Civil War Letters

The following are potential Internet resources that will assist you in your exploration of Letters from the Civil War.

Personal Accounts

 American Civil War Collections: http://etext.virginia.edu/civilwar/

American Civil War Manuscripts Guides: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/civwar/

Civil War Letters of the Christie Family: www.mnhs.org/library/Christie/intropage.html

Letters About the Civil War: http://www.civilwarhome.com/letters.htm

Letters from an Iowa Soldier in the Civil War: http://www.civilwarletters.com/index.html

Love Letters of the Civil War: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/cwlove/

The Soldiers Write: www.alaska.net/~design/civilwar/records.html

The Valley of the Shadow - Letters and Diaries: http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/lettersp2.html

Vermont in the Civil War: http://www.vermonthistory.org/educate/cwletter/cwletter.htm

Virginia Military Institute Archives: http://www.vmi.edu/archives/cwsource.html
 


If you don't find what you're looking for in any of the sites above, try your 
own keyword search using the following tips...

Internet Search Tips

  1. Type the URL (web site address) of a search directory/engine in the address box: ex: www.yahoo.com, or www.google.com, etc.
     
  2. (Be sure to type the address exactly the way you see it, including any uppercase letters and punctuation).
     
  3. Type in keyword(s). (If your keyword has two parts such as: "Civil War", be sure to put quotes around it so that the search engine only finds the Internet sites about Civil War as opposed to all of the sites containing the word civil  plus all of the sites containing the word war..
     

  4. If you would like to search for something specific about the civil war, try a combined keyword search by adding a comma followed by a space and your other search term. For instance; if I wanted to find out about letters from the Civil War, I would enter the following:
     

    "Civil War", letters
     

  5. Hit Enter on your keyboard, or click on Search, then scan the description of the "hits" (entries) and click on the links that sound best.
     
  6. Be sure to evaluate each Internet site for the following:
    • Authority: Can you tell if the author is credible (believable)?
    • Objectivity: Is the information objective (honest and free of bias)?
    • Currency: Is the information recent and up-to-date?
    • Design: Is the site designed in a clear and user friendly way?
    • Navigation: Is the site easy to navigate through, and are all links current and usable?

     

  7. Remember: if you choose to use any information (text or graphics) found on an Internet source, 
    you must include it in your bibliography.

Remember:  YOU MUST CITE EVERY RESOURCE YOU USED to gather information on your 
Works Cited (Bibliography) page.  Use the Works Cited Guide to access MLA format.

Created by Liza Zandonella, Library Media Specialist.