The array of Civil War information available through a variety of sources is incredible, and a researcher's main challenge is not so much finding information as it is sorting through what is available and identifying what is most useful to him. Following is a sampling of the resources available to anyone interested in a more in-depth study of the War Between the States.
In many years, more books are published about the Civil War than about any other aspect of history, regardless of what is happening in the world or what historic anniversaries are being celebrated at the time. A selection of useful books are listed in Appendix C, which includes a number of classics that have stood the test of time and some specialized sources that can hardly be improved upon. Some of the best sources of information about uniforms, equipment, and other goods, for example, are catalogs (both those published in the nineteenth century and some published by modern manufacturers of reproduction clothing and dry goods).
Interested readers are, nonetheless, encouraged to seek other sources as well. New books continue to be published, too, and writers have many ways of keeping up with what has been released, including best-seller lists and reviews in newspapers and other periodicals (especially Civil War and history publications). Various online booksellers also have information services and will notify people by e-mail of new releases in subjects in which they have expressed interest.
In the United States today, many nationally distributed magazines and other periodicals deal directly with the Civil War. Some of these have been around for several years, while others come and go; what is currently available can be easily determined by a quick perusal of a newsstand or bookstore magazine section. Readers unfamiliar with such magazines should try several to see which have the most enjoyable and useful style of writing and editing, and then, if desired, subscribe to one of them. Those who regularly buy several different genre magazines or subscribe to more than one or two will quickly begin to see the same sorts of material, again and again.
Beyond publications directly concerned with the Civil War, there are many that deal with reenacting, history, or geography that regularly or periodically run stories related to the conflict. Reprints of a number of nineteenth-century publications are also frequently available. Godey's Lady's Book, a publication popular with homemakers during the Civil War, can provide those interested with information about diet, recipes, and women's day-to-day concerns. Reprints of it and other period publications are sometimes available, and copies can be found in some libraries.
Researchers today have a vast array of resources available to them through the internet, and dozens of sites are likely to turn up on searches against pertinent keywords. Unfortunately, anything can end up on the web, and some of what is available is poorly written, badly edited, or just plain inaccurate. Be very careful and discriminating when using the internet as a source of information.
Many good websites are available, and the best can do things that conventional books cannot. Many Civil War sites include period music, for example, giving readers a taste of the songs Civil War soldiers played, sang, and listened to.
Official U.S. government departmental and military websites are among the best sites available and contain background information on history, uniforms, ranks, and other subjects of interest. Some of these, such as the U.S. Coast Guard Service and National Park Service sites, are packed with very useful information.
University and college sites also tend to be well written and edited and have fairly extensive, useful content; diaries and other historic texts, often accompanied by period art and illustrations, can often be found on such sites.
Many commercial and private organizations or individuals also maintain useful Civil War sites, many of them run by reenactment groups. It is amongst such sites, however, that researchers should exert the most caution. A few that have been around for some time and have extensive, reliable, and useful content are listed below. Searches coupled with a critical eye can produce many more.
ARCHEOLOGY AT ANDERSONVILLE
www.nps.gov/history/seac/andearch.htm
Explores the site of the Civil War's most notorious prison camp.
CIVIL WAR ARCHEOLOGY
www.nps.gov/history/seac/civilwar/index.htm
A site dedicated to information about historic sites associated with the Civil War.
CIVIL WAR NEWS
www.civilwarnews.com
Website for a current-events monthly newspaper covering Civil War battlefields.
CIVIL WAR REENACTORS HOME PAGE
www.cwreenactors.com
Home to the first forums on the internet dedicated to the Civil War.
CONFEDERATE CIVIL WAR UNIFORMS
www.ushist.com/american_civil-war_uniforms_confederate_cs.shtml
This site includes photographs of Civil War officer and enlisted uniforms used by Rebel soldiers, sailors, and marines.
JEWS IN THE CIVIL WAR
www.jewish-history.com/civilwar
This site includes a database of Jewish veterans of the war and numerous relevant articles.
NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
www.history.navy.mil
This site is part of the official history program of the Department of the Navy helps to preserve, analyze, and interpret naval history.
QUARTERMASTER HERALDIC SECTION AND THE U.S. ARMY INSTITUTE OF HERALDRY
www.qmfound.com/heraldry.htm
Provides information about official government and military symbolic items, such as rank insignia.
UNION CIVIL WAR UNIFORMS
www.ushist.com/american_civil-war_uniforms_union_us.shtml
Includes photographs of Civil War officer and enlisted uniforms of the Army, Navy, and Marines.
U.S. ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
www.history.army.mil
Site for the organization “responsible for the appropriate use of history throughout the U.S. Army” which entails “recording the official history of the Army in both peace and war, while advising the Army Staff on historical matters.”
U.S. COAST GUARD HISTORIANS' OFFICE
www.uscg.mil/history
Site for the agency charged with collecting, preserving, and promoting the institutional memory of the nation's oldest continuous-going sea service.
U.S. MARINE CORPS
www.usmc.mil
Appropriate searches on this official service site will turn up some interesting material related to the role of USMC in the Civil War.
VARHOLA TRAVELBLOGUE
varhola.blogspot.com
This official site by the author of this book covers his trips to battlefields and other sites of historical and cultural interest and contains some companion information related to this book.
Walking across Civil War battlefields and through nineteenth-century buildings, and viewing the objects and clothes carried and worn by the people of the age, can be invaluable to an understanding of the war and its participants. Literally thousands of sites throughout the United States are associated with the Civil War, from major battlefields to the homes of generals, politicians, and common folk. Several are listed next, most of them operated by the National Park Service. Mailing addresses are provided — but note that these sometimes do not represent the physical location of the sites, so those interested in visiting them should obtain directions online or by calling the venues in question.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN BIRTHPLACE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
2995 Lincoln Farm Rd., Hodgenville, KY 42748, (270) 358-3137/38
www.nps.gov/abli
In 1808, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln moved into a one-room log cabin near Sinking Spring, Kentucky, and two months later, on Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born. On July 17, 1916, Congress declared the area was a National Historic Site. Today, the 116-acre site — about one-third the size of the original farm — includes an early nineteenth-century Kentucky cabin.
ANDERSONVILLE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
496 Cemetery Road, Andersonville, GA 31711, (229) 924-0343
www.nps.gov/ande
This is the only park in the National Park System that serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war throughout the nation's history and includes the historic prison site, a national cemetery, and the National Prisoner of War Museum. In authorizing this park, Congress stated that its purpose is “to provide an understanding of the overall prisoner of war story of the Civil War, to interpret the role of prisoner of war camps in history, to commemorate the sacrifice of Americans who lost their lives in such camps, and to preserve the monuments located within the site.”
ANDREW JOHNSON NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
121 Monument Ave., Greenville, TN 37743, (423) 638-3551
www.nps.gov/anjo
This site honors the life and work of the nation's seventeenth president (from 1865 to 1869), who led the country in the years following Lincoln's assassination and during the beginning of Reconstruction. Features of the site include Johnson's two homes, tailor shop, and grave site.
ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD
P.O. Box 158, Sharpsburg, MD 21782, (301) 432-5124
www.nps.gov/anti
Established on August 30, 1890, this Civil War site marks the end of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North at the Battle of Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862, during which more men were killed than on any other single day of the war.
APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
Hwy 24, PO Box 218, Appomattox, VA 24522, (434) 352-8987, ext. 26
www.nps.gov/apco
This is the location of Robert E. Lee's April 9, 1865, surrender to Ulysses Grant, which was authorized as a battlefield site June 18, 1930, and designated a national historical park on April 15, 1954.
ARLINGTON HOUSE AND THE ROBERT E. LEE MEMORIAL
c/o George Washington Memorial Parkway, c/o Turkey Run Park, McLean, VA 22101, (703) 235 1530
www.nps.gov/arho
Arlington House was the home of Robert E. Lee and his family for thirty years and is uniquely associated with both the Washington and Custis families.
