RESEARCHING YOUR REVOLUTIONARY WAR ANCESTOR, PT. II

The following is a selected bibliography of materials in the SLPL collection of interest to the Revolutionary War ancestor researcher. You can find many other items in our catalog by searching this subject entry:

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Registers.

SLPL Catalog: http://www.slpl.org/

II-- Bounty Land Records

13. Bockstruck, Lloyd Dewitt. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants: Awarded by State Governments. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996.(Central- HG 973.34)

14. Cartwright, Betty Goff Cook. North Carolina Land Grants in Tennessee, 1778-1791. Memphis, TN: I. C. Harper Co., 1958. (Central-HG 973.34)

15. Dyer, Albion Morris. First Ownership of Ohio Lands. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1969. (Central-ST 977.102)

16. Holcomb, Brent. North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina. Greenville, S.C.: Genealogical Press, 1980. (Central-HG 929.3757)

17. Houston, Martha Lou. 600 Revolutionary Soldiers Living in Georgia in 1827-28. Washington, D.C.: M. L. Houston, 1932. (Central-ST 975.8)

18. Jillson, Willard Rouse. The Kentucky Land Grants: a Systematic Index to All of the Land Grants Recorded in the State Land Office at Frankfort, Kentucky, 1782-1924. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1971. (Central-HG 976.9)

19. Jillson, Willard Rouse. Old Kentucky Entries and Deeds: a Complete Index to All of the Earliest Land Entries, Military Warrants, Deeds, and Wills of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1969. (Central-HG 976.9)

20. Knight, Lucian Lamar. Georgia’s Roster of the Revolution, Containing a List of the State’s Defenders; Officers and Men; Soldiers and Sailors; Partisans and Regulars; Whether Enlisted in Georgia or Settled in Georgia After the Close of Hostilities. Compiled under authority of the legislature from various sources, including official documents, both state and federal, certificates of service, land grants, pension rolls, and other records. Atlanta, GA: Index Printing Co., 1920. (Central-ST 975.8)

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
tpearson@slpl.org
We're on the Web at http://www.slpl.org/

RESEARCHING YOUR REVOLUTIONARY WAR ANCESTOR, PT. I

The following is a selected bibliography of materials in the SLPL collection of interest to the Revolutionary War ancestor researcher. You can find many other items in our catalog by searching this subject entry:

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Registers.

SLPL Catalog: http://www.slpl.org/

I-- MILITARY SERVICE RECORDS

Microfilm

1. General Index to Compiled Service Records of Revolutionary War Veterans. 58 reels. (Central-Microfilm)

2. Revolutionary War Service Records. 138 reels. (Central-Microfilm)

Books

3. Atwood, Rodney. The Hessians: Mercenaries from Hessen-Kassel in the American Revolution. NY: Cambridge University Press, 1980. (Central-ST 973.342)

4. Carrington, Henry B. Battles of the American Revolution: Battle Maps and Charts of the Revolution. New York: New York Times, 1968. (Central-ST 973.33)

5. Daughters of the American Revolution. Index of the Rolls of Honor (Ancestor’s Index) in the Lineage Books of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1972. 160 volumes. (Central-HG 929.373)

6. Myers, Paul W. Pennsylvania Soldiers of the Revolutionary War, Living in States Other Than Pennsylvania. Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 1987. (Central-HG 973.3448)

7. Smith, Clifford Neal. Brunswick Deserter-Immigrants of the American Revolution. Thomson, IL: Heritage House, 1973. (Central-HG 929.343)

8. Smith, Clifford Neal. Mercenaries from Ansbach and Bayreuth, Germany, Who Remained in America after the Revolution. McNeal, AZ: Westland Publications, 1979. (Central-HG 973.342)

9. Smith, Clifford Neal. Muster Rolls and Prisoner of War Lists in American Archival Collections Pertaining to the German Mercenary Troops who Served with the British Forces during the American Revolution. DeKalb, IL: Westland Publications, 1976. (Central-HG 973.342)

10. The State Records of North Carolina. Raleigh: P. M. Hale, 1886-1914, 30 vols. Volume 16 has list of soldiers in North Carolina Continental Line. (Central-ST 975.6)

11. White, Virgil D. Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files. Waynesboro, TN: National Hisotrical Publishing Co., 1990-1992, 3 vols. (Central-HG 973.4)

12. White, Virgil D. Index to Revolutionary War Service Records. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Co., 1995, 4 vols. (Central-HG 973.4)

Tom Pearson
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
tpearson@slpl.org
We're on the Web at: http://www.slpl.org

ST. LOUIS PHOTO POOL

More than 25,000 photos of St. Louis scenes in this Flickr photo pool:

LINK

BOOKS ABOUT WORLD WAR I ADDED DURING 2010

Atkinson, Diane. Elsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front. New York: Pegasus, 2010.

Carter, Miranda, and Miranda Carter. George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.

Ford, Roger. Eden to Armageddon: World War I in the Middle East. New York: Pegasus Books, 2010.

Guilliatt, Richard, and Peter Hohnen. The Wolf: How One German Raider Terrorized the Allies in the Most Epic Voyage of WWI. New York: Free Press, 2010.

Korda, Michael. Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. New York, NY: Harper, 2010.

Laskin, David. The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War. New York: Harper, 2010.

Lord, Alexandra M. Condom Nation: The U.S. Government's Sex Education Campaign from World War I to the Internet. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010.

McMeekin, Sean. The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Power. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010.

Rose, Gideon. How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle : a History of American Intervention from World War I to Afghanistan. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.

Stanton, Fredrik. Great Negotiations: Agreements That Changed the Modern World. Yardley, Penn: Westholme, 2010.

SLPL GENEALOGY & CIVIL WAR HISTORY CLASSES

Here's the latest list of upcoming programs I'll be doing now through March 2011. This list supercedes any previous list you may possess. All programs are sponsored or co-sponsored by St. Louis Public Library. All are free and open to the public. Please note that locations vary.

Sat, Dec 18, 10 AM-Noon—He’s a Rebel: Researching Confederate Soldiers & Regiments. Join us as Tom Pearson discusses print, microfilm, manuscript, and Internet sources of info on our Illinois soldier ancestors. Buder Branch. Pre-registration recommended but not required. To register or for more information: tpearson@slpl.org.

Weds January 12 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Research at the Illinois State Archives. Join us as Tom Pearson discusses the wealth of resources for the genealogist and historian available at this Springfield, Illinois institution (emphasis on researching Civil War soldiers). PSOP Building, 201 N. Church Street, Belleville, IL 62220. To register or for more information: tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat, Jan 22, 10 AM-Noon-- Prairie State Patriots: Researching Illinois Civil War Soldiers & Regiments. Join us as Tom Pearson discusses print, microfilm, manuscript, and Internet sources of info on our Illinois soldier ancestors. Buder Branch. Pre-registration recommended but not required. To register or for more information: tpearson@slpl.org.

Fri, Feb 4, 1 PM-2 PM— To Rally With the Hearts of Lions: the Story of the U.S. Colored Troops. Join us as Tom Pearson discusses print, microfilm, manuscript, and Internet sources of info on black Civil War soldiers. Carpenter Branch. Pre-registration recommended but not required. To register or for more information: tpearson@slpl.org.

Fri, Feb 18, 1 PM-2 PM— “The Crimes of This Guilty Land”: Captain John Brown’s Assault on Slavery. Join us as Tom Pearson discusses print, microfilm, manuscript, and Internet sources on John Brown, the man who led a war against pro-slavery men in Kansas, and then led an ill-fated assault on Harper’s Ferry in Virginia (now West Virginia). Schlafly Branch. Pre-registration recommended but not required. To register or for more information: tpearson@slpl.org.

Thurs, Feb 24, 7 PM-8 PM— Black Codes and Fugitive Slave Laws. Join us as Tom Pearson discusses the numerous restrictions placed on slaves and free black persons in the antebellum and post-Civil War periods. Buder Branch. Pre-registration recommended but not required. To register or for more information: tpearson@slpl.org.

Thurs, Mar 17, 10 AM-Noon-- Citizen Soldiers: Researching Revolutionary War Ancestors. Join us as Tom Pearson discusses print, microfilm, manuscript, and Internet sources of info on our patriot ancestors. Buder Branch. Pre-registration recommended but not required. To register or for more information: tpearson@slpl.org.

SLPL branch library locations and hours

Parking at Buder Branch Library is free!

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1415 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
tpearson@slpl.org

BOOKS ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR ADDED DURING 2010

You may wish to take a look at some of the books about the Civil War that we added to the collection during 2010. Go to our catalog to check for call numbers and owning library branch locations:

SLPL Website

Bradley, Michael R. It Happened in the Civil War: Remarkable Events That Shaped History. Bangor, ME: Globe Pequot Pr, 2010.

Egerton, Douglas R. Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election That Brought on the Civil War. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010.

Hager, Ruth Ann Abels. Dred & Harriet Scott: Their Family Story. St. Louis, Mo: St. Louis County Library, 2010.

McCurry, Stephanie. Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2010.

