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By Kyle McQueen, Chuck Hill, Neil Kasiak
Collection Overview
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The Civil War Collection (1861-1865) is an artificial collection of correspondence, documents and printed material relating to the American Civil War. The Collection is comprised of a variety of items donated or purchased primarily because of their relationship to the war; some of the material predates, or postdates, the Civil War. The reason for their collection had mainly to do with the war or to a person closely associated with the war. Rather than create a number of small collections, especially where only one document or letter constitutes the entire collection, we have chosen to bring them together as a subject oriented artificial collection. For ease of access, they have been grouped together as follows: Personal Documents, Photographs, Military Documents - USA, Military Documents - CSA, Prints and Drawings, and Published Material.
Collection Historical Note
The American Civil War (1861-1865) was a conflict that has been well documented over the past 150 years. Researchers will undoubtedly have consulted many sources relevant to their particular topic or interest. For a brief history of the conflict, we suggest looking at web sites such as "The American Civil War Homepage" (http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/warweb.html), or consult your library for any number of published books and journal articles about the war or specific battles, events and persons.
The American Civil War began with the secession of southern states. On 20 Dec 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union, followed within two months by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. These states formed a loose union of their own, the Confederate States of America (CSA). The armed conflict between the confederacy and the union began 12 Apr 1861 when CSA forces under Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.
The conflict continued for four years, until the CSA armies commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union forces under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on 9 Apr 1865. All remaining Confederate forces surrendered by the end of May 1865. The war was fought on many battlefields across many states and took the lives of over 620,000 Americans, with disease killing twice as many as those lost in battle. 50,000 survivors returned home as amputees. With the end of the war a period of Reconstruction began that eventually saw all the states that had seceded brought back into the Union. By 1870 all Confederate states had rejoined the Union but the last Union troops did not leave until 1877.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives
Acquisition Source:
Various donors
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[
Box 2],
[
Box 3],
[
Folder OS 1: Maps],
[Folder OS 2: Newspapers],
[
Folder OS 3: Military documents],
[
All]
- Folder OS 2: Newspapers
- Barcode: 31234013925456
- Item 1: Bradford Argus, 03 Sep 1862
- Printed in Bradford Co., PA. Battle of Richmond, KY.
- Item 2: Daily Dispatch, 05 Feb 1862
- Printed in Richmond, VA. Pro-Confederate article about Russellville, KY.
- Item 3: Daily Missouri Democrat, 21 Mar 1863
- Printed in St. Louis, MO. Rumors of rebel invasion of Kentucky; "Morgan's men" attack a train near Louisville, KY.
- Item 4: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 27 Jun 1863
- General war news.
- Item 5: Kentucky Rebel, 05 Oct 1862
- Printed in Richmond, KY after the Battle of Richmond by the 55th Georgia Regiment. Proclamations by Lincoln, general war news.
- Item 6: Mitchell's Cavalier, 06 Aug 1863
- Printed by the 2nd Indiana Cavalry at Fayetteville, TN. General war news, anecdotes and jokes.
- Item 7: New York Herald, 15 Apr 1865
- Lincoln's assassination, news of Grant and Sherman (2 pages).
- Item 8: New York Times, 21 Jan 1862
- (Two copies - reproduction)
- Item 9: New York Times, 28 Sept 1864
- Mass demonstrations for the Union cause, general war news.
- Item 10: New York Times, 07 Oct 1864
- Speech by Jefferson Davis, general war news.
- Item 11: New York Times, 26 Oct 1864
- Speech by Jefferson Davis, Sheridan's victory in the Shenandoah Valley, general war news.
- Item 12: New York Times, 21 Dec 1864
- Gen. Thomas's victory in Tennessee, general war news.
- Item 13: New York Tribune, 19 Apr 1865
- Lincoln's assassination, address by Andrew Johnson.
- Item 14: New York Tribune, 25 Apr 1865
- More on the assassination, display of Lincoln's body. [Two copies]
- Item 15: New York Tribune, 05 May 1865
- Lincoln's interment in Springfield, IL cemetery.
- Item 16: New York Tribune, 22 May 1865
- Jeff Davis's imprisonment, assassination testimony.
- Item 17: Richmond Dispatch, 08 Feb 1862
- General war news.
- Item 18: Rochester Democrat, 07 Aug 1862
- Printed in Rochester, NY. General war news.
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[
Box 2],
[
Box 3],
[
Folder OS 1: Maps],
[Folder OS 2: Newspapers],
[
Folder OS 3: Military documents],
[
All]