BRICES CROSS ROADS NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD SITE
2680 Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS 38804, (662) 680-4025
www.nps.gov/brcr
Confederate cavalry was employed with extraordinary skill during the June 10, 1864, battle at this site, during which Union forces attempted to prevent Southern troops from disrupting Federal supply routes.
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
(Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee)
P.O. Box 2128, Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742, (706) 866-9241
www.nps.gov/chch
America's first National Military Park, established in 1890, honors the Civil War soldiers who fought for control of Chattanooga at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863 and the Battles for Chattanooga in November 1863. The park includes two visitors' centers and more than 8,200 acres in both Georgia and Tennessee. Chickamauga was considered the last major Confederate victory in the West, but it was hollow, as Union forces gained control of Chattanooga just two months later.
CLARA BARTON NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
5801 Oxford Rd., Glen Echo, MD 20812, (301) 320-1410
www.nps.gov/clba
This site commemorates the life of the founder of the American Red Cross. From her house in Glen Echo, Maryland, she organized and directed relief efforts for victims of natural disasters and war.
DRY TORTUGAS NATIONAL PARK
P.O. Box 6208, Key West, FL 33041
www.nps.gov/drto
Built 1846–1866 to help protect the Florida Straits, this is the largest all-masonry fortification in the Western Hemisphere. It served as a prison during and after the Civil War.
FAIRFAX STATION RAILROAD MUSEUM
P.O. Box 7, Fairfax Station, VA 22039, (703) 425-9225
www.fairfax-station.org
This site houses Civil War, Red Cross, and historic railroading memorabilia, along with a variety of artifacts found in and around the Civil War-era station.
FORD'S THEATRE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
511 Tenth St. NW, Washington, DC 20004, (202) 426-6924
www.nps.gov/foth
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln, who had been attending a play at this theater. Lincoln was carried to a small bedroom in the back of the Petersen House, a boarding house across the street from the theater, where he died early the next morning. The theater and house are preserved as national historic sites (the former portion of the site still stages plays) and were recently completely renovated.
FORT DONELSON NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD
P.O. Box 434, Dover, TN 37058, (931) 232-5348 ext. 0
www.nps.gov/fodo/
On February 16, 1862, the Union army in Tennessee, under the command of Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, won its first major victory of the Civil War. Capture of Fort Donelson and approximately thirteen thousand Confederate soldiers delivered a devastating blow to the Rebel cause, set the stage for the Union's invasion of the deep South and catapulted Grant into national prominence.
FORT PULASKI NATIONAL MONUMENT
P.O. Box 30757, Savannah, GA 31410, (912) 786-5787
www.nps.gov/fopu
On April 11, 1862, defensive strategy changed forever when Union rifled cannon first overcame a masonry fortification after only thirty hours of bombardment. Named for Revolutionary War hero Count Casimir Pulaski, Fort Pulaski took some eighteen years to build and was the first military assignment for a young second lieutenant fresh from West Point, Robert E. Lee. This remarkably-intact example of nineteenth-century military architecture contains an estimated 25 million bricks and 7½ foot-thick walls.
FORT SUMTER NATIONAL MONUMENT
1214 Middle St., Sullivan's Island, SC 29482, (843) 883-3123
www.nps.gov/fosu
On April 12 and 13, 1861, the first engagement of the Civil War took place here. After thirty-four hours of fighting, the Union garrison of the fort surrendered it to the Confederacy. From 1863 to 1865, the Confederates at Fort Sumter withstood a twenty-two-month siege by Union forces, during which most of the fort was reduced to brick rubble. It was declared a national monument in 1948.
