Transcripts archived @ the Henniker Historical Society

Colby’s wartime letters form the narrative backbone for this whole book series. Sent to his family in Henniker, NH, these letters relate some of Colby’s adventures during the summer of 1864, including:

1. 1 June 1864 / Hanover Town, Va. / “I received your letter last evening & for the first time in weeks…”
2. 24 June 1864 / Near Petersburgh, Va. / “Parents & Friends at Home…”
3. MORE PREVIEW LINKS coming soon…

The 39th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers (Roe, 1914)

This official regimental history features hundreds of pages of stories collected by a committee of veterans. Roe narrates their stories with the hindsight of 50 years, but he also quotes directly from primary sources including diaries, journals, reunion presentations, and other written accounts, all verified & approved by the participants.

Start reading @ late May 1864 >>

Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War (Noah Andre Trudeau)

Trudeau provides many accounts & field reports of USCT units in action during the summer of 1864.

Featured scenes include:

• USCT units demand equal pay
• Picked to lead a charge…
• USCT @ the Battle of the Crater
• …

HARPER’S WEEKLY Vol. 8 (1864)

Week-by-week accounts in words & pictures from all fronts of the war, plus news from around the world! In Harper’s we can actually read along in the media coverage of many historic Vol. 3 scenes:

• Links coming soon…

Hardtack and Coffee (Billings, 1887)

This postwar book provides an invaluable source of information and memories by a veteran campaigner; I find whenever I have a question about depicting some aspect of camp life, Billings often has an entire chapter about it — Or at the very least, he shares several details that entirely change how I draw the scene!

Civil War Sketch Book: Drawings from the Battlefront (Katz & Virga)

This beautiful collection reprints many sketches & prints from each year of the war. The 1864 section provides important details & perspectives not included in primary source texts of the time!

The Civil War and American Art (Smithsonian American Art Museum)

…examines how America’s artists represented the impact of the Civil War and its aftermath. 

I’ve returned to this collection again & again for context & analysis of Civil War paintings & other images — especially (for Vol. 3) the wartime career of Winslow Homer.

The Civil War Told by Those Who Lived It (Library of America)

Reflecting the unprecedented, widespread literacy of nineteenth century Americans, an astonishing number of writers—white and black, male and female, soldiers and politicians, public intellectuals and private citizens—left vivid first-hand accounts of the Civil War…

In researching events from 1864, I’ve benefited immensely from the accounts collected in Vol. 4 (“The Final Year”).