Marvel, William. The Great Task Remaining: the Third Year of Lincoln's War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

Mortimer, Gavin. Double Death; the True Story of Pryce Lewis, the Civil War’s Most Daring Spy. New York: Walker & Co., 2010.

Stoker, Donald J. The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Titone, Nora. My Thoughts Be Bloody: the Bitter Rivalry between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to an American Tragedy. New York: Free Press, 2010.

Waugh, John C. Lincoln and Mcclellan: the Troubled Partnership between a President and His General. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

Woodworth, Steven E. Manifest Destinies: America's Westward Expansion and the Road to the Civil War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.

BOOKS ABOUT WORLD WAR II ADDED DURING 2010

You may wish to take a look at some of the books about World War II that we added to the collection during 2010. Go to our catalog to check for call numbers and owning library branch locations:

SLPL Website

Goldstein, Richard. Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II. New York: Free Press, 2010.

Hench, John B. Books as Weapons : Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010.

Kirkpatrick, Charles E. An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present: Writing the Victory Plan of 1941. Washington, D.C: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 2010.

Leckie, Robert. Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific : a Young Marine's Stirring Account of Combat in World War II. New York: Bantam Books, 2010.

McManus, John C. Grunts: Inside the American Infantry Combat Experience, World War Ii Through Iraq. New York: NAL Caliber, 2010.

Moye, J T. Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Mukerjee, Madhusree. Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India During World War II. New York: Basic Books, 2010.

Rottman, Gordon L, and Peter Dennis. World War II Battlefield Communications. Oxford: Osprey, 2010.

Sanders, Thomas, and Veronica Kavass. The Last Good War: The Faces and Voices of World War II. New York: Welcome Books, 2010.

Schultz, Duane P. Crossing the Rapido: A Tragedy of World War II. Yardley, Pa: Westholme Pub, 2010.

Showalter, Dennis E, Harold C. Deutsch, and William R. Forstchen. If the Allies Had Fallen: Sixty Alternate Scenarios of World War II. London: Frontline Books, 2010.

Snow, Richard F. A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Battle of World War II. New York, NY: Scribner, 2010.

CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RESEARCH CHECKLIST, PART VII

XX. Civil War Soldier & Regiments Research: Some Basic Reference Titles for Civil War Buffs (or Small Public Libraries)

Note: Most titles are available for loan by St. Louis Public Library.

1. Coggins, Jack. Arms and Equipment of the Civil War. NY: Barnes & Noble, [1962]1999. ISBN-0-7807-1387-1.
2. Graf, John F. Warman's Civil War Collectibles Identification & Price Guide. Cincinnatti: KP Books, 2005. ISBN-0896893642.
3. Geer, Walter. Campaigns of the Civil War. Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky, 1926. ISBN-1-56852-268-1.
4. Groene, Bertram Hawthorne. Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor. NY: Ballantine Bks, 1989. ISBN-0-3453-6192-X.
5. Katcher, Philip. The Civil War Source Book. NY: Checkmark Bks, 1998. ISBN-0-8160-3833-3.
6. Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference. NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002. ISBN-0-6848-6350-2. Out-of-print.
7. Lord, Francis A. Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia: Arms, Equipment, and Uniforms of the Union and Confederacy. Dover, 2004. ISBN-0-4864-3660-8.
8. McDonald, John. Great Battles of the Civil War. NY: MacMillan, 1988. ISBN-0-0203-4554-2. Out-of-print.
9. McManus, Stephen, Donald Thompson, and Thomas Churchill. Civil War Research Guide: a Guide for Researching Your Civil War Ancestor. Stackpole, 2003. ISBN-0-8117-2643-6.
10. McPherson, James M. Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era. NY: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN-0-1951-5901-2. Out-of-print.
11. Military Service Records: a Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications. Washington, DC: National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1985. ISBN-0-911333-07-X.
12. Nosworthy, Brent. The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War. NY: Carroll & Graf, 2003. ISBN-0-7867-1147-7.
13. Official Military Atlas of the Civil War. NY: Barnes & Noble, 2003. ISBN-0-7067-5044-0.
14. Phisterer, Frederick. Statistical Record of the Armies of the United States. Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 2002. ISBN-0-7858-1585-6.
15. Pritchard, Russ A. Civil War Weapons and Equipment. Lyons Press, 2003. ISBN-158574493X.
16. Wilbur, C. Keith. Civil War Medicine, 1861-1865. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 1998. ISBN-0-7627-0341-5.
17. Wiley, Bell Irvin. The Life of Billy Yank: the Common Soldier of the Union. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1979. ISBN-0-8071-0476-0.
18. Wiley, Bell Irvin. The Life of Johnny Reb: the Common Soldier of the Confederacy. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1979. ISBN-0-8071-0475-2.
19. Wooster, Robert. The Civil War Bookshelf: 50 Must-Read Books About the War Between the States. NY: Kensington Publishing Group, 2001. ISBN-0-8065-2188-0.

CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RESEARCH CHECKLIST, PART VI

XV. Burials
1. U.S. Roll of Honor
2. State rolls of honor
3. State archives veteran burials lists
4. State home/hospital records
5. DAR cemetery lists
6. Headstone records
7. NCA Nationwide Gravesite Locator
8. SUVCW Nationwide Graves Registration Database
9. Local cemetery records

XVI. Photographs
1. U.S. Army Military History Institute in Carlisle Barracks, PA
2. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library at Springfield, IL
3. Library of Congress- American Memory

XVII. Correspondence
1. County historical societies
A. State archives
B. University special collections departments
C. WHMC at Columbia, MO
2. Letters to local newspaper from soldier
A. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library at Springfield, IL
B. State Historical Society of Missouri at Columbia, MO
3. Letters to Adjutant-General/Secretary of War asking about status of soldier
[National Archives- RG 94, Series M725, Index to Letters Received, 1846, 1861-1889, 9 rolls]
4. Letters to and from Pension Board and soldier [National Archives- RG 94, Series M686, Index to General Correspondence of Records & Pension Office, 1889-1920, 385 rolls]
5. Letters to/from spouses/parents about dead/badly wounded/captured soldier (State Archives)

XVIII. Newspapers as Sources of Civil War Information
1. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library at Springfield, IL
2. State Historical Society of Missouri at Columbia, MO

XIX. Periodical Articles as Sources of Civil War Information
1. Confederate Veteran
2. Journal of Southern History
3. Popular current Civil War magazines:
A. America's Civil War
B. Blue & Gray
C. Camp Chase Gazette
D. Civil War Times Illustrated
E. North & South
4. County historical & genealogical society publications
5. State historical & genealogical society publications

CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RESEARCH CHECKLIST, PART V

XI. Discharge Records

1. Listing in Adjutant-General report
2. Discharge recorded in county Recorder of Deeds office
A. Recorder of Deeds (or County Clerk) offices
B. MO State Archives or IRAD
C. Discharge papers of regular army & navy men sometimes in homestead land/pension files

XII. Disability Claims

1. Listing in files maintained by National & State Archives
2. Listing in 1883 Pension Roll of United States
3. Request for artificial limbs/eyes to State Adjutant-General or War Department
A. National Archives- RG 94, Series M725, Index to Letters Received, 1846, 1861-1889, 9 rolls
B. National Archives- RG 94, Series M686, Index to General Correspondence of Records & Pension Office, 1889-1920 (385 rolls)
4. List of rejected disability claims

XIII. Pension Records
1. Federal- NARA (Union soldiers)
2. State- State Archives (Confederate soldiers)
3. Pension recipient questionaires (AL,AR,LA,TN,US)

XIV. Deaths

1. Account in regimental reports to commanding generals (O.R.)
2. Account in regimental reports to state Adjutant-General (state archives)
3. Local newspaper lists of local casualties
A. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library at Springfield, IL
B. State Historical Society of Missouri at Columbia, MO
4. Probate/will record
A. Probate Judge
B. Clerk of the Circuit Court
C. MO State Archives Local Records Inventory Database or IRAD (IL)
5. Patriotic society annual reports
A. GAR/SUVCW
B. UCV/UDC
C. MOLLUS
D. Society of the Army of the Cumberland/other army societies
E. Regimental society annual reports/reunion booklets

CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RESEARCH CHECKLIST, PART IV

VIII. Medical Records

1. Mention of wounds in muster roll
2. Mention of wounded in regimental reports to commanding generals (O.R.)
3. Mention of woundings in reports of state Adjutant-General
4. Hospital records
A. National Archives- RG 94, Series M1828, Index to Surgeons' Reports in File A & Bound Manuscripts of Adjutant General's Office, 1861-1865 (1 roll)
B. Medical & Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion
5. Mention of wounded in letters to local newspaper from men in regiment
6. Mention of local wounded in newspaper accounts of particular battles
A. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library at Springfield, IL
B. State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, MO
C. Requests for artificial limbs/eyes to State Adjutant-General/War Department

IX. Courts-Martial

1. General Orders of Specific Department of the Army
2. Execution orders/sentence subject to commutation by commanding general or the President
A. National Archives- RG 94, Series M1523, Proceedings of the U.S. Army Courts-Martial and Military Commissions Against Union Soldiers Executed by U.S. Military Authorities

