated maps). (American Battlefield Trust)
Civil War Maps, Selected
(Library of Congress)
Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865 Primary source documents, images, and maps, plus scholarly essays and encyclopedia entries, relating to the Missouri-Kansas border war in the mid-19th century. (Kansas City Public Library)
The Civil War Seige of Petersburg Blog format--Use the "Resources" button at the top left to access primary content. Includes transcriptions of reports, diaries, letters, newspaper accounts, and other primary sources related to the series of nine offensives between June 15, 1864, and April 2, 1865, known as the Petersburg Campaign.
Civil War Soldier, Regiment, and Battle Database
(National Park Service)
Civil War Soldiers' Letters and Diaries Database Easiest way to access primary content: scroll down in menu on left and use "Browse Soldiers" or "Search Letters".
Civil War Timeline
Uses contemporaneous articles & images from The Times (New York Times)
Civil War Washington, D.C. Includes 1864-1865 newspapers from D.C.; medical and surgical cases from the The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion; slaveholders' petitions for compensation, 1862; photographs; maps; and downloadable data sets. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
Civil War: Women and the Homefront: Primary Sources Online Use the tab labeled “Primary Sources Online.” Links to diaries, letters, and more. Includes a collection from Confederate spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow, letters from African American slaves, etc.. (Duke Univ.)
Civil War Women: Primary Sources on the Internet
(Duke Univ. Libraries)
Congressional Globe Contains the congressional debates of the 23rd through 42nd Congresses (1833-73). (Library of Congress)
Documenting the American South
(Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Glass Negatives and Related Prints Approximately 7,000 portraits and battleground images are available. The collection is from the glass negatives of Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner, as well as other photographic collections. (Library of Congress)
Harper's Weekly (1861-1865) All pages from the 1861–1865 Civil War period have been scanned including the engravings and illustrations. (Lee Foundation)
Henry Mosler's Civil War Diary
Includes digital images of the original diary and text transcripts. Smithsonian Institution)
His Soul Goes Marching On: The Life and Legacy of John Brown
(West Virginia Division of Culture & History)
Intellectual Underpinnings of the American Civil War
(Mississippi State Univ. and the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries)
Letters Home from the Civil War A collection of letters from both Union and Confederate soldiers, organized by name and regiment. (Civil War Archive)
John Brown and the Valley of the Shadow
(Univ. of Virginia)
Making of America Project Digital library of primary sources (mostly books and journal articles) in American social history, from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
Maps from the Army Corps of Engineers The records in the Civil Works Map File comprised the main map collection for the Corps of Engineers during the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. They include manuscript maps forwarded to headquarters by Corps of Topographic Engineers and Army Engineer surveyors and cartographers in the field, and published editions of selected maps.
Memorable Days: The Emilie Davis Diaries "Emilie Davis was an African-American woman living in Philadelphia during the U.S. Civil War. This website is a transcription of Emilie’s three pocket diaries for the years 1863, 1864, and 1865."
NOAA Historical Map and Chart Collection: Civil War Battle Maps Under "Type," choose "Civil War." Optionally enter a state or a year, or just click Search to view all. (Office of Coast Survey, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA))
Pictures of the Civil War
Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner photographs from the Civil War. (National Archives)
Richmond Daily Dispatch (1860-1865)
Newspaper published from the Confederate capital; 1,384 issues. (Univ. of Richmond, et al.)
Secession-Era Editorials (1850s) Transcribed editorials from contemporary newspapers, all from the 1850s. Issues discussed include the Nebraska Bill debates, the caning attack on Senator Charles Sumner by Representative Preston Brooks, John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, and the Dred Scott decision. (Furman Univ.)
Ulysses S. Grant Digital Collection
(Mississippi State University)
The Valley Project: Two Communities in the Civil War Compares Northern and Southern experience of the war through primary sources from two communities. (Virginia Center for Digital History)
Virginia Convention of 1861 Transcribed texts of the debates concerning Virginia's secession or support of the Union in 1861. Also includes data visualizations of secession votes by county and similar. (Univ. of Richmond)
The War of the Rebellion Atlas Digitized edition of the War Department's official Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, published in 1895. Contains more than 1,000 maps, illustrations, and diagrams detailing battlefield maps, scenes from the conflict, and military equipment. (Baylor Univ.)
William Emerson Strong: Confederate Portrait Album
(Duke Univ. Libraries)
William Tecumseh Sherman Family Papers Includes correspondence, clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, diaries, various legal papers and documents, speeches and military orders, and more. Click the blue links to view the digitized images. (Univ. of Notre Dame)
Find MORE Collections...
A listing of free online primary source collections, from College & Research Libraries News

Civil War Images: Photos and Caricatures Online

Civil War Medical Care: U.S. Sanitary Commission Photos
(New York Public Library)
Matthew Brady Civil War Photographs
(National Archives, via Flickr)
Photographs from The Atlantic
Civil War-era photos from The Atlantic covering the battleships, prisons, hospitals, urban centers, and rural pastures of the Civil War.
Thomas Nast Caricature Collection, 1850s-1890s
(Princeton Univ.)

Digital History Projects

These projects take primary/historical data and represent it visually in new ways, in order to make patterns or trends visible or to facilitate new interpretations.

Please note: The data, the numbers, are generally primary, but the maps themselves are secondary, because they represent a particular manipulation or interpretation of the original data. Both can still be excellent sources to reference, but keep the difference in perspective.

Hidden Patterns of the Civil War
Digital history projects providing new ways to visualize data on topics such as news dispatches; where, when, and how emancipation occurred; Virginia secession; black marriage and migration; slave markets; and elections. (Univ. of Richmond Digital Scholarship Lab)
Mapping Occupation
Note: Use the tabs down the left to view the Data sources, the guided Narrative, or the Exploratory Map, which lets you interact with and recombine the data to create new maps.
"Captures the regions where the United States Army could effectively act as an occupying force in the Reconstruction South. For the first time, it presents the basic nuts-and-bolts facts about the Army's presence, movements that are central to understanding the occupation of the South. ...Viewers can use these maps as a guide through a complex period, a massive data source, and a first step in capturing the federal government's new reach into the countryside." (Gregory P. Downs and Scott Nesbit, Univ. of Georgia)

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.