Introduction

The U.S. Civil War was the conflict between the Northern states (the Union) and the eleven Southern states that seceded from the Union and were organized as the Confederate States of America. It is also known as the War between the States, the War of Secession, and the War of the Rebellion. Dissension had been brewing between the North and South long before the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter, a Union military post in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. Causes of the Civil War include sectionalism, extension of slavery into the territories, and states' rights. After a nine-month siege of Petersburg led to the Union's taking the town, Confederate General Robert E. Lee evacuated Richmond and surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Terms of the surrender were made on April 9, 1865. Less than a week later, Lincoln was dead, shot by assassin John Wilkes Booth, a Southern sympathizer.

The costs of the Civil War were immense in both lives and dollars. Nearly as many Americans died in the Civil War as have died in all wars the United States has fought — approximately 620,000. The North lost about 360,000 troops. Although figures for the Confederacy are uncertain, an estimated one-fourth of its soldiers were killed. Many of the deaths were caused by disease, which was rampant among the troops and in the prison camps.

Source: The Great American History Fact-Finder. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. s.v. "Civil War," http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6600130/. (accessed March 12, 2009).

Collections

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository contains the collections listed below pertaining to the U.S. Civil War, 1861-1865. To browse all U.S. Civil War materials available in the DMR click here.

Ammen Family File

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features the Ammen Family File collection provided by the Henry County Historical Society. The materials range from 1835 to 1863.

Ball Family File

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features the Ball Family File collection provided by the Henry County Historical Society. The materials range from circa 1862 to 1865.

Cassady-Nelson Family Papers

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features the Cassady-Nelson Family Papers collection provided by Archives and Special Collections. The materials range from 1861 to 1862.

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Cooper Family File

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features the Cooper Family File collection provided by the Henry County Historical Society. The materials range from 1865 to 1887.

G.W.H. Kemper Papers

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features the G.W.H. Kemper Papers collection provided by Archives and Special Collections. The materials range from 1839 to 1927.

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Sarah E. McVicker Civil War Letters

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features the Sarah E. McVicker Civil War Letters collection provided by the Archives and Special Collections. The materials range from 1862 to 1873.

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MPL Local History and Geneology Resources Center

Muncie Public Library Local History and Genealogy Center Resources

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features materials provided by the Muncie Public Library. The materials range from 1861 to 1872.

Otto Sellers Photographs

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features the Otto Sellers Photographs collection, whose holdings include over 900 images primarily ranging from 1908 to 1926.

W.A. Swift Photographs

The Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository features the W.A. Swift Photographs collection provided by the Archives and Special Collections. There are over 1,000 images in this collection, depicting life in Muncie from the 1910s to the 1940s.

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