X. Prisoner-of-War Records

1. Death rolls maintained by prison camps
2. National Archives- RG 92, Series M918, Register of Confederate Soldiers, Sailors, & Civilians Who Died in Federal Prisons & Military Hospitals in the North (1 roll)
3. Mention of men captured in regimental reports to commanding generals
4. Mention of men captured in regimental reports to State Adjutant-General
5. Mention of men captured in CMSRs
6. Mention of men captured in letters home from men in regiment
A. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library at Springfield, IL
B. State Historical Society of Missouri at Columbia, MO
7. Letters of inquiry from parents/spouses to State Adjutant-General
A. Illinois State Archives
8. Mentions in after-the-war disability claims
A. Pension list of 1883

CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RESEARCH CHECKLIST, PART III

IV. Militia & Civil War Muster Rolls & Service Records

1. Militia service records, pre-war and post-war
2. Compiled military service records (CMSRs), volunteers
A. Confederate
B. Union
3. U.S. Army or Navy enlistment records

V. Bounty Payments to Enlisting Soldiers

1. In CMSRs
A. Record of bounties paid in county courthouses
B. Bounty land for disabled Confederate soldiers (TX)
C. Homestead lands

VI. Military Census & Militia Enrollment Lists

1. Lists of men liable for conscription (GA, IL, NARA)
2. Militia enrollment lists (FL, GA, KY, LA, MO, NC, TN)
3. State census (1855, 1865- IL)
4. Post-war censuses of veterans (AL, AR, IA, LA, NB, TN)
5. 1890 Federal (former Union soldiers, sailors, & widows)

VII. Equipment & Weapon Issue Records

1. State Adjutant-General Reports
2. State Quartermaster-General Reports
3. Regimental histories

UPCOMING GENEALOGY/HISTORY CLASSES

Classes listed below are sponsored or co-sponsored by St. Louis Public Library, and are free and open to the public. Please note that locations for classes vary.

Weds October 20 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Hoe! Hoe! Hoe! Researching Farmers & Other Rural Ancestors. Join us as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about ancestors who owned / worked farms or other agricultural ventures. Hayner Public Library, 326 Belle Street, Alton, IL 62002. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat October 30 10 a.m.-Noon. A Perfect Storm: the Witches of Salem Village. Join us as we discuss witchcraft and witch trials in Europe and North America; the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692; and ways to research ancestors who were accused as witches. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Thurs November 4 7:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Thirteen Dollars a Month: Recruiting, Enlistment, Conscription, & Desertion in the American Civil War. Join us at this monthly meeting of the St. Clair County Genealogical Society as we discuss how they joined the army during the Civil War; what they got paid for doing so; and how some of them took the money and ran. St. Luke’s Parish Hall, 301 N. Church Street, Belleville, IL 62220. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Thurs November 18 10 a.m.-Noon. Research at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Join us as we discuss the wealth of resources for the genealogist and historian available at this Springfield, Illinois institution. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat November 20 Meeting starts 10 a.m.; talk at 10:30 a.m. Hoe! Hoe! Hoe! Researching Farmers & Other Rural Ancestors. Join us at this monthly meeting of the St. Louis Genealogical Society as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about ancestors who owned / worked farms or other agricultural ventures. St. Louis County Library, 1640 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis, MO 63131. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Buder Branch Library
4401 Hampton Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63109

Pre-registration is recommended but not required. To register or for more information, please email me at tpearson@slpl.org. Parking on the Buder Branch lot is always free. It’s easy to add you to my programs notification list. Just email me at tpearson@slpl.org and use NOTIFY in the subject line- that’s all you need to do!

CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RESEARCH CHECKLIST, PART II

3. Web Sites of Special Interest

Great sites to check if you're researching Missouri or Illinois Civil War ancestors:

A. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (extensive collection of maps, photographs,
newspapers, and county histories)
B. Alton in the Civil War: Alton Prison (info about this Illinois prison for Confederate soldiers and sympathizers)
C. The American Civil War (extensive links page divided by subject categories)
D. The Civil War Archive- Regimental Index (digital version of Dyer's Compendium- information about Union regiments)
E. Civil War Regimental Histories in the Library of Congress
F. Confederate Regimental History Links Page
G. Cyndi’s List of Civil War/ War for Southern Independence Links
H. Dakota State University Civil War Site- Links Page
I. Database of 1929 Illinois Roll of Honor
J. Find-It Illinois Catalog (online joint catalog of more than 600 Illinois public, academic, and special libraries)
K. Library of Congress- American Memory Project- Selected Civil War Photographs
L. Merlin Catalog (catalog of the University of Missouri libraries)
M. National Cemetery Administration (click on the Nationwide Gravesite Locator)
N. National Archives and Records Administration- Military Service Records
O. Sons of Union Veterans National Graves Registration System
P. U.S. Army Military History Institute Photographs Database (extensive collection of Civil War photographs)
Q. United States Civil War Center: Battlefield, Cemetery, Fort, and Historic Site Web Site Links
R. United States Colored Troops in the Civil War (extensive list of links on this subject)
S. War of the Rebellion (searchable online version of the book set- search page includes a synopsis of the contents of each volume in this multi-volume book set- click War of the Rebellion: the Official Records of the Union & Confederate Armies)
T. Western Historical Manuscripts Collection

CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RESEARCH CHECKLIST, PART I

PART I

1. Starting Points
A. Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
B. Ancestry.com Civil War Service Records & Civil War Pension Index
C. Missouri State Archives Soldiers Database
D. Illinois Descriptive Rosters & Muster Rolls

2. Standard Reference Works
A. Dyer's Compendium
B. Compendium of the Confederate Armies
C. The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union & Confederate Armies
D. Supplement to the War of the Rebellion
E. The Medical & Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. IX

XXVII. Records of the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States (RG 112)

The National Archives in Washington, DC holds some records of Civil War medical personnel and support staff:

1. Station Books of Medical Officers, 1857-1902.
2. Registers of Military Service of Hospital Stewards, 1856-1887.
3. List of Volunteer Medical Officers Who Served with the Civil War Army Corps, 1861-1865.
4. Registers of Deaths of Civil War Voluntary Medical Officers, 1863-1896.
5. List of Female Nurses, Cooks, and Laundresses Employed in Army Hospitals During the Civil War.

XXVIII. Books on Civil War Medicine

Adams, George Worthington. Doctors in Blue; The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War. New York: H. Schuman, 1952.

Barnes, Joseph K. The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War. Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Pub. Co, 1990.

Bollet, Alfred J. Civil War Medicine: Challenges and Triumphs. Tucson, Ariz: Galen Press, 2002.

Cunningham, Horace Herndon. Doctors in Gray; The Confederate Medical Service. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1958.

Flannery, Michael A. Civil War Pharmacy: A History of Drugs, Drug Supply and Provision, and Therapeutics for the Union and Confederacy. Pharmaceutical heritage. New York: Pharmaceutical Products Press, 2004.

Freemon, Frank R. Microbes and Minie Balls: An Annotated Bibliography of Civil War Medicine. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1993.

Rutkow, Ira M. Bleeding Blue and Gray: Civil War Surgery and the Evolution of American Medicine. New York: Random House, 2005.

Smith, George Winston. Medicines for the Union Army; The United States Army Laboratories During the Civil War. Madison, Wis: Amer. Institute of the History of Pharmacy, 1962.

XXIX. Websites

Civil War Home- Civil War Medicine

CivilWarPhotos.net

Growing Research Into History of Drugs Used During Civil War

Library of Congress- American Memory -- NOTE: Under Search All Collections, type “Civil War medicine”.

National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Preparing and Dispensing Prescriptions During the Civil War

Society of Civil War Surgeons

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1415 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. VIII

XXII. Amputations

The most commonly employed surgical technique during the Civil War was the amputation. Union Army medical records list 29,980 amputations. When amputations performed early in the war that went unrecorded, and Confederate Army amputation estimates are added to the total, it is reasonable to assume that Union and Confederate Army surgeons performed somewhere between 50,000-55,000 amputations during the war.

XXIII. Amputations- Categories

Amputations were placed in one of three categories, depending on how soon after the injury the procedure was performed:

1. Primary- Within 48 hours of the injury (23.9% mortality rate)
2. Intermediary- Three to thirty days after the injury (34.8% mortality rate)
3. Secondary- Thirty-one or more days after the injury (28.8% mortality rate)

XXIV. Amputations- Bodily Area of Injury

Injuries in the Civil War requiring amputation involved these sites on the body:

1. Hand (26.4% of total)
2. Thigh (21.2%)
3. Lower leg (18.4%)
4. Upper arm (18.4%)
5. Forearm (5.9%)
6. Foot (5.1%)
7. Shoulder (2.9%)
8. Knee (0.7%)
9. Ankle (0.5%)
10. Hip (0.2%)
11. Wrist (0.2%)
12. Elbow (0.1%)

XXV. Amputations- Mortality Rates by Type of Procedure

The fatality rate of amputations increased the closer the procedure was performed to the trunk of the victim. The mortality rate of various procedures was as follows:

1. Hip (88% fatalities)
2. Knee (58%)
3. Mid-Thigh (54%)
4. Lower leg (38%)
5. Shoulder (28%)
6. Ankle (24%)
7. Upper arm (24%)
8. Forearm (14%)
9. Wrist (10%)
10. Elbow (7%)
11. Toes (6%)
12. Foot (5%)
13. Fingers (3%)
14. Hand (2%)

XXVI. Artificial Limbs Furnished to Maimed Soldiers

After the war, the federal government and most Confederate states had programs to pay for (or to reimburse maimed veterans for) the purchase of artificial limbs and eyes. These programs could be very expensive- Mississippi in 1866 spent more than 1/3 of its entire state budget for these items. Some state archives have retained records of these purchases (South Carolina, for example, has published a printed record of such purchases).

