THE CIVIL WAR on the WEB THE CIVIL WAR on the WEB A GUIDE TO THE VERY BEST SITES Completely Revised and Updated ALICE E. CARTER & RICHARD JENSEN Foreword by Gary W. Gallagher New Introduction by John C. Waugh © 2003 by Scholarly Resources Inc. All rights reserved First published 2003 Printed and bound in the United States of America Scholarly Resources Inc. 104 Greenhill Avenue Wilmington, DE 19805–1897 www.scholarly.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carter, Alice E., 1964— The Civil War on the Web : a guide to the very best sites / Alice E. Carter & Richard Jensen ; foreword by Gary W. Gallagher and new introduction by John C. Waugh. — Rev. & updated. p. cm. Rev. and updated ed. of: The Civil War on the Web / William G. Thomas, Alice E. Carter. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8420-5134-1 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8420-5135-X (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Computer network resources—Directories. 2. Web sites—Directories. I. Jensen, Richard J. II. Thomas, William G., 1964– Civil War on the Web. III. Title. E468.9 .C35 2003 025.06'9737—dc21 2003009604 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for permanence of paper for printed library mate- rials, Z39.48, 1984. A CKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to thank Will Thomas, who co-authored the first edition and who developed the book’s organization and focus. Will’s scholarship, leadership, and innovation in putting history on the web have made the Internet a better place. v A BOUT THE AUTHORS ALICE E. CARTER is the director of project management at Interactive Media Associates, an Internet consulting firm in New Jersey. She holds an M.A. in U.S. history from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and is a former project manager for the New York Times on the Web and the former asso- ciate director of the Virginia Center for Digital History at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. RICHARD JENSEN is professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and research associate at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications. In 1992 he founded H-Net, the groundbreaking and highly suc- cessful web-based book review, information, and scholarly discussion source for the academic community. He has written extensively on using the web for historical research and has conducted computer research training programs all over the world. In addition, he has written a number of arti- cles on World War II. Jensen is a recognized authority on reviewing military history web sites. C ONTENTS Foreword by Gary W. Gallagher xv Introduction by John C. Waugh xvii User’s Guide by Alice E. Carter xix PART I THE VERY BEST CIVIL WAR WEB SITES— REVIEWS AND RATINGS Chapter 1 Battles and Campaigns 3 Web Site Reviews 5 General Sites 5 Antietam/Sharpsburg 9 Appomattox—See Richmond 10 Chancellorsville—See Fredericksburg 10 Chattanooga 10 Cold Harbor—See Richmond 11 Corinth—See Western Theater 11 Florida 11 Fredericksburg 12 Georgia 14 Gettysburg 14 Manassas/Bull Run 17 Missouri—See Western Theater 18 New Market 18 North Carolina 19 Peninsula Campaign—See Richmond 20 Petersburg 20 Richmond 22 vii viii CONTENTS Spotsylvania—See Fredericksburg 24 Vicksburg—See Western Theater 24 Western Theater 24 Wilderness—See also Fredericksburg 27 Suggested Readings 28 Chapter 2 Political and Military Leaders 29 Web Site Reviews 32 General Sites 32 Davis, Jefferson 35 Grant, Ulysses S. 36 Jackson, Thomas J. “Stonewall” 36 Lee, Robert E. 37 Lincoln, Abraham 38 Longstreet, James 41 Meade, George Gordon 42 Suggested Readings 43 Chapter 3 Life of the Soldier 45 Web Site Reviews 47 Camp Life 47 Ethnic Groups 48 Food 50 Hospitals and Medicine 51 Letters and Diaries 51 Prisons 56 Suggested Readings 58 Chapter 4 Naval Operations 59 Web Site Reviews 62 Suggested Readings 70 Chapter 5 The Experience of the U.S. Colored Troops 73 Web Site Reviews 76 Suggested Readings 85 Chapter 6 Slavery and Emancipation 87 Web Site Reviews 90 Suggested Readings 105 CONTENTS ix Chapter 7 Women in the Civil War 107 Web Site Reviews 110 Suggested Readings 118 Chapter 8 Civil War Regiments 119 Web Site Reviews 121 Massachusetts 121 Michigan 124 New York 125 Pennsylvania 126 Tennessee 127 Texas 128 U.S. Colored Troops 130 Wisconsin 130 Suggested Readings 132 Chapter 9 General History, Historic Documents, Links, and Online Bookstore Sites 135 General History 136 Web Site Reviews 136 Historic Documents 138 Web Site Reviews 139 Link Sites 144 Web Site Reviews 145 Online Bookstores 147 Web Site Reviews 147 PART II SITES WORTH A VISIT—A TOPICAL INDEX Battles and Campaigns 155 General Sites 155 Books and Articles on Campaigns Published 1861–1920 156 Civil War Maps 157 Civil War Military Manuals 158 Antietam/Sharpsburg 158 Appomattox—See also Richmond 159 x CONTENTS Atlanta 159 Chancellorsville—See also Fredericksburg 159 Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Lookout Mountain 160 Cold Harbor—See also Richmond 160 Corinth—See Western