American Civil War Internet Sites

The American Civil War Home Page
Links to hundreds of resources, including timelines, overviews, images, letters, accounts, diaries, bibliographies, state studies, specific battles, rosters, medical practices, etc... It is a good place to start your research. 

Son of the South
It bills itself as the most extensive source for original Civil War resources. It is sensibly organized with useful links to pages to help you find information on battles; medicine; Harpers Weekly and more.

Death in the Civil War
You can watch the entire PBS film Death and the Civil War online. There are also bonus videos and a section about caring for the wounded.

Civil War Treasures
A rich collection of Civil War images from the New York Historical Society.

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. Links will take you to other primary resources including diaries, letters and photographs. You might also look at The Diary of a Civil War Nurse which is a digital collection from the American History Museum and allows you to use an interactive map that allows you to experience the places Amanda Akin encountered as a nurse. Civil War Women: Primary Sources on the Internet. Many links. Developed by The Special Collections Library, Duke University.

Google Search: "Civil War Letters"
Do a search in Google, 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. The University of Michigan has a collection of diaries and letters that might be of 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.

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. 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, and Lincoln Bookshelf.

Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project
The site was created by the Northern Illinois University and presents materials from Lincoln's life 1830-1861. You can read the Lincoln-Douglas debates and search Lincoln's writings. You can also listen to songs from this period.

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
Approximately 20,000 documents and 61,000 images. Most of the items are from the 1850s through 1865 and include correspondences to political leaders and friends. There is also Lincoln's drafts of the Emancipation Proclamation, his second Inaugural Address, and a memorandum where Lincoln expressed his expectation that he would lose the 1864 presidential election. There is also a special presentation on Lincoln's assassination.

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. See also the Civil War Trust for descriptions of battles, primary documents, maps and more.

fReconstruction: The Second Civil War
This site produced complements the PBS American Experience documentary. It is divided into ten thematic areas  including the lives of Southern women, the transformation of former slaves into sharecroppers, and the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan. There are some primary sources and question and answer sections with subject specialists.

Civil War Re-enactors
Photographs of Civil War Re-enactors from Professor Suzanne Summers' classes.

The Civil War in Art
A collection of portraits, photographs, newspaper illustrations and paintings of different aspects of the Civil War.