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. VII

XX. Diseases Most Commonly Contracted by Civil War Soldiers

Six million cases of disease were reported to or discovered by Union medical officers during the Civil War. These 15 diseases account for 3,966,828 (66%) of those cases:

Listings provide Disease; Number of Cases; Number of Deaths; and Death Rate.

1. Diarrhea or dysentery---1,585,196---37,794---(2.38 %)
2. Malaria---1,213,685---12,199---(1.01 %)
3. Pneumonia/diseases of respiratory tract---448,923---17,902---(3.99 %)
4. Catarrh/Bronchitis---281,294---1,185---(0.42 %)
5. Gonorrhea---95,833---6---(0.01 %)
6. Typhoid fever---75,368---27,056---(35.90 %)
7. Syphilis---73,382---123---(0.17 %)
8. Measles---67,763---4,246---(6.27 %)
9. Mumps---48,128---72---(0.15 %)
10. Scurvy---30,714---383---(1.25 %)
11. Tuberculosis---13,499---5,286---(39.16 %)
12. Smallpox---12,236---4,717---(38.55 %)
13. Chronic Alcoholism/Delirium tremens---10,253---605---(5.90 %)
14. Diptheria---8,053---777---(9.65 %)
15. Typhus---2,501---850---(33.99 %)

XXI. Anesthesia

Two main forms of anesthesia were used during the Civil War: chloroform and ether. In the 8,900 surgeries reported to the Union Surgeon General in which type of anesthesia was specified, chloroform was used in 76% of cases, ether in 15% of cases, and some combination of chloroform and ether in 9% of cases. Of the 6,784 cases using chloroform that were reported, death attributable to the anesthetic was involved in 37 cases, or 0.5%. 254 surgeries were reported in which no anesthetic was used (3%).

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. VI

XVII. Confederate Medical Shortages- The Blockade

The blockade of the Confederate states by the Union Navy meant that surgical supplies and medications were soon in short supply in the South. New items could be acquired in one of three ways:

1. From smugglers who managed to slip through the Union blockade. But prices soon became exorbitant: quinine in late 1863 was selling in the South for $400-$600 per ounce!
2. Capture of Union medical supplies. But this method was of course unreliable.
3. Manufacture medicines in the south from available ingredients. Labs were set up in Atlanta, Charlotte, Montgomery, and Knoxville, to name just a few of the cities selected.

XVIII. Confederate Medical Shortages- "Indigenous Remedies"

The Confederate Medical Service in 1864 issued a “Standard Supply Table of Indigenous Remedies for Field Service and Sick in General Hospitals.” Among the listed herbs, plants, and trees which could be used medicinally were:

Calamus, Virginia Snakeroot, Sassafras, Lavender, Bearberry, Sumac, Sage, Blackberry, and Dewberry, plus the leaves and sometimes the bark of these trees:

Dogwood, Persimmon, White Oak, Wild Cherry, and Tulip (to name only some of the listed herbs, plants, and trees).

XIX. Confederate Medical Shortages- Medical Instruments

The South was never able to set up factories to manufacture precision medical instruments, so surgeons sometimes had to improvise. These substitutions were necessary on occasion:

1. Surgical saws- Carpenter’s saws
2. Scalpels- Penknives
3. Surgical hooks- Forks
4. Tenaculum- Knitting needles
5. Splints- Fence rails

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. V

XV. Medicines in Common Use During the Civil War- Union Army

These items were among those carried with the Army of the Potomac during the May 1864 Wilderness Campaign:

1. Acacia
2. Alcohol
3. Alum
4. Ammonia water
5. Ammonium carbonate
6. Brandy
7. Camphor
8. Cantharides
9. Castor oil
10. Chloroform
11. Collodion
12. Ether
13. Ferric chloride
14. Lead acetate
15. Liquid soap
16. Mercury pills
17. Morphine
18. Opium
19. Quinine
20. Potassium iodide
21. Silver nitrate
22. Spirits of ammonia
23. Sulfuric acid
24. Tannic acid
25. Tartaric acid
26. Turpentine

XVI. Medicines in Common Usage During the Civil War- C.S. Army

These items were commonly found in Confederate Army medicine wagons:

1. Acetic acid
2. Adhesive plaster
3. Alcohol
4. Ammonia water
5. Arsenic oxide
6. Creosote
7. Digitalis
8. Ether
9. Hydrochloric acid
10. Morphine sulfate
11. Opium
12. Quinine sulfate
13. Rhubarb
14. Senna
15. Sugar
16. Sulfuric acid

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. IV

XI. Nuns as Nurses

One female volunteer nurse noted that the plain, unornamented dresses she was required to wear “caused most people to mistake me for a nun.” Some of the women who volunteered to serve as nurses actually were nuns, including 300 Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (1/3 of the order’s total membership at the time).

XII. Employment Status of Female Nurses

By war’s end, at least 5,000 women had volunteered to serve as nurses in Union Army hospitals. Nurses served in one of these ways:

1. As paid volunteers arranged on the local level.
2. As unpaid volunteers arranged on the local level.
3. Wives and daughters of medical personnel sometimes served as nurses, without pay but drawing daily rations from the Union Army.
4. Female relatives of wounded men sometimes stayed on after their relative recovered or passed on, having no formal assignment but helping out as needed.
5. As employees of State agencies or aid societies like the U.S. Sanitary Commission.
6. As nurses specifically assigned to a hospital by the Superintendent of Female Nurses.

XIII. Famous Civil War Nurses

Two of the most famous Civil War nurses, Clara Barton and Mary “Mother” Bickerdyke, began their service as volunteer nurses without official government appointments. When someone asked Mother Bickerdyke by whose authority she served, she replied that she had “received my commission from Almighty God.” Since nobody chose to question His authority, she was allowed to continue her work. During the war she was formally commended by General Sherman for her tireless efforts to aid injured soldiers. Miss Barton became famous for her post-war efforts to help people find missing soldiers.

XIV. Civil War Nurses- Postwar Experiences

Much is made of the liberating effect employment in World War II industries had on American women, but little is made of the liberating effect that employment as Civil War nurses had on women North and South. Women who worked as nurses experienced freedoms and responsibilities many had never encountered in their pre-war occupations. Once the war ended, their brushes with the outside world were not easily forgotten. Many such women later played important parts in the women’s suffrage movement.

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

Copyright © 2009 by St. Louis Public Library.

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. III

Copyright © 2009 by St. Louis Public Library.

VIII. Civil War Nurses

Female nurses were a most uncommon sight in American medicine prior to the Civil War. Men performed most of the duties we commonly associate with nurses. Florence Nightingale and her Corps of Female Nurses, who were employed by the British during the Crimean War in the 1850s, had fired the imaginations of American women, however, many of whom eagerly volunteered their services to the Union Army Medical Corps.

IX. Dorothea Dix

A flood of applications by women to work as volunteer nurses in Union Army hospitals brought about the appointment of Miss Dorothea Dix, who was already well-known for her pre-war work in the reform of insane asylums, as Superintendent of Female Nurses by the Director of the Union Army Medical Corps in 1861.

Miss Dix decreed that volunteer female nurses should be “plain-looking, mature” women who had to dress in simple brown or black dresses. They were not to wear bows or jewelry, have curls in their hair, or wear hoops in their skirts.

X. Appearance of Female Nurses

Most women greatly disliked Miss Dix’s strictures on age, appearance, and dress, and many violations of her rules occurred. One volunteer female nurse noted that “never before have so many American women attempted to appear older than their natural years.” Attractive women did what they could to disguise their looks until appointed, then reverted to their normal appearances.

Many women “felt naked” without the hoop skirts then in fashion, and wore them in spite of Miss Dix’s prohibition. In at least one documented case, a hoop skirt caught in a soldier’s surgical dressing and opened the wound, causing his death due to hemorraging.

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

CLASSES AT ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY

News about upcoming genealogy/military history classes sponsored or co-sponsored by St. Louis Public Library:

1. SLPL CLASSES

The August Check-It-Out bulletin sent to SLPL patrons lists two classes I am supposedly teaching at Buder Branch Library during that month. The closure of Central Library has forced me to change my class schedule. I just don't have time to prepare any new classes at this point-- I can only offer classes that I have taught previously. The following list includes the ONLY classes I am scheduled to teach at Buder during August-December 2010. Please disregard ANY other listings you may come across. Thanks!

