The American Civil War (1861—1865), also known as the War Between the States (among other names), was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America, also known as “the Confederacy.” Led by Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy fought against the United States (the Union), which was supported by all the free states (where slavery had been abolished) and by five slave states that became known as the border states.
Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a volunteer army from each state to recapture federal property. This led to declarations of secession by four more slave states. Both sides raised armies as the Union assumed control of the border states early in the war and established a naval blockade. In September 1862, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation made ending slavery in the South a war goal, and dissuaded the British from intervening.
Records for the Civil War
- General Index of Pension Files, 1861-1934
- Microfilm at the National Archives
- Discovering the Civil War (hosted at National Archives)
- Civil War Cemeteries
- Civil War Battlefield Maps
- Databases
- Records by State
Civil War Biographies
Civil War Cemeteries
- U. S. Military National Cemeteries – National Military Burial Sites, all wars
- U.S. Military State Cemeteries – State Military Burial Sites, all wars.
- Military Cemeteries online
Civil War Battlefield Maps
Civil War Databases
- Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (hosted at the National Park Service)
- Ancestry.com
- American Civil War Battle Summaries
- American Civil War General Officers
- American Civil War Pension Index
- American Civil War Regiments
- American Civil War Service Records
- American Civil War Soldiers
- Confederate Research Sources
- Confederate States Field Officers
Civil War Prison Records and Histories
- Rock Island Prison
- Southern outrages: atrocities as they passed through the hopper: facts for the American people to read: brutal outrages upon Frances Thomas [sic]: 1866 vs. 1876
History of the American Civil War
Records by State
All States
- USGenWeb Project (click on State)
- USGenWeb Civil War Pensions (click on State)
- USGenWeb Archives (click on State, then County)
- American History and Genealogy Project (Click on Topics or State)
- American Local History Network (Click on Topics or State)
- Cyndi’s List – Civil War
Connecticut
- Twenty-fifth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers
Recruited in Hartford and Tolland Counties, in the fall of 1862.
Civil War Subscription Databases
- Alabama Civil War Muster Rolls, 1861-1865
- Georgia, Confederate Pension Applications, 1879-1960
- Muscatine County, Iowa Civil War Soldiers
- Kansas Civil War Soldiers
- Kentucky Civil War Union Volunteers, 1861-1866
- Kentucky Confederate Volunteers, 1861-1866
- Louisiana Confederate Soldiers
- Maryland Soldiers in the Civil War, Vol. 1
- Maryland Soldiers in the Civil War, Vol. 2
- Civil War Burials in Baltimore’s Loudon Park Cemetery
- History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-1865, Vols. 1-2
- Minnesota Civil War Soldiers
- Missouri Confederate Death Records
- Missouri Confederate Volunteers
- Nevada Civil War Volunteers
- New York Civil War Records (1861-65)
- Tennessee Civil War Regimental Histories
- Tennessee, Civil War Confederate Pension Applications Index
- Union and Confederate Soldiers and Sympathizers of Barbour County, West Virginia
- American Civil War Battle Summaries
- American Civil War General Officers
- American Civil War Regiments
- American Civil War Soldiers
- Andersonville Prisoners of War
- Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934
- Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865
- Confederate Applications for Presidential Pardons, 1865-1867
- Confederate Service Records, 1861-1865
- Confederate States Field Officers
- Headstones Provided for Deceased Union Civil War Veterans, 1879-1903
- U.S. Civil War Jewish-American Veterans, 1861-1865
- U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles
- U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Official records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865
- Official Army register of the volunteer force of the United States Army, 1861-1865, Parts 1-8
- My diary in America in the midst of war, Vols. 1-2
- My diary, North and South, Vols. 1-2
- A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion
Suggested Reading
Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War – Bearss presents the story of the Civil War as he has in the battlefield tours he has conducted for many years. A former chief historian of the National Parks Service, he chronicles 14 crucial battles, including Fort Sumter, Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Sherman’s march through the Carolinas, and Appomattox, the battles ranging between 1861 and 1865; included is an introductory chapter describing John Brown’s raid in October 1859.
The Complete Civil War Road Trip Guide – The book outlines ten suggested itineraries for short road trips that cover every major battle of the war that will enable a traveler to experience this definitive period of American history. For those who cant resist trying to see it all, the book contains complete information on and reviews of almost 450 historical sites across the United States related to the Civil War, including all 384 of the principal battlefields listed by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, as well as lodging and other travel information.