Digital Resources

There are many online sources for Civil War unit histories and related materials. These consist of freely accessible digitized versions of original printed materials in the public domain, freely accessible materials that were born as digital sources, and materials that were born as digital sources but are restricted to subscribers for a fee. Freely accessible digitized older printed materials can be found at online archiving sites as Hathi Trust External, and Internet Archive External. Examples of these materials found in the Library of Congress Online Catalog will often have a link to the Hathi Trust or Internet Archive digital version. Online projects sponsored by institutions of higher learning include Making of America External and Perseus Digital Library External. State sponsored projects are additional sources for Civil War related unit materials, and are usually specific to a given state. Examples below include Alabama, Illinois, New York and Texas.

Freely Accessible Digital Sources
Subscription Databases

Alabama Civil War Service Database External
This database was compiled from many sources at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Beginning in the early 1900s, the Archives staff read through muster rolls, newspapers, governors' records, veterans' censuses, and state pension records to create a card file that was arranged alphabetically by servicemen's names. Each time a source was discovered, a new card was created; thus, an individual might have multiple cards.
Civil War Diaries and Personal Narratives, 1960-1994 [PDF]
This scanned book is a bibliography of selected diaries, letters, memoirs, and personal narratives of the common soldier--many times witnessing the conflict on a grand scale--published between 1960 and 1994 and held in the general collections of the Library of Congress. Books that are only reprints of previous publications are not included.
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) External
This is a database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Other information on the site includes histories of Union and Confederate regiments, links to descriptions of significant battles, and selected lists of prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records, which will be amended over time. It was produced by the National Park Service.
A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Comp. and Arranged from Official Records External
This is a digitized version of Frederick Dyer's original 1908 printed Compendium, hosted by Hathi Trust and digitized by the University of Michigan.
A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion External
This is a digitized and searchable version of Frederick Dyer's 1908 Compendium, produced by Tufts University's Perseus Digital Library Project.
Confederate and Texas State Troops Military Rolls External
The Confederate and Texas State Troops military rolls are in the process of being digitized to facilitate public access. As military rolls are scanned, digital images will be made available through the Texas Digital Archive (TDA). Digitized Confederate military rolls can also be browsed or searched through the main TDA page for Confederate and Texas State Troops military rolls. Further description and a complete inventory of Confederate and Texas State Troops military rolls in our holdings are located in the records' finding aid.
Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls External
This database is a transcription of each soldier's entry in the record series, Muster and Descriptive Rolls. It contains information about over 285,000 soldiers from Illinois who served in the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion. Each entry includes a soldier's name; rank; age; height; colors of eyes, hair, and complexion; occupation; marital status; birthplace; residence; date, place, and term of enrollment; name; name of mustering officer; date and place of muster out; name of mustering-out officer; and remarks concerning transfers, promotions, injuries, or special duty.
List of Field Officers, Regiments, and Battalions in the Confederate States Army, 1861-1865 External
This source alphabetically lists Confederate Army field officers (majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels), and Confederate Army units at the battalion and regiment level of organization, arranged by state.
New York Civil War Units External
This database consists of various sources compiled by New York state offices such as the New York State Military Museum, and other linked resources.
U.S. Civil War Regimental Histories in the Library of Congress
This Library of Congress finding aid to US Civil War unit histories is no longer updated, but is archived and can be accessed at Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Search the Wayback Machine for loc.gov/rr/main/uscivilwar and choose July 29, 2006. That date is the last good archival capture of the finding aid. The finding aid is focused on Civil War regimental histories located in the Library's general collections. It is arranged by Union and Confederate states. Within each state, military units are arranged numerically by arm of service: Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery. Some unit history titles published after July, 2006 may be found in the finding aid if a unit's Library of Congress Subject Heading had been included for another title published before July, 2006.
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies External
This is a digitized and searchable version of the Army Official Records of the War of the Rebellion series, produced by Cornell University's Making of America project. The supplemental volumes compiled and published by Broadfoot Publishing are not included.
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
Another online version of the Army Official Records of the War of the Rebellion series, produced by The Ohio State University.

The subscription resources marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.

American Civil War: Letters and Diaries External This link opens in a new window
The collection includes approximately 100,000 pages of published memoirs, letters and diaries from people living in the civil war era. Included are the writings of politicians, generals, slaves, landowners, farmers, seaman, wives, and even spies. The letters and diaries are by the famous and the unknown, giving not only both the Northern and Southern perspectives, but those of foreign observers also. The materials originate from all regions of the country and are from people who played a variety of roles. Using a thesaurus of Civil War terms, researchers can quickly find references to individuals, battles, theaters of war, and activities. More than 1,000 biographies enhances the use of the database.
Fold3 External This link opens in a new window
Contains primary source documents from the holdings of the United States National Archives relating to all aspects of American history, from the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Presidents, historical newspapers and naturalization documents. Highlights include Papers of the Continental Congress (1774-89), records of the Constitutional Convention, the Matthew B. Brady Collection of Civil War Photographs, and the Investigative Case Files of the Bureau of Investigation, 1908-1922.

Civil War Regimental Histories: A Guide to Finding Unit Information

Digital Resources