Classes listed are sponsored by St. Louis Public Library, and are free and open to the public.

Thurs August 26 10 a.m.-Noon. Killed by the Cure: Civil War Medicine. Join us as we discuss the injuries and diseases that plagued Civil War soldiers, and the (sometimes fatal) methods Civil War doctors used to try and heal them. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat October 30 10 a.m.-Noon. The Witches of Salem Village. Join us as we discuss witchcraft and witch trials in Europe and North America; the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692; and ways to research ancestors who were accused as witches. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Thurs November 18 10 a.m.-Noon. Research at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Join us as we discuss the wealth of resources for the genealogist and historian available at this Springfield, Illinois institution. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat December 18 10 a.m.-Noon. He’s a Rebel: Researching Confederate Ancestors. Join us as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about Confederate soldier ancestors. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Buder Branch
4401 Hampton Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63109

Pre-registration is recommended. To register or for more information, please call 539-0381. Parking on the Buder Branch lot is always free.

It’s easy to add you to my programs notification list. Just email me at tpearson@slpl.org and use NOTIFY in the subject line- that’s all you need to do!

2. CLASSES AT OTHER LOCATIONS

I will also be teaching these classes at non-SLPL locations. Maybe there's one near you!

Classes listed are co-sponsored by St. Louis Public Library, and are free and open to the public. Please note that locations for classes vary.

Thurs October 14 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Greatest Generation: Researching WWII Ancestors. Join us as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about WWII ancestors. Belleville Public Library, 121 E. Washington, Belleville, IL 62220. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Weds October 20 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Hoe! Hoe! Hoe! Researching Farmers & Other Rural Ancestors. Join us as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about ancestors who owned / worked farms or other agricultural ventures. Hayner Public Library, 326 Belle Street, Alton, IL 62002. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Thurs November 4 7:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Thirteen Dollars a Month: Recruiting, Enlistment, Conscription, & Desertion in the American Civil War. Join us at this monthly meeting of the St. Clair County Genealogical Society as we discuss how they joined the army during the Civil War; what they got paid for doing so; and how some of them took the money and ran. St. Luke’s Parish Hall, 301 N. Church Street, Belleville, IL 62220. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat November 20 Meeting starts 10 a.m.; talk at 10:30 a.m. Hoe! Hoe! Hoe! Researching Farmers & Other Rural Ancestors. Join us at this monthly meeting of the St. Louis Genealogical Society as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about ancestors who owned / worked farms or other agricultural ventures. St. Louis County Library, 1640 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis, MO 63131. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

3. StLGS BOOK FAIR

I will be an exhibitor at the St. Louis Genealogical Society Book Fair on Sunday, December 5th, 1-3 PM. This event takes place at their headquarters (#4 Sunnen Drive, Suite 140, St. Louis, Mo. 63143). Stop by and say hello if you're in the neighborhood- it's a great opportunity to pick up signed books for the genealogists or history buffs on your Christmas list!

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. II

Copyright © 2009 by St. Louis Public Library. This publication may not be reproduced or republished without prior written permission of the St. Louis Public Library.

V. Civil War Medical Personnel

Civil War medical personnel included:

Military: Surgeons, Assistant Surgeons, & soldiers detailed as Hospital Stewards and Orderlies (during battles, Musicians served as stretcher-bearers)

Civilian: Contract surgeons, nurses, hospital stewards, druggists, matrons, cooks, laundresses, and manual laborers (both sides employed some black persons as cooks, laundresses, and manual laborers)

VI. Training of Doctors at the Time of the Civil War

Doctors of that era trained in one of two ways:

1. By apprenticing themselves to a practicing doctor. Doctors trained in this way could only be as good as the doctor who trained them, as there were no licensing boards to guarantee their medical knowledge and surgical skills.

2. Attend a medical school. This involved two years of schooling. Each year consisted of a six-month course of study- the second year was an exact repeat of the first year’s coursework! Prospective new doctors generally had no surgical experience, beyond observation of operations.

VII. Doctors in the Armies of the U. S. A. and the C. S. A.

When the Civil War began, there were 115 doctors in the regular army who took care of the army’s 15,000 soldiers. 27 of these men resigned their commissions toenter the Army of the C.S.A. Thus, both the U.S.A. and the C.S.A. began the war with fewer than 100 doctors to care for their armies.

By war’s end, the U.S. Army had more than 13,000 doctors in the field and in its general hospitals; the Army of the C.S.A. at its height had approximately 3,300 doctors serving its cause in the field and in general hospitals like Chimborazo in Richmond, Virginia.

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

KILLED BY THE CURE: CIVIL WAR MEDICINE, PT. I

Copyright © 2009 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.

I. Civil War Military Hospitals

When the Civil War broke out, there were no official United States military hospitals. Each Army regiment had its own hospital, which was staffed with a surgeon, and two assistant surgeons. Equipment consisted of medical supplies, at least one ambulance, and a number of tents. If a regiment found itself with more sick and wounded men than it had beds for, nearby civilian buildings were temporarily used for that purpose.

It quickly became apparent that larger, more permanent hospitals would be necessary. They were called general hospitals because they could admit men from any regiment in its service region.

II. Hospitals in the North

Once the war began in earnest, both sides had to quickly acquire or build hospitals for the sick and wounded. By 1863, there were 151 general hospitals for soldiers in the North; by 1865 there were 204, which provided beds for 137,000 sick and wounded soldiers. The largest capacity Northern military hospital was Satterlee Hospital in Philadelphia, with a 3,519 bed capacity. Following close on its heels was the hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia, which had a 3,497 bed capacity.

III. Hospitals in the South

The South also had to rapidly acquire places to put its sick and wounded men. By 1865, the South had 150 general hospitals for soldiers in operation. The largest by far was Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, Virginia (so-called because of its location on Chimborazo Heights). This sprawling hospital complex had an 8,000 bed capacity, making it the largest military hospital by far in the North or the South.

IV. Hospital Acquisition

The need for more hospital beds was filled in one of four ways:

1. Use of army barracks as hospitals (layout and poor ventilation made most of them unsuitable for long-term use as hospitals).
2. Conversion of existing buildings in the civilian sector into hospitals (layout and poor ventilation also made many of these unsuitable for long-term medical use).
3. Tents could be pitched around hospitals to provide additional temporary bed space.
4. Construction of new buildings designed specifically as military hospitals

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, PART VII

Copyright © 2006 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.

X. SOURCES OF STATISTICS

McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.

Taylor, Lenette S. The Supply for Tomorrow Must Not Fail: The Civil War of Captain Simon Perkins Jr., a Union Quartermaster. Kent: Kent State Press, 2004.

United States. Bureau of the Census. 1860 Federal Census of Population.

Wagner, Margaret E, Gallagher, Gary W., and Paul Finkelman. The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.

XI. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bacon, Benjamin. Sinews of War: How Technology, Industry, and Transportation Won the Civil War. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1997.

Ball, Douglas B. Financial Failure and Confederate Defeat. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991.

Black, Robert C. The Railroads of the Confederacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1952.

Bradlee, Francis B. C. Blockade Running During the Civil War and Effect of Land and Water Transportation on the Confederacy. Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1925.

Browning, Robert M. Success Is All That Was Expected: the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron During the Civil War. Washington: Brassey's, 2002.

Carse, Robert. Blockade: the Civil War at Sea. New York: Rinehart, 1958.

Clark, John E. Jr. Railroads in the Civil War: the Impact of Management on Victory and Defeat. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2001.

Estaville, Lawrence E. Confederate Neckties: Louisiana Railroads in the Civil War. Ruston, LA: McGinty Publications, 1989.

Fiske, John. The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1900.

Forsyth, Michael J. The Red River Campaign of 1864 and the Loss by the Confederacy of the Civil War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002.

Gabel, Christopher R. Rails to Oblivion: the Battle of Confederate Railroads in the Civil War. Fort Leavenworth, KS: US Army Command & General Staff Press, 2002.

Gates, Paul Wallace. Agriculture and the Civil War. New York: Knopf, 1965.

Goff, Richard D. Confederate Supply. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1969.

Goff, Richard D. Logistics and Supply Problems of the Confederacy. Ann Arbor,MI: University Microfilms, 1972.

Horner, Dave. The Blockade-Runners: True Tales of Running the Yankee Blockade of the Confederate Coast. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1968.

Johnson, Ludwell H. Red River Campaign: Politics and Cotton in the Civil War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1958.

Lonn, Ella. Salt as a Factor in the Confederacy. New York: W. Neale, 1933.

Moore, Jerrold Northrop. Confederate Commissary General: Lucius Bellinger Northrop and the Subsistence Bureau of the Southern Army. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publications, 1996.

Nichols, James Lynn. The Confederate Quartermaster in the Trans-Mississippi. Austin: University of Texas, 1964.

Pratt, Fletcher. Civil War on Western Waters. New York: Holt, 1956.

