American Civil War Material on CD at AIMM

AIMM recently acquired a set of CDs with a great deal of American Civil War material, including material on Naval operations.

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion was orginally published in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This set of 30 volumes covers all aspects of naval operations during the American Civil War.

The companion set, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion was published during the same period and consisted of 69 volumes.

To purchase these two sets of books would be prohibitively expensive. While this information is also available online, having these CDs will improve access to this important historical data for both museum staff and patrons.

Confederate Military History, orignally published in 1899, was a twelve volume set written by many of the Confederate officers and officials who were also historians. Many held positions in the federal government before and after the Civil War. The volume on the war in Arkansas was written by Colonel John M. Harrell of Hot Springs, who served as a staff officer for Generals Holmes and Breckinridge and commanded a cavalry unit, participating in much of the history that he wrote about.

The volume on Confederate Naval History was written by CAPT William Parker, who commanded CSS Beaufort, a gunboat, in battles on the James River.

Personal Accounts of the Civil War is a collection of material written by people on both sides of the conflict, some famous, such as Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, who wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government but many just ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times.

In addition, there are five CDs of photographs and six CDs of maps, as well as other Civil War-related material.

These unique resources, along with many other books on submarine, naval and maritime history, are available at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.