Manuscript Resources on The Civil War
This guide describes collections documenting the Civil War in the Lower Mississippi Valley, including the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas, in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections (LLMVC) at LSU. The guide includes not only materials from the war years (1861-1865) themselves, but also materials from later periods containing manuscript sources for Civil War history. Thus such sources as post-war reminiscences and records of veterans' groups--materials dealing with the war as memory and experience--will be found alongside soldiers' and civilians' letters, diaries, and daybooks from the war itself. In addition, the guide includes collections of papers of Louisiana and other area soldiers who fought outside of the Lower Mississippi Valley.
LSU's holdings of Civil War manuscripts make LLMVC a rich treasure-trove for researchers. Many researchers are studying these documents from new perspectives, to see what they have to tell us about women's experiences on the home front and about Louisiana's African Americans, a significant number of whom fought for the Union. Louisiana played a central role in the war, with the fall of Port Hudson in July 1863 a critical event. Much of the state was long occupied by Union forces, and LLMVC contains the papers of numerous Union as well as Confederate soldiers. Other areas of strength include materials documenting the siege of Vicksburg, the Battle of Shiloh, and the Red River campaign.
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Andrews, George L. (George Leonard), 1828-1899. Papers, 1863-1865. 9 items. Location: Misc:A. Union brigadier general in the Civil War. Andrews was appointed commander of the Department of the Gulf in 1863 and assumed command of the Port Hudson, Louisiana, post in 1864. Correspondence from Andrews to his wife deals with the surrender of Port Hudson (1863) and his duties as commander of the post. Two letters describe conditions in New Orleans, Louisiana immediately after the war. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3067. Referenced in Guides: New Orleans in the Civil War, Civil War
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Andry, M. T. (Michel Thomassin), 1811-ca. 1871. Family Papers, 1840-1882 (bulk 1858-1879). 0.3 linear ft. (199 items). Location: UU:66. Sugar planter of St. John the Baptist and St. Charles parishes, Louisiana, and resident of New Orleans. Collection includes correspondence and legal and financial papers. Letters received by Andry's daughter Rosa from his sons describe their participation in the Battle of Shiloh, campaigns in Kentucky, and skirmishes at Camp Beauregard in the Civil War. Partly in French. Available on microfilm 5735: University Publications of America Confederate Military Manuscripts Series B, Reel 1. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1318. Referenced in Guides: Sugar, Plantations, New Orleans to 1861, New Orleans in the Civil War, New Orleans 1866-, Civil War, French
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Anonymous Civil War diary, 1863 September 1-December 13. 1 volume [handwritten, 13 page fragment]. Misc.:A Diary of a Union soldier on the march or encamped along the Sabine River and in southeast Louisiana. He mentions fighting, expeditions, casualties, Confederate desertions, and the weather. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3328. Referenced in Guides: Civil War
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Anonymous Civil War diary, 1863 January 23-September 25. 1 volume. Location: Misc:A Diary of an unidentified Union soldier recording daily events, camp life, and military action in Virginia and during the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and travel between the two fronts. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3210. Referenced in Guides: Civil War
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Anonymous Civil War letter, 1863 June 19. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. Union army soldier. Letter discussing the Union siege at Vicksburg, Mississippi, trench visits from Confederate soldiers, artillery techniques, and camp life. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3245. Referenced in Guides: Civil War
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Anonymous Civil War letter, 1863 August 11. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. Letter from a young woman residing near Campbell County Court House, Virginia, reporting that a cousin, Robert Andrews, had distinguished himself at Winchester and had been wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2121. |
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Anonymous Civil War letter, 1863 April 18. 1 item. Location: Misc:A Letter from a Union camp in Baton Rouge describing camp life and mentioning the siege of Port Hudson. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2824. Referenced in Guides: Civil War, Baton Rouge
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Anonymous Civil War letter, [1863] October 4. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. Letter from a Southern woman who had lived in New York City prior to the Civil War compares the changes that have been made during the Civil War and in particular mentions sermons of abolitionist Dr. Henry Whitney Bellows. She also describes the problems encountered in passing through Fortress Monroe under a flag of truce. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2121. |
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Anonymous Civil War letter, 1863. 1 item. Location: Misc:A Letter from a teacher in North Carolina to his parents in Richmond, Virginia, telling of his work as a mechanic in order to avoid the Confederate conscript law. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1452. |
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Anonymous Civil War memoir, 1900-1930. 1 item. Location: MISC:A. An anonymous author recounts his experiences as a boy in a small town in western Kentucky at the beginning of the Civil War. He describes how the boys in the town organized themselves into a company to play as juvenile Confederate soldiers. He relates two stories of how they enticed locals into their play and how he tried a near fatal trick on soldiers of the Sixth Illinois Cavalry Regiment encamped nearby. Mss. 3975. Referenced in Guides: Civil War
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