Archive for the ‘Civil War’ Category

The American Civil War was a fascinating time in U.S. history. Sentiments and support for both sides were expressed in various patriotic ways. Perhaps one of the most personal ways was artwork on envelopes.

It is estimated that 1000’s of different artist renditions were made for these civil war envelopes – from caricatures, allegories, slotains, portraits and much more. In fact some envelopes show portraits or caricatures of politicians, for example, of George Washington, Jefferson Davis, Benjamin Franklin, or Abraham Lincoln. State seals figure prominently, as do flags. Other significant topics in the collection are animals (especially the eagle), liberty, soldiers, sailors, and Uncle Sam.

Civil War Map Collection Series 797 Detailed Maps on 12 CDs

A key to a successful treasure or relic hunt with a metal detector is research. If you want to have a chance of finding interesting relics, you need to know where activities occurred that could leave a trail of artifacts. For instance, if you knew the location of an abandoned mining camp from 150 years ago, you could probably find a variety of unique mining memorabilia buried in the ground. The same with wars. If you knew the location of an old battlefield, chances are very good that you could find old bullets and other metal peices – such as buttons from uniforms, etc. in the area.

So how does one research these things?

The easiest way is with accurate maps that were created during the time period in question. They will pinpoint key battle areas that can then be correlated with modern maps to give you a good location to start your search. Other good research tools are old newspapers from the location and era you are interested in researching and local historians in the smaller towns in the area.

If you do good research before beginning your adventure, your chances of discovering interesting bits of history are greatly increased. And of course the enjoyment of the event is much higher with each success you have.

If you are doing research on ancesters that fought in the civil war, the U.S. Goverment has privded a powerful tool to aid you in your searches.

Search the 6.3 million soldiers

The tool allows for a variety of search options including the first and last name, whether they were union or confederate soldiers, which unit they were from, the state and the function they served during the war (i.e. artillery, cavalry, infantry, sharpshooters or engineers.)

The search will return matching results and give you whatever detailed information is on file with the government records office for all soldiers that match the parameters entered into the search.

All in all, this is a great geneaology research tool for people seeking additional information about the activities of their Civil War ancestors.