Theater 161 Florida 161 Fredericksburg 161 Georgia—See also Sherman’s March 161 Gettysburg 162 Manassas/Bull Run 163 Maryland—See also Antietam 163 New Market 163 North Carolina 164 Peninsula Campaign—See Richmond 164 Petersburg 164 Richmond 164 Sherman’s March 165 Shiloh 166 South Carolina—See also Sherman’s March 166 Spotsylvania—See Fredericksburg 166 Tennessee—See also Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Lookout Mountain 166 Vicksburg—See Western Theater 167 Virginia—See also Appomattox, Fredericksburg, Manassas/ Bull Run, New Market, Petersburg, Richmond, and Wilderness 167 Western Theater 167 Wilderness 169 Political and Military Leaders 170 General Sites 170 Leaders: North 170 Chamberlain, Joshua L. 170 Custer, George Armstrong 171 Farragut, David Glasgow 171 Grant, Ulysses S. 171 Hancock, Winfield Scott 171 Lincoln, Abraham 172 McClellan, George B. 173 Meade, George Gordon 173 CONTENTS xi Sherman, William Tecumseh 173 Thomas, George H. 174 Leaders: South 174 Beauregard, P. G. T. 174 Bragg, Braxton 174 Cleburne, Patrick R. 174 Cooper, Samuel 175 Davis, Jefferson 175 Early, Jubal A. 175 Forrest, Nathan Bedford 175 Jackson, Thomas J. “Stonewall” 175 Johnson, Edward “Alleghany” 176 Lee, Robert E. 176 Longstreet, James 176 Loring, William Wing 177 Mosby, John Singleton 177 Wheeler, Joseph 177 Life of the Soldier 177 Camp Life 177 Conscription 178 Ethnic Groups 178 Flags 178 Food 179 Hospitals and Medicine 179 Letters and Diaries 180 Military Laws and Regulations 182 Music and Poetry 183 Pensions 183 Prisons 183 Naval Operations 184 The Experience of the U.S. Colored Troops 188 General Sites 188 Regimental Histories 190 Slavery and Emancipation 191 Women in the Civil War 195 xii CONTENTS Civil War Regiments 197 General Sites 198 Alabama 198 Arkansas 200 California 200 Colorado 201 Connecticut 201 Dakota Territory 202 Delaware 202 District of Columbia 202 Florida 202 Georgia 202 Illinois 204 Indiana 206 Indian Territory (Oklahoma) 207 Iowa 207 Kansas 208 Kentucky 209 Louisiana 211 Maine 212 Maryland 212 Massachusetts 213 Michigan 214 Minnesota 215 Mississippi 216 Missouri 217 Nebraska 218 Nevada 218 New Hampshire 218 New Jersey 219 New Mexico 219 New York 219 North Carolina 222 Ohio 223 Pennsylvania 226 Rhode Island 227 South Carolina 228 Tennessee 228 CONTENTS xiii Texas 229 Vermont 230 Virginia 230 West Virginia 231 Wisconsin 232 General History, Historic Documents, Links, and Online Bookstore Sites 233 General History 233 Historic Documents233 Link Sites 234 Online Bookstores 235 F OREWORD Gary W. Gallagher Future generations might know the official statements of generals and the outlines of major battles, observed Walt Whitman, but they would “never know the seething hell and black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors . of the Secession War.” Contemporary Civil War scholarship promises to deliver all that Whitman envisioned and much that he did not. Long considered primarily the province of military historians, the field embraces an increasingly spacious defini- tion of the conflict, extending from superlative work on campaigns and generals to treatments of subjects well beyond the battlefield. The daily lives and concerns of common soldiers stand out in sharper relief than before. Studies relating to eman- cipation, civilian morale, and gender complement books on military and political history. Authors increasingly attempt to show the reciprocal influence of home front and battlefield, a sign that long-standing barriers between scholars of military and nonmilitary bents may be eroding. In short, it is a very productive time for anyone interested in the nation’s greatest crisis, and all signs point to continued expan- sion of the field. Some of the most striking evidence of that expansion lies in the profusion of Civil War–related sites on the World Wide Web. The online offerings appeal to scholars who write about the war as well as to lay readers who seek to understand it bet- ter. A number of sites include documents and images of potential benefit to seri- ous researchers, and literally thousands of others beckon nonprofessional readers who already confront a surfeit of published materials. Many sites are amateurish, clearly reflecting the zealous interests of single individuals. Others contain a mass of information but are so poorly constructed as to defy easy use. Any online search for “Civil War” reveals the intimidating scale and chaotic nature of the offerings— and highlights the need for assistance in separating the grain from the chaff. As one who cannot devote a great deal of time to trying to differentiate among the many web sites, I was delighted when I learned about The Civil War on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites. My enthusiasm grew on reading an advance version xv xvi FOREWORD of the manuscript. The authors had saved me countless hours of frustrating work by examining thousands of sites, then selecting those they considered particularly valuable and placing them in nine broad categories.