Civil War digital archives and websites
Civil War digital archives and websites (Ongoing)
Just like my general recommended online archives this list is ongoing and nowhere near exhaustive. Last updated 6/27/25
The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Civil War- Digitized here. The Civil War was one of the first conflicts involving Americans who wanted to preserve the historic record. There was a lot of bureaucratic red tape floating around, but it made for great historical material.
This is what people in the business call the “OR,” simply meaning the “Official Record.” It is a monstrous 129 digitized volumes! It truly is one of the finest collections of history ever made.
If you want a cool companion to this library of books, check out the War of the Rebellion: Atlas to Accompany the Official Records. (They sure did know how to name their books back then.)
To make your life easier, here’s an index. In addition to that, here’s an index to the atlas.
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Library of Congress-Civil War Collections- Check out their website here. The LOC Civil War collection is a vast collection of photos, manuscripts, maps, and letters. Not everything is digitized, but there’s plenty there to pull you down a rabbit hole. If you’re looking to do in-depth research, you can use their catalogs to search for resources and plan a visit to the LOC.
National Archives- Civil War Records- Check out the site here. The National Archives is the bastion of Civil War records research. The online portion is perfect for researching genealogy, pension files, photographs, government documents, and military official documentation. Like the LOC, the collection is MASSIVE and hasn’t been digitized fully.
The NARA website is somewhat difficult to navigate. Everything in there has a record group, followed by more identifiers, all the way down to NAID (National Archive ID numbers). There is a lot here, but also, a lot missing.
Like the LOC, if you’re researching a book, or article, or even a dissertation/thesis, I’d recommend a trip to the NARA. For in-depth research you might want to plan a few days at least. You can order microfilm reels of records, but it takes a long time and can get expensive. Another option exists for those who can’t make it out there. You can hire a researcher who is familiar with the archives to do the hard digging for you. This, like ordering film, can really cost you if you’re planning on them doing a lot of research.
The American Battlefield Trust- You can check out their site here. This is one of my favorite organizations and sites. They have a trove of info on battlefields, battles, etc. Their website is easy to navigate, and you can search for specific battles or topics.
They are an excellent purveyor of resources like maps, battle histories, educational resources, and videos. I highly recommend their YouTube videos that dive deeply into many historical battlefields. Check out the channel here.
The organization is driven by historical preservation. Their main goal, on top of education, is preserving America’s military history. It’s a great organization to support!
National Park Service: The Civil War- Check out the site here. If you’re planning a trip to any battlefields, or historic sites, this is the place begin! On top of that, the NPS website offers the Soldiers and Sailors Database. You can search for records on those who served in the war. (Just between us, this is way easier to navigate than the National Archives Website. The NARA website is apparently getting a makeover thankfully, but for now this is the easiest way to search vets and units.)
When searching for Civil War soldiers, here’s a little advice: Initials are amazing identifiers. If you know their middle initial, use it. If it’s John Smith and you know his name is John William Smith, search “John W. Smith, or John William Smith.” In addition to that, if that doesn’t work, then search initials only. For our John Smith example, search J. W. Smith. It’s not uncommon to find records where the name is simply that, a group of initials.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History- Website is here. This institute, founded in 1994, was designed to offer resources to teachers, scholars, students, and researchers. They have an online digital archive of primary sources that are perfect for your Civil War research.
Digital Public Library of America: Civil War Collection- Here’s their site. This website is the culmination of a combined library effort to make resources available online. Yeah, it’s awesome. Technology being used to study history brings me so much joy! Especially when we can use it to put archival materials into the hands of everyone.
The Civil War Digital Archive- The site is here. Now, this site feels like something you would have visited on dial-up internet in 2004, but the info is great.
Their site offers indexes for regiments, Union Corps, and other helpful links. They also offer letters, diaries, and battle reports.
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum- Here’s the website. (This link is to their digital catalog, just to make your life easier.) Obviously, the President of the United States during the Civil War has a library jammed with Civil War documents, photos, and stuff about Lincoln himself. Presidential libraries are amazing places to start researching a conflict you’re interested in.
University of North Carolina: Documenting the American South- Website is here. This is another website that looks like it was built circa 2004, but it is a great place to research the American South. It’s not just an archive about the Civil War, but it’s a place to research things like the lead-up to the war, the Reconstruction Era, and anything pertaining to the war itself.
You can browse by subject using their index. You can browse by names, forts, battles, states etc.
Here is a collection called “The Civil War Day By Day.”
This is an amazing collection called “The Southern Homefront 1861-1865.”
HathiTrust Digital Library - Civil War Collection- Here’s the site- HathiTrust is one of my all-time favorite sites for doing primary source research. It is awesome! It is one of the largest repositories of online historical resources you can find. It was my valued and beloved friend through my grad school days. You will love it too.
Like a few other online archives, HathiTrust is a place where universities, libraries, museums, etc collect their digital archival material.
Smithsonian Institute: National Museum of American History, Behring Center- Website here. The website can be a little difficult to navigate, but this is a good step in your research if you’re looking for Civil War artifacts.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers- Website here. This is a wing of the Library of Congress site. Newspapers are an integral primary source when researching any major event like the Civil War.
Fold3- Website is here. Fold3 is an offshoot of Ancestry.com. Unfortunately, that means you need a subscription to view a lot of the things on there. If you’re into genealogical research, then this site is a must. It’s an Ancestry site specifically geared toward military records. It’s worth it if you’re really into researching your family, or you want to help others do genealogical research.