Shea, William Land and Terrence J. Winschel. Vicksburg is the Key: the Struggle for the Mississippi River. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003.

Surdam, David G. Northern Naval Superiority and the Economics of the American Civil War. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2001.

Titus, David E. The Failure of the Confederate Vicksburg Campaign. Carlisle Barracks, PA: US Army War College, 1996.

Turner, George Edgar. Victory Rode the Rails: the Strategic Place of the Railroads in the Civil War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1972.

Weber, Thomas. The Northern Railroads in the Civil War, 1861-1865. New York: King's Crown Press, 1952.

Windham, William. Logistics in the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy. University of Alabama Press, 1955.

Wise, Stephen R. Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running During the Civil War. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988.


Thomas A. Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library

2010 GENEALOGY & MILITARY HISTORY CLASS LIST

Classes listed are sponsored or co-sponsored by St. Louis Public Library, and are free and open to the public. Please note that locations for classes vary.

NOTE: This list supersedes any previous class list you may have received.

Thurs August 26 -- 10 a.m.-Noon. Killed by the Cure: Civil War Medicine. Join us as we discuss the injuries and diseases that plagued Civil War soldiers, and the (sometimes fatal) methods Civil War doctors used to try and heal them. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Thurs October 14 -- 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Greatest Generation: Researching WWII Ancestors. Join us as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about WWII ancestors. Belleville Public Library, 121 E. Washington, Belleville, IL 62220. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Weds October 20 -- 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Hoe! Hoe! Hoe! Researching Farmers & Other Rural Ancestors. Join us as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about ancestors who owned / worked farms or other agricultural ventures. Hayner Public Library, 326 Belle Street, Alton, IL 62002. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat October 30 -- 10 a.m.-Noon. The Witches of Salem Village. Join us as we discuss witchcraft and witch trials in Europe and North America; the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692; and ways to research ancestors who were accused as witches. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Weds November 3 -- 7 p.m.-7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Research at the Illinois State Archives. Join us at this monthly meeting of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War as we discuss the wealth of resources for the genealogist and military historian available at this Springfield, Illinois institution. PSOP Bldg, 201 N. Church Street, Belleville, IL 62220. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Weds November 4 -- 7:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Thirteen Dollars a Month: Recruiting, Enlistment, Conscription, & Desertion in the American Civil War. Join us at this monthly meeting of the St. Clair County Genealogical Society as we discuss how they joined the army during the Civil War; what they got paid for doing so; and how some of them took the money and ran. St. Luke’s Parish Hall, 301 N. Church Street, Belleville, IL 62220. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Thurs November 18 -- 10 a.m.-Noon. Research at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Join us as we discuss the wealth of resources for the genealogist and historian available at this Springfield, Illinois institution. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat November 20 -- Meeting starts 10 a.m.; talk at 10:30 a.m. Hoe! Hoe! Hoe! Researching Farmers & Other Rural Ancestors. Join us at this monthly meeting of the St. Louis Genealogical Society as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about ancestors who owned / worked farms or other agricultural ventures. St. Louis County Library, 1640 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis, MO 63131. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Sat December 18 -- 10 a.m.-Noon. He’s a Rebel: Researching Confederate Ancestors. Join us as we discuss various ways that genealogists can find books, microfilms, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, and Internet sites that offer information about Confederate soldier ancestors. Buder Branch. To register or for more information, email me at tpearson@slpl.org.

Buder Branch
4401 Hampton Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63109

Pre-registration is recommended. To register or for more information, contact tpearson@slpl.org. Parking on the Buder Branch lot is always free.

It’s easy to add you to my programs notification list. Just email me at tpearson@slpl.org and use NOTIFY in the subject line- that’s all you need to do!

LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, PART VI

Copyright © 2006 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.

VIII. Size of the Civil War Armies

Union Army------------- Total-------Present-----Absent

January 1, 1862---------575,917-----527,204-----48,713
January 1, 1863---------918,191-----698,802-----219,389
January 1, 1864---------860,737-----611,250-----249,487
January 1, 1865---------959,460-----620,924-----338,536

Confederate Army--------Total------Present------Absent

December 31, 1861------326,768-----258,680-----68,088
December 31, 1862------449,439-----304,015-----145,424
December 31, 1863------464,646-----277,970-----186,676
December 31, 1864------400,787-----196,016-----204,771
March 30, 1865---------358,692-----160,198-----198,494


IX. Wartime and Post-War Costs of the Civil War:

Wartime Cost of the Civil War (estimates)

North: $6,190,000,000
South: $2,099,808,707
Total: $8,289,808,707

Post-War Costs of the Civil War (estimates)

By 1906, $3,000,000,000 had been spent on pensions and other benefits for former Union Army and Navy soldiers and sailors. By the time the last payment to a Civil War veteran was made in 1959, cost of Union Army and Navy pensions exceeded the total cost of the war. The pension figures do not include state benefit payments to former Confederate veterans. The total cost of the war can be said to have amounted to at least $17,000,000,000, a figure that includes wartime expenses, loan and interest costs, and postwar benefit payments to Union and Confederate veterans.

Costs of Compensated Emancipation

If, by contrast, a payment of $500 per slave had been made in 1861 to the holders of the 3,950,511 slaves then living in the United States to buy the freedom of those slaves, the cost would have been $1,975,255,500. A additional payment of $500 to each former slave to give him or her a start in life would have brought the total cost for compensated emancipation to $3,950,511,000- which would have been at least $4,300,000,000 less than the combined wartime expenses (1861-1865) of North and South.

[Sources of statistics and bibliography included in last installment of this article.]

Thomas A. Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library

LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, PART V

Copyright © 2006 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.


VII. The Quartermaster Bureau During the Civil War

Union Army logistical support was assigned to four departments:

Quartermaster General: clothing, equipment, animals, forage, transportation, and housing;
Commissary General: rations;
Chief of Ordnance: weapons, ammunition, and related equipment; and
Surgeon General: medical supplies, evacuation, treatment, and hospitalization.

Union Army major supply depots were located in Boston; New York City; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Washington, DC; Cincinnati; Louisville; St. Louis; Chicago; New Orleans; and San Francisco. The Confederate Army had major supply depots at Richmond; Raleigh; Atlanta; Little Rock; San Antonio; Staunton, VA; Columbus, GA; Huntsville, AL; Montgomery, AL; Jackson, MS; and Alexandria, LA. Supply depots procured supplies from commercial vendors and then repacked or assembled them to make them ready for shipment to advance and temporary supply bases. Advance and temporary supply bases could be established as needed to support operations in the field. Supply depots and advance and temporary supply bases were commanded by members of the Quartermaster Bureau, usually captains in rank but sometimes men of higher rank or even non-commissioned officers could be assigned the job in an emergency.

Non-perishable goods and commodities were procured from responsible low bidders by supply depots. Perishable goods and commodities were procured where the troops were operating when possible. Armies in the field were accompanied when practicable by herds of cattle that were slaughtered and distributed to the men as needed.

Each regiment in the field had a regimental quartermaster, regimental commissary officer, and a regimental ordnance officer. Each of those men was responsible for submitting requisitions for his supplies and transport of those supplies, for issuing his supplies, and for managing the transport of his supplies. These officers were usually men selected from the regiment's officers, and had no special training or expertise in logistics or transportation. On-the-job training was definitely the order of the day!

Transportation problems faced by quartermasters included:

1. Unconnected railroads that often used tracks of different gauges;
2. Bad roads made worse by heavy rain;
3. Rivers that could be too shallow to navigate at certain times of year, and too high to ford safely at others;
4. Disruption by rebel armies, cavalry, and guerrillas of lines of supply and communications; and
5. Competition for goods and cargo space with commercial vendors.

Labor problems faced by quartermasters included:

1. Quartermaster's duties were mentally complex and physically demanding, yet quartermasters learned their duties on the job, were burdened with onerous paperwork requirements, were frequently transferred, and were rarely promoted;
2. War effort's voracious appetite for manpower made it difficult to procure the services of experienced civilian clerks and white laborers, so free blacks were routinely employed as laborers and teamsters, and slaves were sometimes pressed into service in those same capacities;
3. Civilian and military personnel were often laid low by debilitating diseases like malaria that were endemic to many of the Southern states; and
4. A parsimonious Congress that made no effort to make available on a timely basis funds for payment of civilian suppliers and employees.

Amounts of supplies & equipment handled by quartermasters:

1. A quartermaster at the Pittsburg Landing supply depot in Tennessee in 1862 received almost eighteen million pounds of forage in a twenty-nine-day period.
2. A quartermaster's replacement at the supply depot at Eastport, Mississippi signed receipts for stores on hand that included 2.8 million pounds of corn, 1.9 million pounds of oats, 1.3 million pounds of hay, and 59,000 pounds of straw. 3. During a three-month period at the Nashville supply depot in 1863, a quartermaster dispensed nearly 3.5 million dollars to the holders of 9,000 overdue vouchers. Yet most quartermasters held the relatively lowly rank of captain during their entire time in service.

