Library Research Guides: Civil War Resources : Primary Sources

Civil War Era News

19th Century U.S. Newspapers
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912.
Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers (The Library of Congress) Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1777-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
Georgia Historic Newspapers The Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG), a part of Georgia’s Virtual Library GALILEO and is based at the University of Georgia Libraries. Since 2007, the DLG has partnered with universities, archives, public libraries, historical societies, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions to digitize historical newspapers from around the state. The archive is free and open for public use and includes over one million Georgia newspaper pages between 1786 and 1986.
The Guardian, 1821-2003 The Guardian (1821-2003) newspaper coverage provides easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
New York Times, 1851-2002 The New York Times newspaper coverage provides easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
The Observer, 1791-2003 The Observer (1791-2003) newspaper coverage provides easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.

Civil War Primary Sources

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress The papers of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer, representative from Illinois, and sixteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 40,550 documents dating from 1774 to 1948, although most of the collection spans from the 1850s through Lincoln’s presidency (1861-1865). Roughly half of the collection, more than 20,000 documents, comprising 62,000 images, as well as transcriptions of approximately 10,000 documents, is online. Included on this website in their entirety are Series 1-3 of the Lincoln Papers and the original materials in Series 4. Excluded from this online presentation is a sizeable portion of Series 4, which consists of printed material and reproductions of government and military documents made from originals in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Alexander Hamilton Stephens Papers - Library of Congress The papers of Alexander Hamilton Stephens (1812-1883), lawyer, journalist, governor of Georgia, member of both houses of the United States Congress, and vice president of the Confederate States of America, span the years 1784-1886, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1850-1883. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, supplemented by an autobiography and journal and miscellaneous memoranda, legal documents, and clippings. The papers are organized in three series: General Correspondence, Letters from Servants, and Autobiography and Journal.
American Civil War - Digital Public Library of America DPLA can help you find the resources you need for your research project. Our portal makes it easy to search the digital collections of thousands of libraries, archives, and museums nationwide, all in one website.
Civil War - Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division Explore the faces, places and events of the U.S. Civil War through photographs, prints and drawings. The Prints & Photographs Division holds thousands of images relating to the Civil War, found in many different collections. This category allows research across those collections.
Civil War Maps - Library of Congress Brings together materials from three premier collections: the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, the Virginia Historical Society, and the Library of Virginia. Among the reconnaissance, sketch, and theater-of-war maps are the detailed battle maps made by Major Jedediah Hotchkiss for Generals Lee and Jackson, General Sherman's Southern military campaigns, and maps taken from diaries, scrapbooks, and manuscripts all available for the first time in one place.
Civil War Primary Source Documents GGC subscription database
Documenting the American South A digital publishing initiative of the University Library of the University of North Carolina that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.
Gateway to North America: People, Places, and Organizations of 19th-Century New York From the New-York Historical Society, features more than 800,000 pages of content from over 1,500 residential and business directories, organization records, urban guidebooks, and other sources rich in names and places that present a history of the people of New York City from the late eighteenth century through the early twentieth century. New York was long the country’s focal point of industry, trade, commerce and immigration, and this collection features materials that track the city's inhabitants over time and place, where they lived, where they worked, and what they did.
The Making of America - Cornell The Cornell University Library Making of America Collection is comprised of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
The Making of America - University of Michigan A thematically-related digital library documenting American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. At the University of Michigan, approximately 1,600 books and ten journals with imprints primarily between 1850 - 1877 were selected, scanned, and made available.
The National Park Service - The Civil War Includes the Soldiers and Sailors Database of Civil War combatants, histories of Union and Confederate regiments, links to descriptions of significant battles, and selected lists of prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records.
Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War Here, you may explore the lives of people swept up in the great American dramas of slavery, war, and emancipation. The two communities, one in the North and one in the South, experienced every national challenge from secession through Reconstruction.
The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. Official records produced by the armies of the United States and the Confederacy, and the executive branches of their respective governments, concerning the military operations of the Civil War, and prisoners of war or prisoners of state. Also annual reports of military departments, calls for troops, correspondence between national and state governments, correspondence between Union and Confederate officials. The final volume includes a synopsis, general index, special index for various military divisions, and background information on how these documents were collected and published. Accompanied by an atlas. KAUFMAN LIBRARY LOCATION E464 .U6

Georgia

America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia
Confederate Enlistment Oaths and Discharges, 1861-1864 - Georgia Archives Documents, encluding enlistment oaths, oaths of allegiance, discharges, and pay records, from troops recruited by the State of Georgia, either before the units were turned over to Confederate service outside of Georgia, or for units intended for service only within the state. These records were taken from Record Groups 022-001-069, Defense Dept., Adjutant General, Discharges, and 022-01-070, Defense Dept., Adjutant General, Georgia Army Enlistment Oaths.
Confederate Muster Rolls - Georgia Archives The majority of the company muster rolls in this series are from military organizations created by the State of Georgia during the Civil War for service within the state. These military organizations include the Georgia Army (1861), Georgia State Troops (September 1861- May 1862), the Georgia State Guards (August 1863-February 1864), and the Georgia State Line (1862-1865). Most units were later turned over to Confederate service. There are also nearly 250 muster rolls from Georgia Volunteer Infantry. These records were taken from Record Groups 22-1-63, Defense Dept., Adjutant General, Confederate Muster Rolls.
Confederate Pension Applications, 1879-1960 - Georgia Archives Applications, supporting documentation, and correspondence for indigent or maimed Confederate veterans or indigent widows of Confederate soldiers. These records are from Record Group 058-01-001, Confederate Pensions and Records, Pension Office, Pension Applications.
Confederate Pension Applications Supplements - Georgia Archives Applications, supporting documentation, and correspondence for indigent or maimed Confederate veterans or indigent widows of Confederate soldiers. These records are from Record Group 058-01-001, Confederate Pensions and Records, Pension Office, Pension Applications. The original Confederate Pension Applications were microfilmed by the Georgia Archives in 1962. After the records were filmed, additional Pension Applications were discovered that had never been filed among the original applications. These records became "Pension Supplement 1" to the Confederate Pension Applications. Still later, additional records were discovered and these became "Pension Supplement 2." Both Supplements are combined in this online collection.
Cyrus F. Jenkins Civil War Diary, 1861-1862 The Cyrus F. Jenkins Civil War Diary, 1861-1862, held at the Troup County Archives, chronicles Cyrus Franklin Jenkins' experiences as an enlisted man in the Meriwether Volunteers, Company B, 13th Georgia Infantry Regiment, during the first year of the war, June 1861 to March 1862. Jenkins vividly describes the early euphoria of the war and the regiment's campaigns in western Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of Floyd's Brigade and in Savannah in Lawton's Brigade. T
Militia Enrollment Lists, 1864 - Georgia Archives Enrollment Lists of all free white males between sixteen and sixty not serving in Confederate or State service, required under the Act of the Georgia General Assembly for re-organizing the Georgia Militia passed December 14, 1863. These records are from Record Group 022-01-004, Adjutant General, Militia Records.