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Tips for Research Papers
on the
Antebellum South, American Civil War, and Reconstruction
Professor: Susannah U. Bruce
I. Online Sources -- General (click to jump to this section)
II. Online Sources -- Listed Chronologically by major events of the Civil War era (click to jump to this section)
Note: Most, though not all, of the sites below take you to primary sources. Even the secondary source sites, though, often contain primary sources. THESE ARE EXCELLENT TOOLS for your research papers, but remember: you may not use online secondary sources in your papers (only exception to this is if the source was originally in a reputable printed format, i.e. an academic journal article now available online through JSTOR. That, though, you would site as thought you looked at the print copy since, in fact, you are if it's in a .pdf format).
I. Online Sources -- General
The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, better known to Civil War historians as the OR, is an essential tool for any political or military study of this conflict. This will be especially important for those of you working on a commander or specific battle because it includes communications between leaders, their accounts of what happened at a battle--written at the time, not after the war, as well as including information on related subjects such as medical care. You can find a hard copy of the OR in our library or you can search it online at:
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.monographs/waro.html
I would suggest that the first think you do is scroll down that homepage and browse the OR by volume. You'll notice that it's in chronological order, so if you're working on something relating to, say, the Battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863), I'd start with:
- Volume XXVII - in Three Parts. 1889. (Vol. 27, Chap. 39)
Chapter XXXIX - Operations in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Department of the East. June 3-August 3, 1863.
Part I - Reports
Part II - Reports
Part III - Correspondence, etc.You can also do a boolean search using keywords "Gettysburg" and "July 1863" and the name your focused on (Pickett, Ewell, Chamberlain, etc.)
Citing the Official Records
Let's say I'm writing on medical care at the Battle of Gettysburg and I came across an entry in the OR from John M. Cuyler, Medical Inspector, U.S. Army. You can view it at:
John M. Cuyler report from July 27, 1863
I want to note in my paper, where I discuss the care of the wounded in the days following the battle, the number of wounded left in town versus those removed to Army hospitals, and perhaps some information on the role of civilian doctors during these busy days. I might write:
Within three weeks of the battle, ambulance wagons from the Army of the Potomac or those sent north from Washington, D.C. carried most of the federal wounded to either military or civilian hospitals. Still, the citizens of Gettysburg had to care from approximately 3,500 civilians, when their entire community numbered only 2,500 at the time of the battle. Despite the overwhelming number of wounded requiring prompt care, John M. Cuyler, a Medical Inspector for the Union Army had nothing but praise for the surgeons and their staffs, insisting, "the medical officers of the army, and the citizen surgeons who were employed during the emergency, discharged their arduous duties with fidelity and ability. I never saw men work harder and complain less of the difficulties that surrounded them." Cuyler went on to clarify, "I cannot close ... without acknowledging the immense aid afforded by the Sanitary and Christian Commissions. The promptness, energy, and great kindness uniformly exhibited by these benevolent associations doubtless helped to save the lives of many...."1
That note "1" would direct my reader to my endnotes, which appear at the end of my paper, beginning on a separate page. The reader could find endnote 1 to discover where I located the information presented in that quote and it would look like this:
1. John M. Cuyler to William A. Hammond, July 27, 1863. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Ser. 1, Vol. 27, Part I, 24-25. Hereinafter cited as O.R.
In my bibliography, I don't need to list every single volume from every single series of the OR I use. This is simply considered as one source and would be listed alphabetically as:
U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion. 127 vols. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
ONE OTHER TIP: If you noticed in my sample paragraph from a paper, I only offered one endnote for that quote. Granted, the number of wounded remaining in Gettysburg and the quote itself came from the Cuyler letter I cited. Still, the total population of Gettysburg came from another source, and a good historian will recognize this in his/her notes. Thus I should format the note, still using just note 1, as follows:
1. Richard A. Sauers, "Battle of Gettysburg" in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, eds. David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000), 828; John M. Cuyler to William A. Hammond, July 27, 1863. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Ser. 1, Vol. 27, Part I, 24-25. Hereinafter cited as O.R.
An alternative to that is to use two separate endnotes. In that case my sample paragraph would appear like this:
Within three weeks of the battle, ambulance wagons from the Army of the Potomac or those sent north from Washington, D.C. carried most of the federal wounded to either military or civilian hospitals. Still, the citizens of Gettysburg had to care from approximately 3,500 civilians, when their entire community numbered only 2,500 at the time of the battle.1 Despite the overwhelming number of wounded requiring prompt care, John M. Cuyler, a Medical Inspector for the Union Army had nothing but praise for the surgeons and their staffs, insisting, "the medical officers of the army, and the citizen surgeons who were employed during the emergency, discharged their arduous duties with fidelity and ability. I never saw men work harder and complain less of the difficulties that surrounded them." Cuyler went on to clarify, "I cannot close ... without acknowledging the immense aid afforded by the Sanitary and Christian Commissions. The promptness, energy, and great kindness uniformly exhibited by these benevolent associations doubtless helped to save the lives of many...."2
My endnotes would then appear as:
1. Richard A. Sauers, "Battle of Gettysburg" in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, eds. David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000), 828.
2. John M. Cuyler to William A. Hammond, July 27, 1863. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Ser. 1, Vol. 27, Part I, 24-25. Hereinafter cited as O.R.
I would then make sure I added another entry for the Heidler work, in alphabetical order, to my bibliography. Note that I'm probably using more than one entry from this encyclopedia, so I'm just going to list the encyclopedia, not each entry in it:
Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000.