Paperwork requirements of Union Army quartermasters:

1. Nine monthly reports, each of which had to include nine different lengthy forms;
2. Three quarterly reports, each of which had to include three mandatory and two optional returns (quartermasters at major depots filled out an additional mandatory return);
3. All returns had to be documented with abstracts and vouchers, and vouchers accounting for lost, stolen, or destroyed property had to be sworn before a justice of the peace or designated military officer;
4. Additionally, the 1862 effort to root out corruption in the Quartermaster Bureau resulted in a requirement that quartermasters make three copies of their reports--one to be sent directly to the Treasury Department, one for Quartermaster General Meig's office, and one for the quartermaster to keep for his own protection in case of subsequent inquiries by the Army or the Treasury Department; and
5. Quartermasters had to account for lost, stolen, and destroyed property both during and after the war. In 1869, as the result of a Treasury Department audit of his wartime accounts, one former Union Army quartermaster received a bill for items unaccounted for. The amount that Treasury claimed he owed was $297,926.18, a truly jaw-dropping amount in those days. Luckily, he was able to resolve part of the amount owed with a notarized statement of his recollection of the final disposition of certain materials, but erasing the rest of the amount due required the calling in of a few political favors.

A six-months' supply of forms for one regiment consisted of:

1 Guard Report Book
1 Consolidated Morning Report Book
10 Company Morning Report Books
100 Consolidated Morning Reports
2 lists of Rolls, Returns, etc. to be made out by Company Commander
6 Field and Staff Muster Rolls
6 Muster Rolls of Hospital
18 Muster and Payrolls, Hospital
60 Company Muster Rolls
180 Company Muster and Payrolls
12 Regimental Returns
60 Company Monthly Returns
20 Returns of Men Joined Company
6 Quarterly Regimental Returns of Deceased Soldiers
30 Quarterly Company Returns of Deceased Soldiers
2 Annual Returns of Casualties
40 Descriptive Lists
100 Non-Commissioned Officer's Warrants

[Sources of statistics and bibliography included in last installment of this article.]

Thomas A. Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library

LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, PART IV

Copyright © 2006 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.

VI. Civil War Era Water Transportation

Canal mileage in the US:

3,700 miles, mostly in the northeastern states
North: 3,182 (86%)
South: 518 (14%)

Exports:
North: $222,199,477
South: $27,145,466 (returns from AR, TN, and MS incomplete)

Imports:
North: $320,996,024
South: $14,654,129 (of that, $11,960,869 passed through New Orleans, revenue lost to the South during most of the war)

American vessels leaving US ports:
North: 10,260
South: 819

Foreign vessels leaving US ports:
North: 10,336
South: 220

Total tonnage, imports & exports:
North: 13,654,925
South: 737,901

Canals and steamboats were important modes of transport of persons and goods prior to 1850, but the explosive growth of railroads in the 1850s (from 9,000 miles of track to 30,000 miles in ten years) greatly lessened the importance of both those modes of transport. Rail transport was somewhat more expensive than those modes of transport, but was also both faster and more reliable than canal or river transport.

During 1865, the Quartermaster General of the Union Army owned or chartered 719 transport vessels for use on oceans or the Great Lakes. The Inland Transportation Division owned or chartered 352 barges, 91 steamers, and 139 boats for use on inland rivers. Enforcing the blockade of Southern ports required 600 naval vessels and 70,000 naval personnel.

Blockade Running During the Civil War

Was blockade running profitable? Yes! How successful were blockade runners? Five out of six successfully evaded the blockade. Does this mean that the blockade was not effective? No-- bales of cotton exported from Southern states were reduced from 10,000,000 total in the three years preceding the Civil War to 500,000 total from April 1861 to April 1865.

Blockade runners usually carried cotton on the outward voyage, exchanging it in Nassau, Bermuda, or Havana for weapons, goods, medicines, and foodstuffs, which were then sold on return to a Confederate port. Blockade running ships were usually painted dark gray or black, to help them blend into their surroundings at night and on overcast days.

The steamer Bermuda in late 1861 made a run from Savannah, Georgia, to Liverpool, England. It carried back 22 cannon of various bores with ammunition, 6,500 Enfield rifles, 200,000 Enfield cartridges, 6,000 pairs of army boots, 20,000 army blankets, 180 barrels of gunpowder, and large quantities of morphine, quinine, and other medicines. The cargo was purchased by the Confederate government for $1,000,000.

A blockade runner taking a steamer to England with 800 bales of cotton in 1864 could exchange the cotton for militarily useful items, sell those items back in the Confederacy, and earn $400,000 or more for his trouble. It was said that a runner who made two successful trips could pay for his steamer, material costs, and crew expenses, and still have enough left over to live a comfortable life for many years thereafter.

A blockade runner in 1864 bought $6,000 worth of foodstuffs in Nassau and then sold them to the Confederate Commissariat in Richmond for $27,000- a 450% return on investment.

A bag of salt selling for $1.25 in the North by mid-1864 could be sold for $60 in the South, a 5,000% return on investment.

[Sources of statistics and bibliography included in last installment of this article.]

Thomas A. Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library

LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, PART III

Copyright © 2006 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.


V. ANIMAL & PEOPLE POWER

Animals

Horses in the US:
North: 4,417,130
South: 1,698,328

Mules in the US:
North: 328,890
South: 800,663

Oxen in the US:
North: 1,383,430
South: 856,645

Animals (horses, oxen, & mules) killed at Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863):
North: 881
South: 619
Total: 1,500

Artillery horses according to regulations were to receive 14 pounds of hay and 12 pounds of grain per day, or 80 pounds of pasturage if dried foods were not available. Since an artillery regiment by regulations had 90 horses, it would have required 2,340 pounds of hay and grain per day to feed its horses (16,380 per week, or 70,200 pounds per month). When hay and grain were not available, an artillery regiment would have required 7,200 pounds of pasturage per day (50,400 per week, or 216,000 per month).

An average horse could on hard-paved fairly level roads pull 3,000 pounds 20-23 miles per day. That was reduced to 1,900 pounds on a macadamized road, and 1,100 pounds on a rough road. These figures were maximum possible loads: horses working in teams of four to six generally were pulling 1,500-2,000 pounds of supplies and equipment each. This meant that a wagon pulled by six horses could pull an average load weighing 9,000-12,000 pounds, but that total would need to be reduced accordingly if the animals were hauling their own hay and grain.

By mid-1863, the US Army required 500 new horses per day to replenish losses due to overwork, injury, or death. If that rate of loss had held steady through four years of war, the Union Army would have lost 730,000 horses to death, injury, or overwork. It seems safe to assume that the Confederate Army lost horses at somewhat more than about half the rate of the Union Army. This figure relates closely to those generated by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, which estimates that at least one million horses died during the Civil War. The average Union Army cavalry horse served for four months before being rendered useless to the army. Supply and demand coupled with inflationary pressures increased the price of a good horse from $125 in 1861 to $185 in 1865. Losses of oxen and mules would have been substantially less than those of horses, partly because of the fewer overall numbers of such animals in service, and partly because such animals were not used for cavalry duties (usually, anyway-- mules were on occasion utilized temporarily as mounts for mounted infantry soldiers).

Shank's Mare

Soldiers on the march usually carried a load weighing about 45 pounds, although in a pinch they were expected to carry even more. Since the average Civil War soldier weighed 140 pounds, he was routinely expected to carry 1/3 his body weight while on the march. Items carried included musket, bayonet, and weapons cleaning equipment, 40 rounds of ammunition, 3 or 4 days rations, canteen, blanket or overcoat; shelter-tent half (another man carried the other half), ground sheet, and mess gear, plus any personal items like Bibles, playing cards, dice, etc.

[Sources of statistics and bibliography included in last installment of this article.]

Thomas A. Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library

LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, PART II

Copyright © 2006 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.

III. Civil War Era Manufacturing

Industrial Workers:
North: 1,300,000
South: 190,000

Capital Invested in Manufacturing:
North: $892,512,979
South: $113,099,460

Per Cent of National Industrial Investment:
North: 84%
South: 16%

Per Capita Industrial Investment:
North: $43.73
South: $13.25

The state of Massachusetts produced 1 1/2 times more manufactured goods than did the eleven seceding states combined. The city of Lowell, Massachusetts produced more cotton goods than did the eleven seceding states combined. The Northern states combined had ten times the manufacturing capacity of the South.

Of 143 important American inventions patented between 1790-1860, 133 patents were granted to inventors from Northern states, and fully half of those were granted to inventors from New England states.

At the time of Civil War, the United States was already the world front-runner in terms of firearms manufacture. The famous British Enfield rifle was produced using machinery imported from the US. A revolver factory in London used production machinery purchased from Samuel Colt and made in Connecticut.

IV. Civil War Era Land Transportation

Roads

In 1860, there were 88,000 miles of hard-surfaced roads in the United States, most of them in Northern states. Roads that had not been hard-surfaced became muddy quagmires after hard rains, and threw up clouds of people and livestock-choking dust when bone-dry in the summer. Even roads that had been hard-surfaced required regular maintenance, of course, and such efforts during the war were hampered (especially in the South) by lack of skilled labor and materials.

