Our Newest Content
Civil War Collection Part VI: Northeast Regimental Histories
Regimental Flags of the 165th Regiment
These valuable research sources offer unique perspectives on the Civil War. They provide details on the organization and achievements of particular units, including such items as regimental rosters, transportation documents, honor rolls and casualty statistics and promotion and court martial documents.
The vast majority were written in the thirty-five years between the end of the war and the end of the Nineteenth Century. Most were written by unit veterans, and often by the regimental chaplains, primarily as a service chronicle for regiment members.
The best include both a narrative of the regiment’s service and anecdotal material by the soldiers, and often are filled with photos of unit members, portraits, maps and additional illustrations.
Example
THE War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, was one of the greatest conflicts in all history. Huge armies were engaged, and the naval operations were also conducted on a vast scale. Connecticut was one of the most loyal of states. She responded promptly to the calls of President Lincoln for defenders of the Union, and is credited with over 54,000 enlistments. As the poet John Boyle O’Reilly sings:
“Thrice blest the nation that has every son, A soldier, ready for the warning sound; Who marches homeward when the fight is done, To swing the hammer and to till the ground.
“Call back that morning, with its lurid light, When through our land the awful war bell tolled; When lips were mute, and women’s faces white As the pale cloud that out from Sumter rolled.
“Call back that morn: an instant all were dumb, As if the shot had struck the Nation’s life; Then cleared the smoke, and rolled the calling drum, And men streamed in to meet the coming strife.”
Source: History of the Ninth Regiment, Connecticut
Volunteer Infantry, “The Irish Regiment,”
In the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65
