Essential References for Civil War Research    
Title  Author Physical Description Publishing Date(s) and Publisher Narrative Description
(Click Title for more information)
The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies ONLINE

SoldierQuest's Finding Aid to the Army Official Records - What's in each volume?
United States, War Department
128 Volumes + Index
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901; National Historical Society, 1987
Multi-volume set includes documents from both the Union and Confederacy; including letters, telegrams, reports.

Organized into four separate topical series:
Series 1 
Formal reports, both Union and Confederate, of the first seizures of United States property in the Southern States, and of all military operations in the field, with the correspondence, orders, and returns relating especially thereto.
Series 2 
Correspondence, orders, reports and returns, Union and Confederate, relating to prisoners of war and, so far as the military authorities were concerned, to state or political prisoners.
Series 3 
Correspondence, orders, reports and returns of the Union authorities, embracing their correspondence with the Confederate officials, not relating especially to the subjects of the 1st and 2d series. It embraces the annual and special reports of the Secretary of War, of the General-in-Chief, and of the chiefs of the several staff corps and departments; the calls for troops and the correspondence between the national and the several State authorities.
Series 4 
Correspondence, orders, reports and returns of the Confederate authorities, similar to that indicated for the Union officials, as of the 3d series, but excluding the correspondence between the Union and Confederate authorities given in that series.
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion  ONLINE
United States, Navy Department
30 Volumes + Index
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1894-1927; National Historical Society, 1987
Series 1
Reports, orders, correspondence of both sides relating to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and inland waters with some maps and diagrams, arranged by squadron and flotilla, then chronologically.
Series 2
Vol I: Part 1, statistical data of Union and Confederate ships;
Part 2, muster rolls of Confederate vessels;
Part 3, letters of marque and reprisal;
Part 4, Confederate departmental investigations;
Vol. II: Confederate Navy Department correspondence 1861-65 with agents abroad;
Vol. III: relating to Confederate diplomacy.
2 indexes, one for Series 2 and one for Vols. 1-13 of Series 1.
Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
United States, War Department
2 Volumes (reprinted as 1 volume) [Initially issued in 37 parts]
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891; New York, Thomas Yoseloff, 1958;  Arno Press and Crown Publishers, Inc., 1978
A compendium of maps designed to accompany OR, prepared by the War Department in the 1880s and 1890s. Detailed tactical maps, though not particularly well labelled. Also contains a few pages on corps badges, uniforms, sword patterns, unit flags, etc. Doesn't contain much in the way of larger maps of states or regions.
Supplement to the Official records of the Union and Confederate Armies
Hewett, Janet B., ed., et al
100 Volumes
Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1994-2001
Contains supplemental records gathered from libraries, museums, archives, previously printed sources, and approximately 63,000 newspapers published in the Confederacy that were not included in the original Army Official Records. It was issued in four parts as follows:
Part I:
Reports - Reports of engagements, actions, battles, maneuvers, etc., written by an officer to an officer.  Included are post war reports requested by the Adjutant General, eyewitness accounts of engagements otherwise infrequently described, and accounts supplying substantive supplemental material, including court-martials, courts of inquiry and proceedings.
Part II:
Record of Events & Itineraries - Records of Events and itineraries show troops movements and give histories of the units.  Confederate transcriptions include the officer rosters which usually accompanied the records.  Listed by states, alphabetically, with organizations numbered and named, grouped by organization type.  Records of Events were transcribed from the National Archives microfilm M594 (Union, 225 rolls) and M861 (Confederate, 74 rolls).
Part III:
Correspondence - Essential correspondence omitted from the original Official Records.
Part IV:
Index - Includes more than 1,000,000 entries and cross-references for all of the Supplement materials.
A User's Guide to the Official Records of the American Civil War
Aimone, Alan C.; Aimone, Barbara A.
1 Volume
Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Co., 1993
Among the many virtues of the Aimones' work is a handy appendix (VIT) listing the various War Department designations, as well as their numbers in the congressional serial set, of which the OR is a part.  Their work also affords informed discussions of the background, editorial policies, and organization of the OR Armies, Navies, and Atlas; the available finding aids; and the value and limitations of what was in fact the government's greatest venture into documentary editing. Especially noteworthy are nine appendixes covering everything from reprint editions to annotated bibliographies of related publications.
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS)
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
70 Volumes
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 1887-1915; Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1992-1995
This 70 volume set gives biographical sketches and first hand accounts of experiences in the Union Army.  Many articles include portraits, maps, and other illustrations.   The index is by name and subject.
Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War
United States Army Surgeon General
12 Volumes + 3 Volume Index
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1870-1888; Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1990-1992
Statistics on injury/disability, illness and death in the Army compiled from reports to the Surgeon General. Data on "violent diseases and deaths" include suicide and execution. All statistics are subdivided by "White" and "Colored" troops.

A resource listing the names, ranks, and service units of soldiers for both the Union and Confederacy.  A typical entry will also list where and when the soldier was wounded, the nature of the wounds and whether the soldier died.  Statistical data by region makes this an excellent historical as well as a genealogical source.  It is indexed by state and unit, name and subject.
The Union Army A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States 1861-65 -- Records of the Regiments in the Union Army -- Cyclopedia of Battles -- Memoirs of Commanders and Soldiers
N/A
9 Volumes (1908 edition has 8 volumes)
Madison, WI: Federal Publishing Company, 1908; Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1998
Issued originally in eight volumes, now includes a new master index. Similar in scope to Dyer's Compendium, but contains additional details and accounts. Volumes I-IV: Unit histories; some steel engraving illustrations; Volumes V-VI: Cyclopedia of Battles; lists alphabetically the engagements, including lesser-known events; Volume VII: The Navy; Volume VIII: Biographical sketches of all major and brigadier generals of the Union Army.  Some supplemental biographies of enlisted men also included; Volume IX: Index.
Military Operations of the Civil War: A guide-index to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-65
Irvine, Dallas, comp.
5 Volumes
Washington, D.C.: Civil War Centennial Commission, 1966
Explanation of the arrangement of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, with a short description of the contents of volumes & chapters, including theatres of operation, a list of maps, a list of principal military operations by state and date, and calendars and an almanac for the years 1861-1865.
v.1 Conspectus
v.2 Main Eastern Theater of Operations
v.3 Lower Seaboard Theater of Operations 
v.4 Main Western Theater of Operations
v.5 Trans-Mississippi and Pacific Coast Theater of Operation
The Union Army, 1861-1865:  Organization and Operations
Frank J. Welcher
2 Volumes
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1989-1993
A compiled account of the organization of all Union military divisions, departments, armies, army corps, divisions, brigades, and numerous special commands. The book also describes the command of the armies of the United States, miscellaneous organizations, and battles and campaigns.
Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War
United States Congress
9 Volumes (1863-66 edition has 8 volumes)
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1863-1866; Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1998
The Committee's Reports offer readers a prodigious amount of testimony that sheds light on Gettysburg, many other major campaigns, most of the principal generals of the Union high command, and behind-the-scenes politics that shaped prosecution of the Union war effort.  The reprinting . . . with a full new index and a simplified numbering system for the volumes gives modern students easy access to one of the great printed collections of firsthand testimony from leading participants in the conflict.
The Civil War Dictionary
Boatner, Mark Mayo
1 Volume
New York : D. McKay Co., c1959
A dictionary of Civil War names, places, battles, and terms, with one paragraph descriptions of each. Designed as a quick and easy reference to let you get a quick grasp of a subject starting from only a name or place.
Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865
Hewett, Janet B., ed.
16 Volumes
Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1996
The Roster of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865,  published in 16 volumes, contain the transcriptions of the National Archive microfilm series "Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From...." The title page of each volume lists the specific National Archives microfilm series and roll numbers from which the information was taken.
Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865
Hewett, Janet B., ed.
33 Volumes
Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1997
The Roster of Union Soldiers 1861-1865,  published in 33 volumes, contain the transcriptions of the National Archive microfilm series "Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From...." The title page of each volume lists the specific National Archives microfilm series and roll numbers from which the information was taken.
Photographic History of the Civil War
Miller, Francis T., ed.
10 Volumes
New York: Review of Reviews, 1912; New York, T. Yoseloff, 1957
Contains thousands of photographs from the Civil War, with some descriptive text.  Entries are arranged topically, with a detailed index in vol. 10. Issued in ten volumes: v. 1. The opening battles.--v. 2. Two years of grim war.--v. 3. The decisive battles.--v. 4. The cavalry.--v. 5. Forts and artillery.--v. 6. The navies.--v. 7. Prisons and hospitals.--v. 8. Soldier life, secret service.--v. 9. Poetry and eloquence of Blue and Gray.--v. 10. Armies and leaders.
Official Army Register of Volunteer Force of U.S. Army for Years 1861-1865
United States, War Department
9 Volumes (1865 edition has 8 volumes)
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1865; Gaithersburg: Olde Soldier Books, 1987
Published in 8 parts: 1) New England, 2) New York, New Jersey, 3) mid-Atlantic, 4) West Virginia and Confederate states, 5) Ohio, Michigan, 6) Indiana, Illinois, 7) Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, California, Kansas, Oregon, Nevada, 8) territories. Listing of military units, with officers by rank or position; and individual deaths, promotions, transfers, desertions, missing personnel, discharges; battles; enlisted men who received medals of honor. Alphabetical index in back of each.
