Application for military headstone
In 1929, Mrs. Mande M. McGehee applied to the Office of the Quartermaster General in the War Department for a headstone for the unmarked grave of Nathaniel M....
Applying for exemption
Many Southern whites believed the Confederate draft favored the rich. The “twenty Negro law,” for example, exempted planters with 20 or more slaves. In February...
Battles on Bull Run
The Cartographic and Architectural Branch holds many Civil War maps including this one of the Battles on Bull Run on July 21, 1861.
Beginning lifelong friendships
Some friendships formed at West Point were sorely tested during the Civil War. Many of the cadets on this 1838 roster of the United States Military Academy served...
Black officers for black soldiers
Frederick Douglass and his son Lewis, the former sergeant major of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, were among the 200 men who signed this petition to...
Bound to the Confederate effort
This ledger sheet lists slaves employed at the Confederate States Armory in Macon, Georgia, in December 1862. You can find the names and occupations of each slave and...
Breach of contract
1st Sgt. Stephen A. Swails of Company F believed the Army had not honored its obligations regarding his pay. While white first sergeants were receiving $20 per month,...