Railroads

Miles of Railroad in 1861:

Union: 21,276
Confederate: 9,000

Miles of Railroad in 1865:

Union: 25,276
Confederacy: 9,400 (an overall increase, although some lines essential to the war effort were unusable due to capture or damage by Union armies)

Only one Civil War era railroad line ran east to west across the South: that line ran from Richmond through Chattanooga to Memphis (and was thus situated too close to the North to be easily defensible).

United States Military Railroads

On January 31, 1862, Congress passed the Railways and Telegraph Act, which allowed the president to bring under military control as necessary men and equipment of railroad and telegraph companies. On February 11, 1862, the War Department created the United States Military Railroads, which (for the most part) ran railroads in hostile or occupied territory. It eventually ran 16 railroads in the Eastern Theater and 19 shorter lines in the Western Theater on 2,105 miles of track. It operated 419 locomotives hauling 6,330 cars over that track.

Railroads in the Southern States

Southern railroads faced numerous problems during the war:

1. Lack of a central planning/administration authority
2. Lack of a uniform track gauge
3. Few railroad lines were connected- wagon transport of goods necessary from one rail line to the next
4. Few facilities in South to manufacture replacement locomotives, cars, and track
5. Union blockade made it extremely difficult to import needed locomotives, cars, and track
6. Labor shortage made it difficult to find skilled workers to make new railroad ties
7. Confederate Conscription Act of 1864 reduced number of railroad employees exempt from the draft
8. Southern railroads often the target of invading armies/cavalry raids

Achievements of the Civil War Railroads

1. During Atlanta Campaign, railroads moved supplies for 100,000 men and 35,000 animals from a supply base 360 miles distant. Moving those supplies by wagon would have required 36,800 wagons drawn by six mules each, each moving 20 miles per day.
2. After William S. Rosecrans's defeat at Chickamauga in September 1863, 20,000 Union troops, their animals and equipment were moved 1,200 miles in eleven days to reinforce Rosecrans's besieged army at Chattanooga.
3. Braxton Bragg in July 1862 managed to move 30,000 men 776 miles from Mississippi to Chattanooga (took a roundabout route to avoid Union troops) in two weeks.

[Sources of statistics and bibliography included in last installment of this article.]

Thomas A. Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library

LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, PART I

Copyright © 2006 by St. Louis Public Library. All rights reserved.


I. Civil War Era Geography & Population

Number of States:

North: 23, plus seven territories and District of Columbia

South: 11

Total Number Persons:

North: 22,339,989

South: 9,101,090

Total Black Persons:

North: 429,401 (slave); 355,310 (free); 784,711 (total)

South: 3,521,110 (slave); 132,760 (free); 3,653,870 (total)

The pool of persons liable for military service in the North was four times greater than the pool of eligibles in the South, even before free blacks are included in the totals. Also, immigration continued in the North during the war (more than 500,000 persons immigrated during 1861-1864), while the Union naval blockade halted most immigration to Southern states throughout the war.

Of the 25 largest cities in the US in 1860, only three were in seceding states: No. 6, New Orleans, LA; No. 22, Charleston, SC; and No. 25, Richmond, VA.

Because of advances in public schooling, only 6% of free adults in the North were illiterate in 1860. In the South public schooling had not yet made wide inroads, and the failure was reflected in Southern literacy rates- nearly 50% of free Southern adults were illiterate in 1860.

II. Civil War Era Agriculture

Cultivated Land:

North: 105,000,000 acres

South: 57,000,000 acres

Cash Value of Farms, Farm Dwellings, Livestock, & Farm Equipment:

North: $5,056,151,204

South: $1,579,349,508

Cash Value of Farm Implements, Machinery, & Livestock:

North: $930,413,926

South: $397,072,820

Amount of Farm Equipment per Agricultural Worker:

North: $66.00

South: $38.00

Percentage of Labor Force Engaged in Agriculture:

North: 40%

South: 84%

Farm production in the North actually increased during the war, in spite of the loss of thousands of farmers to the Union Army. Bumper crops in 1861 and 1862 actually meant that food was exported by the North in large quantities. The number of hogs butchered yearly in Chicago increased from 270,000 in 1861 to 900,000 in 1865. New farm machinery like mowers, horse rakes, separators, sowers, cultivators, and drills allowed farm wives to manage many of the chores that had recently required the physical strength of one or more men to accomplish. The US Department of Agriculture was formed during the war to help farmers produce larger crops with less labor.

Principal southern crops were cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar. Continuous planting of cotton and tobacco tended to wear out the soil, leading to nitrogen depletion and lower crop yields. Also, the two major crops, cotton and tobacco, were not edible, and the Union blockade hindered Southern efforts to use exports of those crops to secure funds necessary to purchase war materials. The cotton-producing states kept only 5% of their crops for use by Southern mills- 70% was exported, mostly to England, and 25% was sent to mills in the North. Middlemen skimmed part of the profit right off the top, for insurance, warehousing, and shipping. The role of middlemen didn't stop there, of course- cotton goods being returned from English mills were usually sent to Northern ports, then shipped from there by rail to Southern markets.

[Sources of statistics and bibliography included in last installment of this article.]

RESEARCHING JEWISH AMERICAN WAR VETERANS

I. Jewish Congressional Medal of Honor Winners

There have been seventeen Jewish recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor (first issued to soldiers of the Civil War):

Civil War: Six

Indian Wars: Two

Haitian Campaign: One

World War 1: Three

World War II: Three

Vietnam War: Two

II. Bibliography

A St. Louis metro-area library owns a copy of the following books unless otherwise noted. You can check ownership of a particular title at WorldCat.org . St. Louis Public Library’s catalog is available on our website.

Bendersky, Joseph W. The "Jewish Threat": Anti-Semitic Politics of the U.S. Army. New York: Basic Books, 2000.

Congregation Temple Israel (Creve Coeur, Mo.). Temple Israel in World War II: Published on the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of Temple Israel. St. Louis, Mo: 1946.

Davis, Mac. Jews Fight Too! New York: Jordon Pub. Co, 1945.

Moore, Deborah Dash. GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation. Cambridge, Ma: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004.

Rosen, Robert N. The Jewish Confederates. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000.

Rosenthal, Monroe, and Isaac Mozeson. Wars of the Jews: A Military History from Biblical to Modern Times. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1990.

Rubin, Eli. 140 Jewish Marshals, Generals & Admirals. New York: Jason Books, 1952.

Spivak, Michelle, and Robert M. Zweiman. Jewish War Veterans of the United States. Paducah, Ky: Turner Pub. Co. 1996.

Weinberg, Sidney R. Jewish Combatants in the Wars of Early America: American Jewish Combatants in the Wars of Early America : All Were Military Casualties--Killed, Wounded, Taken Prisoner, or Seriously Ill in Line of Duty, During the Early Days of the American Republic, 1776-1865. Philadelphia: Xlibris Corp, 2000. [no local owners]

III. Webliography

Websites that provide information about Jewish American war veterans:

American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.

American Jews Serve in WWII

Famous Jewish Sailors

Four Chaplains

GI Jew

History of Jews in the Military

Jewish Chaplains Council

Jewish Heroes & Heroines of America

Jewish Recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor

Jewish Sailors Memorial- WWII & Vietnam

JewishSailors.com

Jewish War Veterans of the United States

Jewish War Veterans Timeline

Tom Pearson, Reference Librarian
Special Collections Department
St. Louis Public Library
314-539-0381
tpearson@slpl.org

CENTRAL LIBRARY CLOSURE

St. Louis Public Library's Central Library in downtown St. Louis is closing on 14 June 2010 for a two-year renovation project. Here's the official announcement from the SLPL website:

LINK

NOTE: Central Library is located at 1301 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63103. History & Genealogy phone number is 314-539-0385.

WARS OF OUR COUNTRY

An often times overlooked source of information on our ancestors is military records. If you had male ancestors in the age groups specified during the following wars, there may be a military service record at the National Archives in Washington, DC, or at the State Archives in the state whose military unit he served in:

1775-1783 Revolutionary War (Was your male ancestor 10-45 years of age in 1775?)

1812-1814 War of 1812 (Was your male ancestor 15-45 years of age in 1812?)

1846-1848 Mexican-American War (Was your male ancestor 16-45 years of age in
1846?)

1861-1865 Civil War (Was your male ancestor 13-45 years of age in 1861?)

1898 Spanish-American War (Was your male ancestor 18-45 years of age
in 1898?)

An often times overlooked source of information on our ancestors is military records. If you had male or female ancestors in the age groups specified during the following wars, there may be a military service record at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, or at the State Archives in the state he or she enlisted from:

1917-1918 World War I (Was your male ancestor 17-45 years of age in 1917?)

1941-1945 World War II (Was your ancestor 13-45 years of age in 1941?)

1950-1953 Korean War (Was your ancestor 15-45 years of age in 1950?)

1964-1973 Vietnam War (Was your ancestor 9-45 years of age in 1964?)

1990-1991 Gulf War (Was your ancestor 17-45 years of age in 1990?)