Civil War Digital Collections
Music Division, Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwmhtml/cwmhome.html
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Band Music from the Civil War Era makes available examples of a brilliant style of brass band
music that flourished in the 1850s in the United States and remained popular through the
nineteenth century. Bands of this kind served in the armies of both the North and the South
during the Civil War. This online collection includes both printed and manuscript music (mostly
in the form of "part books" for individual instruments) selected from the collections of the Music
Division of the Library of Congress and the Walter Dignam Collection of the Manchester
Historic Association (Manchester, New Hampshire). The collection features over 700 musical
compositions, as well as 8 full-score modern editions and 19 recorded examples of brass band
music in performance.
New-York Historical Society
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/nhihtml/cwnyhshome.html
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The images in this digital collection are drawn from the New-York Historical Society's rich
archival collections that document the Civil War. They include recruiting posters for New York
City regiments of volunteers; stereographic views documenting the mustering of soldiers and of
popular support for the Union in New York City; photography showing the war's impact, both in
the north and south; and drawings and writings by ordinary soldiers on both sides.
Civil War Maps
Civil War Maps, 1861-1865
Pennsylvania--Gettysburg. 1863
About this image
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/civil_war_maps/
Overview
Civil War Maps brings together materials from three premier collections: the Library of
Congress Geography and Map Division, the Virginia Historical Society, and the Library of
Virginia. Among the reconnaissance, sketch, and theater-of-war maps are the detailed battle
maps made by Major Jedediah Hotchkiss for Generals Lee and Jackson, General Sherman’s
Southern military campaigns, and maps taken from diaries, scrapbooks, and manuscripts—all
available for the first time in one place.
Most of the items presented here are documented in Civil War Maps: An Annotated List of Maps
and Atlases in the Library of Congress, compiled by Richard W. Stephenson in 1989. New
selections from 2,240 maps and 76 atlases held by the Library will be added monthly.
A Civil War Soldier in the Wild Cat Regiment
Selections from the Tilton C. Reynolds Papers
Tilton C. Reynolds.
About this image
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/tcreynolds
Overview
A Civil War Soldier in the Wild Cat Regiment: Selections from the Tilton C. Reynolds Papers
documents the Civil War experience of Captain Tilton C. Reynolds, a member of the 105th
Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. Comprising 164 library items, or 359 digital images, this
online presentation includes correspondence, photographs, and other materials dating between
1861 and 1865. The letters feature details of the regiment's movements, accounts of military
engagements, and descriptions of the daily life of soldiers and their views of the war. Forty-six of
the letters are also made available in transcription.
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/tafthtml/tafthome.html
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Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865 presents three
manuscript volumes, totaling 1,240 digital images, that document daily life in Washington, D.
C., through the eyes of Horatio Nelson Taft (1806-1888), an examiner for the U. S. Patent
Office. Now located in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress, the diary details
events in Washington during the Civil War years including Taft's connection with Abraham
Lincoln and his family. Of special interest is Taft's description of Lincoln's assassination, based
on the accounts of his friends and his son, who was one of the attending physicians at Ford's
Theatre the night Lincoln was shot, on April 14, 1865. Transcriptions for all three volumes have
been made by Library of Congress staff and are available online along with the digital images.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
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The Selected Civil War Photographs Collection contains 1,118 photographs. Most of the images
were made under the supervision of Mathew B. Brady, and include scenes of military personnel,
preparations for battle, and battle after-effects. The collection also includes portraits of both
Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men.
An additional two hundred autographed portraits of army and navy officers, politicians, and
cultural figures can be seen in the Civil War photograph album, ca. 1861-65. (James Wadsworth
Family Papers). The full album pages are displayed as well as the front and verso of each carte
de visite, revealing studio logos, addresses, and other imprint information on the approximately
twenty photographers represented in the album.
Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lilj/
About this Collection
New Photos Added! View the most recent additions to the Liljenquist Family Collection.
More than 700 ambrotype and tintype photographs highlight both Union and Confederate
soldiers during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Liljenquist Family sought out striking
images, especially young enlisted men. The photographs often show weapons, hats, canteens,
musical instruments, painted backdrops, and other details that enhance the research value of the
collection. Among the most rare images are sailors, African Americans in uniform, a Lincoln
campaign button, and portraits of soldiers with their families and friends.
