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.
|
Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss,1816-1894. General orders, 1864 September 7. 1 printed item. Location: E:74. General Orders No. 122, issued by George B. Drake, Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, outlining wage schedules for white and black laborers and mechanics in army employment. Part of the United States Army Collection. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3032. |
|
|
Barnard, Mills H., 1837-1914. Letters, 1862-1912 (bulk 1862-1863). 9 items. Location: Misc:B. Sergeant in the 25th Connecticut Infantry during the Civil War. Letters include a description of Baton Rouge and the Union occupation of the city, references to the Battle of Port Hudson, and comments on Barnard's duties in the commissary, supplying troops engaged in the siege of Port Hudson. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3235. Referenced in Guides: Civil War, Baton Rouge
|
|
|
Barrow, Cordelia Johnson, 1816-1845. Family papers, 1834-1894. 9 letters, 1 eulogy. Location: 19:10. Cordelia Johnson Barrow was the daughter of Philo S. Johnson and Anna Maria Johnson of Watertown, New York. She was educated at Mrs. Willard's Academy for Young Ladies in Troy, New York. Following her graduation, she took a teaching position in Camden, South Carolina. Later, she met her husband, Wylie Micajah Barrow, in St. Francisville, Louisiana, when she was hired as a tutor for the Barrow family. The Cordelia Johnson Barrow family papers contain correspondence from Cordelia Johnson Barrow and her descendants. The letters are generally written from either Louisiana or Watertown, New York. Included in the papers is a letter from Martha Johnson Robertson Barrow to her grandmother, Martha Johnson Pope, regarding the family's flight from Baton Rouge to Tickfaw, La., after their Baton Rouge home was taken by the Union Army. There is a eulogy for Cordelia Johnson Barrow written by an unknown author and two letters from Cordelia Johnson Barrow to her family regarding her experience traveling to South Carolina when she was a teacher. These letters describe her "dangerous" trip, including a description of New York City, the steamboat ride, yellow fever outbreaks, the railroad, and the swamp. There is also a letter from Martha Johnson Robertson Barrow to her daughter, Leila, that includes advice on home medical remedies, and a letter from an unknown brother to his sister telling of a bad storm in Baton Rouge. Mss. 5101. |
|
|
Barrow, W. M. and family. Papers, 1847-1874, undated. 0.1 linear ft. Location: U:7. St. Francisville, Louisiana, merchant. Letters by Willie Macajah Barrow (1810-1853) and Civil War diary and letters of his son, Willie Macajah Barrow (1843-1863) reflecting economic and family life on a plantation in West Feliciana Parish. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 4, Reel 6. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 574. |
|
|
Barstow, Henry. War record and letter, 1862-1880 (bulk 1862-1863). 2 items. Location: Misc:B. Henry Barstow served in I Company of the Massachusetts 4th Infantry during the Civil War. In 1863, he was a prisoner of war in Brashear City, La. He discusses his company's maneuvers from Lakeville, Mass. to Brashear City, La. and describes his experience in the prison camp and subsequent release. Topics include poor health and malnourishment among the soldiers; traveling on the Mississippi River; and general conditions in the camp. Also contains a resolution, April 1880, giving thanks and kind wishes to Rev. W. W. Lyle at the Pilgrim Church and Society meeting. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4866. |
|
|
Bass, John H. Diary, 1864-1866. 1 item [on microfilm]. Location: Mss. Mf.:B. Physician. Bass was born in Adams County, Mississippi; was educated at medical school in Louisville, Kentucky; and practiced in Madison Parish, Louisiana. He served as an assistant surgeon in the Confederate Army, mainly in Georgia and Tennessee. Diary covers experiences in battles during the Civil War from April to December 1864. It also contains lists of casualties, medical memos, prescriptions, and miscellaneous accounts. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3363. |
|
|
Bass-Farrar Family Papers, 1827-1918, undated (bulk 1830-1867). 0.5 linear ft. Location: R:41, OS:B, VAULT:1. Papers of the Bass, Farrar, and Richardson families from Tensas Parish, La., and vicinity. Primarily includes correspondence, legal documents, and financial records related to family matters, plantation management, life along the Mississippi River, the Civil War, and slavery. Mss. 4907. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Women, New Orleans in the Civil War, Civil War, African Americans, Natchez, Mississippi
|
|
|
Batchelor, Albert A. (Albert Agrippa). Papers, 1852-1930 (bulk 1870-1900). 27 linear ft., 41 volumes. Location: S:143-170, J:13, 98:B, OS:B. Personal and business papers, correspondence, diaries, and account books pertain principally to local events, and the operation and management of several plantations in Pointe Coupee Parish, including Bella Vista Plantation, Lakeside Plantation, Phoenix Plantation, Highland Plantation, and Normandy Plantation. Early letters among Batchelor family members describe conditions at the Kentucky Military Institute and the Silliman Female Collegiate Institute, and mention events such as slave insurrections and military operations. Several letters describe Civil War battles, including the 1862 Battle of Kernstown and the 1863 battles of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville. Available on microfilm 5735 and 6061: Records of southern plantations from emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Selections from Louisiana State University, pt. 5, Louisiana sugar plantations, reels 1-15; Confederate Military Manuscripts, Series B, Holdings of Louisiana State University, reels 1-2. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 919. |
|
|
Baton Rouge arsenal ledger, 1837-1905 (bulk 1837-1851). 1 volume. Location: J:24. Military depot to supply troops in New Orleans and posts up the Mississippi and Red Rivers. Ledger of the Baton Rouge Arsenal Ordnance Department. The entries list accounts with named individuals, articles purchased from them, and the costs, including one account of materials to be supplied to friendly Indians. The last pages are entries of personal and household expenses of Frederick Bohm from 1865-1873. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4752. Referenced in Guides: Civil War
|
|
|
Baton Rouge Civil War broadsides, 1860-1864 (bulk 1862-1864). 22 broadsides, 26 photocopies. Location: MISC:B, OS:B. Broadsides include a political poster of the Constitutional Union Party; a resolution of the Confederate city government of Baton Rouge; and broadsides posted by federal occupation authorities. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2779. Referenced in Guides: Civil War, Baton Rouge
|