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Civil War Women: Primary Sources on the Internet

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As a result of the Duke bibliography Women and the Civil War, we consistently receive requests from students and teachers who would like to see primary sources on this topic available to them via the Internet. In response, we have begun to transcribe and scan some of our manuscript collections which document women's experiences in the Civil War. Given the wealth of information about the Civil War already on the Internet, there is a relatively small amount of material that reflects women's lives and experiences during this time period. Below are links to primary sources on the Internet that are directly related to women and the Civil War. We encourage archivists, project staff, and Civil War enthusiasts to network more women's collections!

Tell us about other sites to add to this list!

Diaries, Letters, and Other Documents

Alice Williamson Diary, 1864
Diary of a 16 year old rebel girl living in Gallatin, Tennessee during Union occupation of the area. Transcription and scanned image of original document held by the Special Collections Library at Duke University.
Rose O'Neal Greenhow Papers, 1861-1864
Letters from Greenhow, a Confederate spy, to Jefferson Davis, Alexander Boteler, and others regarding war activities. Also several newspaper articles describing her imprisonment in 1861 and her death in 1864. Transcriptions and scanned images of original documents held in the Special Collections Library at Duke University.
Rachel Cormany Diary, June 14-July 6, 1863
An excerpt of this Franklin County, PA., woman's diary describing the town of Chambersburg during the Gettysburg campaign. Taken from The Cormany Diaries: A Northern Family in the Civil War, James C. Mohr, editor, Richard E. Winslow, III, assistant editor, (Pittsburg, University of Pittsburg Press, 1982), pp. 328-341. Part of the Valley of the Shadow project.
Carrie Berry Diary August 1, 1864-January 4, 1865
Passages from the diary of a 10 yr. old Atlanta girl describe the immediate affects of the War on her and her family. Transcription of original diary provided by the Atlanta Historical Center.
Civil War Reminiscences by Catharine Hunsecker
Transcription of a narrative which gives some general information about Hunsecker's life, but mainly focuses on the events of the Civil War and the affect it had on her community in Franklin County, PA. Part of the Valley of the Shadow project.
Sallie Seeper Scott Letter, April 15, 1865
Transcription of a love letter from Sallie Seeper Scott of "Lower Chanceford" (York Co., PA), to Robert Bennett, Chief Carpenter Shop in Washington, D.C. Original held in the Special Collections Department of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech. Part of their on-line collection of Civil War Love Letters.
Memoir of Alansa Rounds Sterrett, c.1859-1865.
Transcription of original memoir housed in the Augusta County Historical Society. Alansa Rounds Sterrett was Jedediah Hotchkiss' niece and a teacher at Loch Willow Academy during the Civil War. A Northerner, Alansa Rounds married Franklin F. Sterrett, a friend of Hotchkiss' and a Confederate cavalry officer. Part of the Valley of the Shadow project.
10th South Carolina Ladies Auxiliary
This is a website for Civil War "re-enactresses" that contains a wealth of primary source information about women during the war. Site includes links to several WPA memoirs of South Carolina women during the war, detailed information about fashion and fabrics of the times, and a bibliography of suggested readings.
The Ladies Union Aid Society of St. Louis
Produced by a women's Civil War reenacting group, this site provides a history of the LUAS which contains excerpts from original documents related to the creation and work of the Society. Includes references to specific women such as Anna Clapp and Jesse Freement, but also illustrates the work of the many unnamed women who aided soldiers. Also has a bibliography for further reading.
Nancy Emerson Diary, 1862
Memoranda of events and thoughts of woman living in Augusta County, Virginia. Transcription and scanned images of the original manuscript diary held in the Alderman Library at the University of Virginia. Part of the Valley of the Shadow project.

Photographs and Prints

The Library of Congress and the National Archives have scanned hundreds of photographs relating to the Civil War. While only a small percentage of these photos actually depict women (see below), other photographs may provide useful supplementary information or illustrations for women-focused projects. For instance, photos show towns where women lived and battles and events often described in women's diaries and letters. Each of the following images specifically include women:

From the Library of Congress' American Memory Project

Note: Because of the way the American Memory Project photographs are set up, we cannot provide direct links to each of the photos listed. To access the following photos, simply go to the Library of Congress Civil War Search Page, and search on any of the words in the following picture captions. Or search on words like women, girls, nurses, or lady.

  • Port Royal Island, SC. African American preparing cotton for the gin on Smith's plantation in 1861.
  • Cedar Mt., VA. Family group before the house in which Gen. Charles S. Winder (C.S.A.) died, 1862.
  • Fugitive African Americans fording the Rappahannock River (VA) in 1862.
  • Falmouth, Va. Group in front of post office tent at Army of the Potomac headquarters, April 1863
  • Stevensburg, Va. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, 3d Division, Cavalry Corps, with ladies and staff members on the porch of headquarters, March 1864
  • Brandy Station, VA. Officers and a lady at headquarters of the 1st Brigade, Horse Artillery, 1864.
  • Brandy Station, VA. Col. John C. Coxe, A.C.S., and a lady seated before his log cabin winter quarters at the Army of the Potomac headquarters in 1864.
  • Fort Monrow, VA. Officers and ladies on porch of a garrison house, 1864.
  • Fredericksburg, Va. Nurses and officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, 1864
  • Washington, D.C. Group before office of the U.S. Christian Commission in 1865.
  • City Point, VA. Brig. Gen. John A. Rawlins, Chief of Staff, with wife & child at door of their quarters, ca. 1860-1865.
  • Portrait of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, officer of the Federal Army, and his wife,
  • Ellen Mary Marcy, between 1860 and 1865
  • Petersburg, Va. Cottage of Col. Nathaniel Michler, U.S. Engineers, at Bryant house, 1865 (woman sitting in front of cottage)
  • Richmond, Va. St. John's Church and graveyard from street, 1865 (includes a girl).
  • Washington, D.C. The four condemned conspirators (of the Lincoln assassination) Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, Payne, Herold, Atzerodt, with officers and others on the scaffold; guards on the wall, July 1865
  • Washington, D.C. Gen. John F. Hartranft reading the death warrant to the conspirators on the scaffold, July 1865
  • Washington, D.C. Adjusting the ropes for hanging the conspirators, July 1865
  • Washington, D.C. Hanging hooded bodies of the four conspirators; crowd departing, July 1865
  • Washington, D.C. Hanging bodies of the conspirators; guards only in yard, July 1865