The American Civil War Home Page

Links to hundreds of resources, including timelines, overviews, images, letters, accounts, diaries, bibliographies, state studies, specific battles, rosters, etc.

U.S. Civil War Center

Located at Louisiana State University. See especially: What's New? Links Index, Browse the Index, Search (Civil War documents), Researching People of the Civil War Era. Also, scroll down the main information found on the right side of the page.

From the site: Index of Civil War Information Available on the Internet. Links to many Civil War sites.

Civil War Resources on the Internet: Abolition to Reconstruction (1830s-1890s)

Developed by Rutgers University. (Part of a larger and very useful American and British History site.)

I. Leading up to the War

II. The War Years

A. General Sites

B. MSS Collections: Diaries, Letters, Papers

C. Military Histories

D. State Studies

III. Reconstruction Era Documents

IV. Online Bibliographies

V. Bibliography

American Civil War: Resources on the Internet

Many links. Developed by Dakota State University.

Another Civil War Links Page

Developed by someone named Michael Kinsella.

Yahoo: U.S. History: 19th Century: Civil War (1861-1865)

Many links. Look at the indices, the topics (Battles and Campaigns, etc.), and the many individual sites listed below the topics.

H-CIVWAR Home Page

In addition to links to other sites, note the link, H-CIVWAR Book Reviews, near the bottom of the page. Also, from this page one can read all of the posted discussions about the sectional crisis, the war, and Reconstruction (see the link, "Logs"). See also American Civil War Links: Other Resources.

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion

A part of the War Times Journal Site. "These compilations are drawn from the official Navy records of the American Civil War, published in 1897. The original records are extensive (roughly 6 volumes per year of war) and it is hoped we will eventually be able to publish much of the material. Initially, records will be compiled into groups relating to major battles and the events immediately surrounding them."

Civil War Women

Developed by Duke University. On-line archival collections featuring scanned pages and texts of the writings of women during the American Civil War. Currently includes the 1864 diary of Alice Williamson, a 16 year old girl from Gallatin, Tennessee; the papers of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a renowned Confederate spy; and the papers of Sarah E. Thompson, a spy for the Union.

At the site: Civil War Women: Primary Sources on the Internet. Many links. Developed by The Special Collections Library, Duke University.

Alta Vista Search:"Civil War Letters"

Do a search in AltaVista, searching for the phrase exactly as given above, including the quotation marks. There are many links to letters. Some of the links are to book advertisements, but most are to transcriptions of letters written by soldiers. It is worth the effort to do this search if you are interested in first-hand accounts, impressions, etc., from participants in the war's battles and campaigns.

Encarta Schoolhouse: The American Civil War

From Microsoft Word's Encarta Encyclopedia. Many articles on many subjects. Probably pitched to about a 10th-grade reading level and interest.

The Valley of the Shadow: Living the Civil War in Pennsylvania and Virginia

The story of the Civil War as seen by the people of two communities, Franklin County, Pennsylvania and Augusta County, Virginia. A University of Virginia Research Project supported in part by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

National Park Service Civil War Sites

1. Information on Civil War sites maintained by the National Park Service. Most of information is about the sites today (directions, hours of operation, etc.). Historical data brief, varying from a sentence to several paragraphs. Sites include:

Andersonville
Antietam
Appomattox Courthouse
Arlington House: The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Brices Cross Roads
Chicamauga and Chattanooga
Clara Barton
Ford's Theatre
Fort Donelson
Fort Moultrie
Fort Pulaski
Fort Scott
Fort Sumter
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Battlefields
Gettysburg
Harpers Ferry
Kennesaw Mountain
Manassas
Petersburg
Richmond
Shiloh
Stones River
Tupelo
Vicksburg
Wilson's Creek

2. Links to the Past. Scroll down to "Civil War (Battlefields)."

A Nation Divided: The U.S. Civil War, 1861-1865

Produced by "The History Place." Is a timeline, with brief text and photographs.

The History Place Presents Abraham Lincoln

Very long timeline on main page. May take a long time to load, but worth the effort, as there are many links to significant Lincoln documents. There are also some excellent photographs, which will display larger by clicking on them.

Abraham Lincoln Online

A clearinghouse about Lincoln, his speeches and writings, and news of Lincoln studies and events. Features include:

Lincoln This Week
Lincoln Quizzes
Lincoln's Speeches and Writings
Historic Sites
Lincoln Resources
Lincoln's Thinking
News and Events
Lincoln Mailbag
Lincoln Links
Lincoln Book Talk
Lincoln Bookshelf
Search ALO

Crisis at Fort Sumter (simulation)

A interactive historical simulation and decision-making program. Using text, images, and sound, it reconstructs the dilemmas of policy formation and decision-making in the period between Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 and the battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861. Focuses primarily on Lincoln, both as president-elect and president. One places oneself in Lincoln's position, considers the events that transpire, and chooses a course of action at five critical junctures. At each, Lincoln made a decision that helped determine the outcome of the crisis at Fort Sumter. To help one assess each problem and make a decision, advice is available from official advisors, such as cabinet members, and from various informal channels, such as newspapers, friends, and public spokesmen. One assesses information, calculates the consequences of various options, determines a course of action, and evaluates the decision, just as Lincoln did during the winter and spring of 1860-1861. Crisis at Fort Sumter also provides relevant information about events in the Confederacy. The simulation's author is Richard B. Latner, a history professor at Tulane University.

The Civil War in the West

Material is part of the "New Perspectives on the West" site developed to supplement the PBS series in the fall of 1996. To access it is a bit complicated. There is a menu bar on the left. Click on "Tour the West." Then scroll down the bar at the right of your screen. Click on "Episode 4: (1856 to 1868): Death Runs Riot." Scroll immediately to the bottom of the page and click on "Show Contents." The menu bar on the left will display the titles of the sections for this episode. The titles having to do with the Sectional Crisis and the Civil War are "Introduction," "Free Soil," "This Guilty Land," "Anarchy," and "Who Is the Savage?" (the latter only tangentially).

Confederate States of America

Part of the Avalon Project of the Yale Law School. Government documents from the opening months of the existence of the Confederacy. There are also declarations of secession by Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.


Jews in the Civil War

Part of a larger site, "The Jewish Ring," developed and owned by Leah Berkowitz.

Freedmen and Southern Society Project

Drawn from documents in the multi-volume series, Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861-1867. Contains transcribed and original letters and documents written by slaves and freedmen/women about slavery and emancipation. To access them, click on the link titled documents. Also includes a Chronology of Emancipation during the Civil War and a brief bibliography.


Making of America.

A digital library of printed primary sources in American history from the antebellum period through Reconstruction. Although most of the materials come under the category of social history, there are political documents and memoirs of war experiences as well. The collection is made up of scanned images of the pages in the books and journals. Best viewed with a frames-capable browser. To find the Civil War material, follow these steps: Select Advanced Search, then Index Searching. Find menu labeled "Author." Pull the menu down and select "Subject." Then, in the field to the right, type "Civil War." Then click on "Submit." Then scroll down to the phrase "Civil War." Click "ok." Click on the link to the matching books.(On November 16, 1997, there were thirty-seven titles. Some were primary sources, others not.)

This page last updated, November 19, 1997

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