Compendium of the War of the Rebellion  ONLINE
Dyer, Frederick Henry
3 Volumes (reprinted as 2 volumes)
Des Moines, IA : Dyer Publishing Company, 1908; New York: National Historical Society, 1979
A compilation of the records of the Union Army from the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion and other records of the Federal & Confederate armies, reports of the adjutant generals of the various states, army registers, and other sources. Part I contains statistical breakdowns; Part II the records of campaigns, battles, skirmishes & important events and operations; Part III the regimental histories. All description is at the regimental level.
Compendium of the Confederate Armies
Sifakis, Stewart
10 Volumes
New York: Facts on File, 1992
Arranged by state. Entry for each military unit: nicknames or misdesignations; commanding officers; information on organization and composition; campaigns and battles; suggested further reading, if any.
Roll of Honor, Quartermaster's Department
United States, War Department
27 Volumes
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1865; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1994, 2001
Listings of Union Army personnel interred in military cemeteries, with ranks and military units. Most include black troops and unknown soldiers. Arranged by National Cemetery.
Index to the Roll of Honor
Reamy, Martha and William
1 Volume
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1995
The twelve hundred pages of this index contain the names, in alphabetical order, of the 228,639 Union soldiers listed in the 27 volumes of the Roll. Indexed by volume and page number, all names mentioned in this famous series of burial registers are now immediately accessible, and the Roll of Honor is at once transformed from an interesting miscellany of fringe history to a reference work of major importance.
List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883
United States Pension Office
5 Volumes
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883; Baltimore:  Genealogical Publishing, 1970
These books list the name, certificate number, post office address (i.e. town, etc.), the cause for which the person was pensioned, the monthly rate, and the date of the original allowance. Some allowances date back to the Civil War years.
Military Bibliography of the Civil War
Dornbusch, C. E., comp.
4 Volumes
New York: New York Public Library, 1971 (vols. 1-3); Dayton: Morningside House, 1987 (vol. 4)
"A listing of books published in Union and Confederate regiments, and personal narratives. 1987 is the latest update. An ideal way to track down the wartime experiences of a relative whose unit is known."
Vol. I: lists the regimental publications and personal narratives for the Union Army and the dates mustered in and mustered out.
Vol. II: regimental publications and personal narratives for units of both armies from the Confederate, border and western states.
Vol III: general references, campaigns and battles. 
Vol. IV: regimental publications and personal narratives, brief Union and Confederate biographies. Indexes.
Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America
Beers, Henry Putney
1 Volume
Washington, D.C.: GSA, National Archives & Records Service, 1968
Explains the organization of the Confederate government, and describes the kinds of records created and received by each agency or division. Each section opens with a historical statement of the functions and responsibilities of the branch of the Government or the department or agency concerned. Records of a general nature are described first, followed by separate descriptions of the records of subordinate bureaus or offices. Since these records were scattered after the war, the volume also includes records surveyed in the Library of Congress, in several large public and university libraries, and in the archives of the former Confederate states. There is an appendix listing the record groups which contain Confederate records, as well as an index.
Guide to Federal Archives Relating to the Civil War
Munden, Kenneth W.; Beers, Henry Putney
1 Volume
Washington, D.C.: GSA, National Archives & Records Service, 1962
Explains the organization of the Federal government during the Civil War, and describes the kinds of records created and received by each agency or division of the executive, legislative, & judicial branches. Each section opens with a historical statement of the functions and responsibilities of the branch of the Government or the department or agency concerned, with an emphasis on its wartime duties. Records of a general nature are described, followed by separate descriptions of the records of subordinate bureaus or offices. There is an appendix listing the record groups which contain records relating to the Civil War, as well as an index.
Guide to Civil War Maps in the National Archives
National Archives and Records Administration
1 Volume
Washington, D.C.: GSA, National Archives and Records Administration,1986
Part I is a general guide to the approximately 8,000 Civil War maps in the Cartographic & Architectural Branch; Part II describes selected maps of exceptional interest in more detail. Index.
Civil War Maps; An Annotated List of Maps and Atlases in the Library of Congress ONLINE
Stephenson, Richard W., comp.
1 Volume
Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, 1989

The Civil War Maps collection contains approximately 2,240 Civil War maps and charts and 76 atlases and sketchbooks that are held within the Library's Geography and Maps Division. The maps, charts, and atlases depict battles, troop positions and movements, engagements, and fortifications. Also included are reconnaissance maps, sketch maps, coastal charts, and theater of war maps.