Some soldiers are identified. But most of the people in the photos have no names. Please let us
know if you recognize a regiment, a face from your family, or a photographer's painted studio
backdrop! See the Suggestion Form for Prints & Photographs Cataloging Data to make a
submission.
Tom Liljenquist and his sons Jason, Brandon, and Christian donated the entire collection to the
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division in 2010 and continue to add to it. Brandon
has described how and why the family gathered the photographs in "From the Donor's
Perspective--The Last Full Measure." In addition to the ambrotypes and tintypes, the collection
also includes several manuscripts, patriotic envelopes, photographs on paper, and artifacts related
to the Civil War.
An April 2011 exhibition of the collection, The Last Full Measure: Civil War Photographs from
the Liljenquist Family Collection, commemorates the sesquicentennial of the American Civil
War.
You can also enjoy this collection in Flickr, where public comments provide additional
information about images in the set called Civil War Faces.
A slideshow of staff favorites is another good way to sample the collection.
Drawings (Documentary)
Second Connecticut regiment. Alfred R. Waud, 1861.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/drwg/
Drawings, Documentary
The Documentary Drawings category includes more than 3,000 drawings made between 1750
and 1970. Eye-witness sketches made during the U.S. Civil War are the most frequently used
images. Also included are topographical views, bank note vignettes, portraits, and courtroom
sketches. A large group of Russian drawings show areas of China in the 1800s. Among the wellknown artists represented by numerous works are William Birch, Howard Brodie, Kenyon Cox,
Edwin Forbes, Augustus Kollner, James Fuller Queen, John Rubens Smith, Elihu Vedder,
George Wallis, and Alfred and William Waud.
The drawings are organized into two filing series called DRWG/US (drawings by artists in the
United States) and DRWG 1 (drawings by European and other artists).
The Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division acquired these drawings chiefly through
donations and continues to add new material.
Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints
City Point, Virginia, ca. 1865.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/drwg/
About this Collection
This online collection provides access to about 7,000 different views and portraits made during
the American Civil War (1861-1865) and its immediate aftermath. The images represent the
original glass plate negatives made under the supervision of Mathew Brady and Alexander
Gardner as well as the photographic prints in the Civil War photographs file in the Prints &
Photographs Reading Room. These negatives and prints are sometimes referred to as the
Anthony-Taylor-Rand-Ordway-Eaton Collection to indicate the previous owners. The Library
purchased the negatives in 1943.
Search tip for this collection: Try putting in very few search terms, particularly when searching
for people (for example, try just the person's last name). For more information, see the
Arrangement & Access section.
Many additional Civil War images are in other collections, including drawings, prints, and
photograph albums to name a few.
View a slide show of samples.
Other Civil War Holdings in the Prints & Photographs Division
Liljenquist Family Collection - Over 700 rare ambrotype and tintype
photographs highlight Civil War soldiers and their families, both North and South.
Andrew J. Russell photographs - Captain Andrew. J. Russell, of the 141st New
York Infantry, was the first U.S. Army photographer. He documented railroad maintenance and
construction in Washington, D.C. and Virginia and military facilities in and around Washington, D.C.,
Maryland, and in Virginia. View descriptions and images: LOT 4336, LOT 9209, and LOT 11486.
Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War - 100 photographs presented
chronologically showing the major sites of conflict in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Civil War Drawings in Drawings (Documentary) - More than 1600
sketches by the "Special Artists" who drew for the nation's illustrated newspapers.
Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs -- Includes more
than 200 photographs from the Civil War era
Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs
World War I Infantry soldiers, betw. 1914 and 1918.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/gld/
About this Collection
The William A. Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs provides almost 350
images showing African Americans and related military and social history. The Civil War era is
the primary time period covered, with scattered examples through 1945. Most of the images are
photographs, including 270 cartes de visite. For the full range of genres, see the Formats Index.
For the list of approximately 100 different photographers, see the Creator/Related Names Index.
Subjects of special note include Sojourner Truth, fugitive slaves, former slave children from
New Orleans, and freed slaves at Seabrook Plantation in South Carolina. Military service
photographs document participation in the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish American War, and
World War I. Several photographs show Buffalo Soldiers, and one album is filled with portraits
of officers of the 25th United States Colored Troops. Baseball is the theme for a group portrait
from Danbury, CT, and a panoramic view of the 1924 Colored World Series opening game.
The Library of Congress purchased this collection from William A. Gladstone in 1995.
Gladstone's distinctive ownership logo appears on the backs of many photographs.