Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Figures Album of pasted oval portraits with signatures underneath each image. 1861. Features most notably Abraham Lincoln with a pasted signature below his image. This mid-nineteenth-century photographic album assembles oval portraits of political and military figures during the Civil War era, including a pasted signature.....
[Civil War] [African American Military] [Slavery] Unknown official. Slave impressment receipt and certificate, 1865 documents the Confederate government’s forced mobilization of enslaved labor during the final phase of the Civil War under legislation authorizing the use of enslaved people for military purposes. Issued in Florida under the February 17, 1864.....
[Civil War] [Slavery] Manumission and compensation documents concerning the enlistment of Minos James in the United States Colored Troops, created in Maryland circa 1865 during the final months of the American Civil War when border state slaveholders sought payment for enslaved men who entered Union military service. The documents record.....
[Slavery and Emancipation][Civil War] Autographed document regarding the Contraband Fund, 20 February 1863, constitutes material evidence of the Union Army’s fiscal administration of aid to self-emancipated African Americans during the Civil War. Created in Washington, DC at a moment when federal emancipation policy was shifting from military necessity to structured.....
[Civil War][African American Military][USCT] Scarce documentation regarding the “final statements” of Black soldier Private James Jones, Co. C, 77th Regiment, United States Colored Troops, 1864. This document concerns the settlement of accounts for a deceased enlisted man serving in a regiment formed from Louisiana’s Corps d’Afrique. The 77th United States.....
Hand-colored albumen photograph of a vivandiere, circa 1861–1865, documents female participation in the American Civil War through the visual culture of uniformed service. The studio portrait depicts a young woman dressed in a red, white, and blue vivandiere uniform, wearing a patriotic crown and holding an American flag inscribed “Columbia.”.....
[Civil War] [Military] Owned by a Union soldier, named "R. Whitcomb", and later picked up by a Confederate soldier, Capt Brooks, in the Battle of Bull Run - the first major battle of the Civil War. Civil War infantry handbook two volumes. Hardee, William J. Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics.....
Thulstrup, Thure de. Siege of Atlanta issued in 1888 presents a visual interpretation of one of the decisive military campaigns of the American Civil War. The fall of Atlanta to Union forces under General William T. Sherman in September 1864 marked a major turning point in the conflict and helped.....
Medal of Honor Recipient Moses Veale Signed Civil War muster out roll dated June 8, 1863 documents the discharge of 1st Lieutenant Orson Foot of the 60th New York Volunteer Infantry so he could accept a commission as Captain during the opening phase of the Gettysburg campaign. Issued at Aquia.....
[Civil War] [Black Military] [Slavery] [Virginia] Confederate government imprint documenting one of the clearest bureaucratic efforts to formalize the use of enslaved labor in direct support of the Confederate war effort at the very moment of institutional collapse. Issued in Richmond, Virginia in January 1865 and printed by the Confederate.....
Wilmer, L. Allison. History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861–65, published 1898–1899, compiles the official service record of Maryland soldiers, sailors, and marines who served in the Union war effort during the American Civil War, preserving one of the most detailed documentary records of the state’s military participation.....
[US Colored Troops] [Civil War] Roll of Honor government publications issued by the United States Quartermaster General’s Office between 1866 and 1867 record the names and burial locations of Union soldiers who died in service during the American Civil War. These volumes document the sacrifice of both white and African.....
Civil War military activity along the James River in Virginia documented in stereoscopic photographs produced near the end of the conflict. The images record Union engineering operations at Dutch Gap Canal and naval patrol activity along the James River while also capturing the presence of African American servicemen within Union.....
Logan, Miles. Volunteer Descriptive List and Account of Pay and Clothing, 1865, documents the military service, labor assignment, and compensation of an African American soldier in the 11th Regiment United States Colored Infantry during the Civil War. Enlisted at Fort Smith, Arkansas on 28 December 1863 at approximately eighteen years.....
Hincks, Edward W.; Pickler, John A.; Hugo, William H. United States Colored Troops and Buffalo Soldiers officer archive, 1874–1900, documents the postwar careers and administrative roles of Union officers associated with Black military service during and after the Civil War. The materials connect directly to the legacy of the United.....
Sherman, John. Speech by Hon. John Sherman of Ohio on Emancipation as a Compensation for Military Service Rendered by Slaves, 1864, advances a legislative argument linking Black military service in the Union Army to claims for freedom during the Civil War. Delivered in the United States Senate on February 2.....
Lincoln, Abraham. Message of the President of the United States… on the Rights of Colored Persons in the Army (1864) documents federal policy and legal interpretation concerning the status and compensation of African American soldiers and officers during the Civil War and provides direct evidence of how the U.S. government.....
Maine Farmer. January 8, 1863, prints the full text of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation within one week of its issuance, providing contemporaneous evidence of how federal emancipation policy was circulated to the Northern public during the Civil War. Published just days after January 1, 1863, the issue situates emancipation alongside.....
War Photograph & Exposition Company. On the Lines Before Petersburg, Va., 1864, documents the presence and daily conditions of United States Colored Troops during the prolonged siege of Petersburg, one of the final campaigns of the Civil War. The image captures four African American soldiers seated at the entrance of.....
Grant, Ulysses S. ferrotype campaign token, 1868, documents the translation of Civil War military leadership into electoral authority during the first presidential contest of the Reconstruction era. Produced for Grant’s successful presidential campaign, the token situates the former commanding general of Union forces within a rapidly expanding culture of political.....
General Washington and General Jackson on Negro Soldiers, 1863, a Civil War pamphlet advocating for the enlistment of African American soldiers in the Union Army. The pamphlet addresses Union military recruitment, wartime policy, and political arguments for Black enlistment. Drawing on historical precedent and wartime necessity, the text argues for.....
Shipherd, Jacob R. History of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, 1859, documenting one of the most consequential acts of organized resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act in the years immediately preceding the American Civil War. The work records the seizure of John Price, an escaped enslaved man captured by federal authorities in.....
Brady, Mathew, photographer. Stereoview of African Americans on plantation landscape following the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863, documenting civilian life and agricultural conditions in the immediate aftermath of one of the most consequential engagements of the American Civil War. The image shows three African American children and an adult man standing.....
Brady, Mathew. Carte-de-visite entitled “Group – Princes’ Servants,” circa 1861. Issued as part of Brady’s Album Gallery series, the image depicts four adult men posed together in an outdoor camp setting during the opening phase of the American Civil War, when photographic studios expanded production to meet growing public demand.....
Hill, William Augustus. Special Order No. 118, 3 December 1863, documenting the assignment of a Union Army sergeant to a “Colored Detachment” during the early formation of African American military units following the Emancipation Proclamation. Issued from the Draft Rendezvous at Long Island in Boston Harbor, the order directs Sergeant.....
