A Guide to Civil War Materials
in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Duke University

Battles

Strategies for finding materials related to Battles:
  1. Conduct a keyword search of our Finding Aids

  2. Consult the Duke University Libraries on-line catalog

    Tips:

      Select "Special Collections Library" on "Display holdings first for" pull-down menu

      Conduct a keyword or subject headings search using the following Library of Congress subject headings:

        [name of battle], Battle of

  3. Look for the following subjects in the Special Collections Library Card Catalog
      Civil War. Campaigns and battles [name of battle]

  4. Additional Notes:
    The Union tended to name battles after a geographic feature of an area, while the Confederacy tended to call a battle by the name of the community near where the battle took place. Thus in the North it was the Battle of Bull Run (after a stream named Bull Run), while in the South the same battle was referred to as the Battle of Manassas after the community of Manassas.

Samples from the collections:


[ Larger image ]


[ Larger image and Transcript ]


[ Larger image and Transcript ]


[ Larger image ]


[ Larger image ]

Guide to Civil War Materials
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/pathfinders/civil-war/
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library - Duke University
Compiled November 2001 by Janie Morris
See our contact information page if you have any questions.