FREDERICKSBURG AND SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY BATTLEFIELDS MEMORIAL NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
120 Chatham Lane, Fredericksburg, VA 22405, (540) 373-6122
www.nps.gov/frsp
About 110,000 men were killed, wounded, or captured in the vicinity of Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 1927, Congress established the site to commemorate the heroic deeds of the men engaged at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. Today, the largest military park in the world encompasses nearly nine thousand acres and includes the historic structures of Chatham, Ellwood, Salem Church, and the “Stonewall” Jackson Shrine.
GENERAL GRANT NATIONAL MEMORIAL
West 122nd Street and Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10027, (212) 666-1640
www.nps.gov/gegr
Popularly known as Grant's Tomb, this is the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia Dent Grant. Designed by architect John Duncan, the granite-and-marble tomb was completed in 1897 and is the largest mausoleum in North America.
GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100, Gettysburg, PA 17325, (717) 334-1124, ext. 8023
www.nps.gov/gett
Gettysburg was the site of the largest and bloodiest battle ever waged in the Western Hemisphere. It raged from July 1–3, 1863. More than fifty-one thousand soldiers were slain in a Union victory that successfully repulsed Gen. Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North. It was Lee's last major effort to take the fighting out of Virginia and into Northern states.
HARPERS FERRY NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
P.O. Box 65, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425, (304) 535-6029
www.nps.gov/hafe
John Brown and the Civil War are major themes of this park, which became part of the National Park System in 1944 and covers more than 2,300 acres in the states of West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia.
KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK
900 Kennesaw Mountain Dr., Kennesaw, GA 30152, (770) 427-4686, ext. 0
www.nps.gov/kemo
This 2,884-acre park preserves a battleground where some of the most savage combat of the Atlanta Campaign took place, June 19 through July 2, 1864. Features include historic earthworks, cannon emplacements, and monuments.
LINCOLN BOYHOOD NATIONAL MEMORIAL
2916 E South Street, P.O. Box 1816, Lincoln City, IN 47552, (812) 937-4541
www.nps.gov/libo
Abraham Lincoln spent fourteen of the most formative years of his life and grew from youth into manhood on this southern Indiana farm. His mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, is buried here.
LINCOLN HOME NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
413 South Eighth St., Springfield, IL 62701-1905, (217) 492-4241
www.nps.gov/liho
Abraham Lincoln's two-story home stands at the center of this park restored to its 1860s appearance. Lincoln and his family lived in the house from 1844 until his election to the presidency in 1861. It stands in the midst of a four-block historic neighborhood that has been restored so that the surroundings appear much as Lincoln would have remembered them.
MANASSAS NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK
12521 Lee Highway, Manassas, VA 20109, (703) 361-1339
www.nps.gov/mana
The battles of First and Second Manassas (Bull Run) were fought here July 21, 1861, and August 28–30, 1862. The 1861 battle, in which Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson acquired his nickname “Stonewall,” was the first test of Northern and Southern military prowess.
THE MUSEUM OF THE CONFEDERACY
1201 E. Clay St., Richmond, VA 23219, (804) 649-1861
www.moc.org
A great resource for anyone needing information about the South during the Civil War, this site contains the world's most comprehensive collection of artifacts, manuscripts, and photographs from the Confederate States of America.
PAMPLIN HISTORICAL PARK
6125 Boydton Plank Rd., Petersburg, VA 23803, (804) 861-2408
www.pamplinpark.org
This site includes a plantation house restored to its 1865 appearance, walking trails, and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier.
PEA RIDGE NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
15930 E. Highway 62, Garfield, AR 72732, (479) 451-8122 ext. 227
www.nps.gov/peri
This 4,300-acre park preserves the site of the March 7–8, 1862, battle that saved Missouri for the Union. Elkhorn Tavern, the site of bitter fighting on both days, has been reconstructed on the site of the original tavern. This is possibly the best-preserved Civil War battlefield in the country.
PETERSBURG NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD
5001 Siege Road, Petersburg, VA 23803, (804) 732-3531, ext. 200
www.nps.gov/pete
Petersburg became the site of the longest siege in U.S. history when Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant failed to capture Richmond in early 1864. He settled in to subdue the Confederacy by surrounding Petersburg and cutting off Gen. Robert E. Lee's supply lines into Petersburg and Richmond. On April 2, 1865, 9½ months after the siege began, Lee evacuated Petersburg.