The Civil War Map collection not only includes descriptions of printed, photo reproduced, annotated, and hand-drawn maps made between 1861 and 1865, but also maps made later to illustrate or explain specific events, movements, and battles of the war. The vast majority of the maps were prepared by Federal forces or by commercial firms in the North, but there are also a substantial number by Confederate military authorities and a few by Southern publishers. The largest group among the Confederate works are the 341 manuscript maps and sketch books that make up the Hotchkiss Map Collection. Assembled by Major Jedediah Hotchkiss, who served as topographic engineer with the Army of Northern Virginia, this remarkable collection was acquired by the Library of Congress in 1948 from Hotchkiss's granddaughter, Mrs. R. E. Christian of Deerfield, Virginia.

Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, From its Organization, September 29, 1789 to March 2, 1903  ONLINE
Francis B. Heitman
2 Volumes
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1903; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1994
2 volume set. Main section of volume one is alphabetical. Other sections are arranged by units of service. Parts of volume two are alphabetical.
Encyclopedia of the Confederacy
Current, Richard N., ed. in chief
4 Volumes
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993 
Covers Confederate society, culture, and politics as well as events and people in the Civil War–era South. The articles are arranged alphabetically.
Confederate Military History
Gen. Clement A. Evans (editor)
12 Volumes (original); 17 Volumes + 2 Volume Index (extended edition)
Atlanta, GA: Confederate Publishing Company, 1899 (original); Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1987 (Extended Edition)
This 17 volume set contains biographical sketches and regimental histories.  The first volume is a history of the Confederacy written by distinguished men from the South. 
Southern Historical Society Papers
Jones, J. William, et.al., eds.
52 Volumes + Index
Southern Historical Society, 1876-1959; Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1990
These papers, published between 1876 and 1959, detail Confederate action and life during the Civil War as well as aspects and events of the postwar period. Personal recollections of veterans ranging from generals to privates, unit rosters, correspondence, commentaries on men and events, book reviews and other literary donations made each volume a gold mine for almost any type of historical research. Two of the best-known installments are Volume XV ("The Appomattox Roster"), which contains a listing by units of the men who surrendered with Lee; and Volume XLIII, which consists of two extremely valuable articles on the 1862 Valley Campaign and "Stonewall" Jackson.
Confederate Veteran Magazine
Cunningham, Sumner A., ed.
43 Volumes (original edition has 40 volumes)
Nashville, TN: United Confederate Veterans, 1893-1932; Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1988
This journal, a 40 volume set, was published between Jan. 1893 - Dec. 1932 about the "...Confederate Soldier, the South, and postwar southern patriotic organizations." A three volume index makes this set easy to use. Of special interest is a "Battle Synonyms" section on pages xxix-xxxix in volume one of the index. This section is a list of battles and engagements with cross references to names for the same battle or to names for another fray that was part of or leading up to another battle.
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War ONLINE
Johnson, Robert U., and Clarence C. Buell, eds.
4 Volumes
New York: The Century Company, 1887-88
Originally conceived in 1883, here you can read the eyewitness accounts of the Civil War’s great events written by commanders and their subordinates, Confederate and Union alike, who were firsthand participants. Profusely illustrated with maps, charts, and engravings by prominent artists of the era. Issued in four volumes: Vol. I, The Opening Battles; Vol. II, The Struggle Intensifies; Vol. III, The Tide Shifts; Vol. IV, Retreat With Honor.
Regimental Losses in the American Civil War 1861-1865: A Treatise on the Extent and Nature of the Mortuary Losses in the United States ONLINE
Fox, William F.
1 Volume
Albany, NY: Albany Publishing Company,1889: Dayton: Morningside House, 1985
Regiment by regiment, lists all the losses suffered in the various battles of the war. Also contains synopsis histories of each corps in the Union Army, and a fair amount of other very interesting information.
Personnel of the Civil War
Amann, William Frayne, ed.
2 Volumes
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1885; New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1961
Matches official unit designations with local designations or "nicknames." Vol. 1 - Confederate Armies; Vol. 2 - Union Armies.
Civil War Naval Chronology, 1861-1865
U.S. Naval History Division
Originally published in six parts, plus index
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1961-1966; Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1970 (one-volume reprint)
Maps, illustrations and commentary on the daily activities of the U.S. Navy during the Civil War years. Gives an account of U.S. Naval activities for each day from 1861-1865.
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships  ONLINE
U.S. Naval History Division
9 Volumes
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1959-1991
The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, commonly known as DANFS, is the foremost reference regarding US naval vessels. Published in nine volumes (from 1959 to 1991), it gives histories for virtually every US naval vessel.
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