NOTE: Formatting is off for endnotes and bibliography entries throughout this page due to the limits of this web-design program. If you look in Turabian, you'll notice that all notes are indented 5 spaces (or one tab) on the first line, but not others. In your bibliography, the first line is not indented, but all other lines are indented 5 spaces (or one tab)
Online U.S. Civil War resources via OSU
The eHistory Primary Sources and Documents Section includes "documents, images, and other primary source material ... to help with teaching, research and the investigation of history. The entire collection will be searchable, and will include results from other sections with primary sources like the Oral Histories and Maps & Images."
This is an essential research tool for all history majors. We'll discuss in class the methods for conducting searches here, but it's an absolute must for finding articles, books, dissertations, etc. on nearly any aspect of American history. Let's say I've found a great article about a northern newspaper editor who traveled to Gettysburg at the request of a widow to retrieve her husband's body. Even though this was published just a few years ago in a popular Civil War magazine, and includes editorial comments, they have printed the man's story verbatim (with minor editing for grammar and spelling). Thus this article is a primary source and has great details about the civilian experience in the town immediately following the battle. If I quoted from this article, and say it's the 21st endnote in my paper it would appear as (following the instructions for citing an article in a journal that is recorded by volume and issue):
21. Charles Parley Cole, "An Editor's Errand," Civil War Times Illustrated 38, no. 6 (1999): 26.
In my bibliography, if I'd separating primary from secondary sources, I would list this alphabetically under primary sources as:
Cole, Charles Parley. "An Editor's Errand." Civil War Times Illustrated 38, no. 6 (1999): 26.
Women in the Civil War (hosted by Duke University Special Collections)
From their home page: "As a result of the Duke bibliography Women and the Civil War, we consistently receive requests from students and teachers who would like to see primary sources on this topic available to them via the Internet. In response, we have begun to transcribe and scan some of our manuscript collections which document women's experiences in the Civil War. Given the wealth of information about the Civil War already on the Internet, there is a relatively small amount of material that reflects women's lives and experiences during this time period. Below are links to primary sources on the Internet that are directly related to women and the Civil War. We encourage archivists, project staff, and Civil War enthusiasts to network more women's collections!"
From their home page: "The following letters were written by Confederate and Union soldiers from the Civil War battlefront. Descriptions of General "Stonewall" Jackson's wounding, the horrors of Gettysburg, and the loss of comrades are matched by expressions of devotion to country, to God, and to loved ones left behind.
The documents in this exhibit were originally selected by John White, who also wrote the caption text. All of the manuscripts and photographic images are from the Southern Historical Collection in the Manuscripts Department of the Academic Affairs Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For exhibit only: permission to publish must be requested."
New York Times (Historical Newspaper)
This database, available through our library, is an outstanding primary source. We'll discuss in class how to search for material in this collection. To cite anything you get from the New York Times in your bibliography, you simply list New York Times and make sure it's in alphabetical order. In your notes, assuming it's for endnote 17, though it can be for any one of them depending on where you're citing whichever entry from the Times, you would list:
17. New York Times, 5 July 1863.
There are other terrific sources available at our university library. Harper's Weekly is in our archives, held in the Thomason Room on the 4th floor (usually only open from 1pm - 4pm, but you can call to arrange a particular time if necessary). This is a New York City newspaper and this is a hard copy of the original paper.
Don't forget to look a the classic sources of postwar veterans' writings--The Confederate Veteran, Battles and Leaders (now up to 6 vols), The Southern Historical Society Papers, and M.O.L.L.U.S.
Also, check with the SHSU Newton Gresham Library for other great tools. Here is a link to all of the Research Databases for Historians. Some will take you to excellent secondary articles, books, book reviews, dissertations, etc. Others will take you to some of the best primary source collections available today. USE THESE!!!!
Remember that only primary sources can come from online, but considering that, there's also the Valley of the Shadow project, which examines two cities during the Civil War. This includes newspaper resources, church records, private letters and diaries (great entry under diaries with a brief mention of a northern family being "pressed" into service to help carry some supplies for the troops; useful too for an entry from a woman--Eliza Stouffer), and soldier letters. Let's say you did a search of the letters and diaries section, wanting something on civilians' reflections of the Battle of Gettysburg and found a good letter from Jacob Stouffer to Mary R. Stouffer from July 5, 1863. Thanks to the guide at the Valley of the Shadow website, right at the top of the letter is brief information telling me that Jacob Stouffer is writing to his daughter and relating information about what the civilians of Franklin County, Pennsylvania experienced as Confederate troops marched through the area. If I used this letter and cited from it, and it's the 5th time I've made a citation it would appear as:
5. Jacob Stouffer to Mary R. Stouffer, July 5, 1863, The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, Virginia Center for Digital History, Charlottesville, Virginia, http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/, July 16, 2004.
In my bibliography, I would list it (alphabetically under primary sources) as:
Stouffer Family Letters, The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, Virginia Center for Digital History, Charlottesville, Virginia, http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/, July 16, 2004.
Don't forget to use Interlibrary Loan. This is an essential tool for acquiring resources. The first time you use it you'll need to register, and then just remember your username and password. Be sure to get your requests in early--it takes about a week, at least, to acquire most sources. Just because our library doesn't have the book doesn't mean I won't expect to see it in your paper.
If you want some more ideas on formatting for your endnotes and bibliographies, take a look at the back of the books assigned for this class, or some of those you've already picked up for your research.
II. Online Sources -- Listed Chronologically