RICHMOND NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK
3215 East Broad St., Richmond, VA 23223, (804) 226-1981, ext. 23
www.nps.gov/rich
From 1861 to 1865, Federal armies repeatedly attempted to capture Richmond, capital of the Confederacy, and end the Civil War. Three of those campaigns came within a few miles of the city. This park commemorates eleven different sites associated with those campaigns, including the battlefields of Gaines's Mill, Malvern Hill, and Cold Harbor. Established in 1936, the park includes 763 acres of historic ground.
SHILOH NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
1055 Pittsburg Landing Road, Shiloh, TN 38376, (731) 689-5696
www.nps.gov/shil
The park was established in 1894 to preserve the scene of the first major battle in the West, fought April 6-7, 1862. This battle was a decisive victory for the Union forces when they advanced on and seized control of the Confederate railway system at Corinth, Mississippi. This park contains about four thousand acres and has within its boundaries the Shiloh National Cemetery.
STONES RIVER NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD AND CEMETERY
3501 Old Nashville Highway, Murfreesboro, TN 37129, (615) 893-9501 and (615) 478-1035
www.nps.gov/stri
A fierce battle took place at Stones River from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, and resulted in Union control of central Tennessee. Although the battle was tactically indecisive, it provided a much-needed boost to the North after the defeat at Fredericksburg. This 450-acre site includes Stones River National Cemetery, established in 1865, with more than six thousand Union graves; and the Hazen Monument, believed to be the oldest to the Civil War. Parts of Fortress Rosecrans, a large series of earthworks built after the battle, still stand.
TUPELO NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD
2680 Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS 38804, (800) 305-7417
www.nps.gov/tupe
At this site on July 13–14, 1864, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest attempted to cut the rail-road supplying the Union march on Atlanta.
VICKSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK
3201 Clay St., Vicksburg, MS 39183, (601) 636-0583
www.nps.gov/vick
This park was established on February 21, 1899, to commemorate one of the most decisive battles of the American Civil War — the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg, waged from March 29 to July 4, 1863. Located high on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi, Vicksburg was a fortress guarding the river and was known as “the Gibraltar of the Confederacy.” Its surrender on July 4, 1863, coupled with the fall of Port Hudson, Louisiana, divided the South, and gave the North undisputed control of the Mississippi River. The battlefield is well preserved and includes more than 1,300 monuments and markers, reconstructed trenches and earthworks, one antebellum structure, more than 125 emplaced cannon, a restored Union gunboat (the USS Cairo), and the Vicksburg National Cemetery.
WILSON'S CREEK NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD
6424 W. Farm Rd. 182, Republic, MO 65738, (417) 732-2662, ext. 227
www.nps.gov/wicr
On August 10, 1861, the battle fought here was the first major Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River and involved some five thousand Union and ten thousand Confederate troops, and was a nondecisive Confederate victory. With few exceptions, the 1,750-acre battlefield has changed little.
Many sorts of maps are readily available today, from reprints of Civil War-era battle maps to modern maps that convey demographic or political information. Such tools can be an excellent resource for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of the war. A period map that shows the placement of units on a battlefield and their subsequent movements can be invaluable in helping understand the sequence of a battle. Likewise, a modern map that shows which Southern states seceded from the Union and when can reveal that none of those that actually bordered Union states joined the Confederacy until after the attack upon Fort Sumter.
Over the past few decades heirloom plants have become increasingly popular, and those interested in growing them can find them everywhere, from seed companies that offer heirloom varieties, to garden stores that sell heirloom plants of various sorts (tomatoes being especially popular). With this ease of access, there is no reason not to give heirlooms a try, and those interested in the conflict can grow Civil War-era fruits and vegetables for a historically-accurate taste of the era.