Civil War and Reconstruction: Finding Military and Regimental Histories

The Library has in its collection the complete sets of the Official Records of the Armies (often referred to as the "OR") and the Navies .  For the Armies, the set is officially titled, The War of te Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.  The original set is comprised of 127 volumes that are divided into 4 series:

• Series 1: Military operations; contains battle reports from the Union and Confederate armies
• Series 2: Prisoners of War and political prisoners
• Series 3: Miscellaneous Union correspondence, orders and reports
• Series 4: Miscellaneous Confederate correspondence, orders and reports

We hold the original published set as well as a reprint.  It is also online through the Making of America site.

The Library also has the multi-volume set, the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. It can also be found online through the Making of America site.

The Library's collection contains hundreds of regimental histories.  One way to locate the histories by geographic location is to use a subject heading like,  North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories. Change the geographic location to fit the parameters of your search.

​   North Carolina-History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Regimental Histories United States-History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Regimental Histories United States-History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Campaigns Confederate States of America-Army-North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 11th

The Ancestry Library Edition provides access to several collections of interest to those researching Civil War soldiers including:

• U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865: database of the approximately 6.3 million soldiers who served.
• U.S. Civil War Pension Index: includes images of pension cards
• U.S. Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
• U.S. Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865