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In the winter of 1861 Abraham Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois to become President of the United States. Southern states reacted to the election of a Republican president by seceding from the Union, and the nation descended into Civil War. Although the combatants fought no battles on Illinois soil, the Civil War defined an era in the state. Illinoisans shaped the war's course and felt its effects. This digital collection presents primary source material from the Civil War era in Illinois. These materials include letters, diaries and reminiscences of Union soldiers, as well as important documents, images, and other resources from the home front. For more information, including historical themes, narrative essays, and lesson plans. see the main page for Illinois During the Civil War.
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- Fort Harrison, 1813
- Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 27 No. 158, July 1863., Northern Illinois University
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- Fort Winnebago
- Barber, John W. Our Whole Country: or the Past and Present of the United States, Historical and Descriptive. Vol II. p. 1203., Tulane University, Joseph M. Jones Steamboat Collection, near Portage City, commenced in 1828, under the superintendence of Major Twiggs and Capt. Harney.
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- General Logan as Prosecuting Attorney in 1855
- Logan, John A., Mrs. Reminiscences of a Soldier's Wife. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913., Northern Illinois University
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- B. H. Greirson
- Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 30, No. 177, February 1865., Northern Illinois University
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- Mrs. John A. Logan in 1858
- Logan, John A., Mrs. Reminiscences of a Soldier's Wife. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913., Northern Illinois University
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- Confederates in the Newly-Captured Pensacola Fort-1861 Where the Blockaders Came Too Late
- Barnes, James. The Photographic History of the Civil War. Vol. 6. p. 16-17., Tulane University, Joseph M. Jones Steamboat Collection, Confederates in the Newly-Captured Pensacola Fort--1861. Full of enthusiasm and military spirit, but suspecting little what trials lay before them, the Confederate volunteers pictured here are drilling at one of the forts that had been abandoned by the Federal Government, even before the momentous shot was fired at Sumter. Fort Pickens, through the forethought of Commander Henry Walke, who disobeyed his orders most brilliantly and successfully, had been saved to the Federal Government. The other batteries and forts at Pensacola, however, had been handed over to the Confederacy, and here we see the men in gray, early in '61, taking advantage of the gift. Not the new uniforms, the soldierly and well-fed appearance of the men, the stores of ammunition for the great guns.
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- John A. Logan in 1861, as Colonel of the Thirty-First Illinois Regiment
- Logan, John A., Mrs. Reminiscences of a Soldier's Wife. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913., Northern Illinois University
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- Volunteers Attacked in St. Louis
- Guernsey, Alfred H. and Henry M. Alden. Harper's Pictoral History of the Civil War. Chicago: Star Publishing Co., 1894., Northern Illinois University
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- Montgomery, Alabama: First Seat of the Rebel Government
- Guernsey, Alfred H. and Henry M. Alden. Harper's Pictoral History of the Civil War. Chicago: Star Publishing Co., 1894., Northern Illinois University
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- Letter of December 10, 1861 from Enos Cook Kennedy to Panlina. Page 1
- Kennedy, Enos Cook and Abner Hard. Letters and Diary of Enos Cook Kennedy. Unpublished., Joiner History Room, Sycamore, Illinois Public Library.
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- Scene Around a Bulletin-Board
- Guernsey, Alfred H. and Henry M. Alden. Harper's Pictoral History of the Civil War. Chicago: Star Publishing Co., 1894., Northern Illinois University
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- General View of Harper's Ferry and the Maryland Heights
- Guernsey, Alfred H. and Henry M. Alden. Harper's Pictoral History of the Civil War. Chicago: Star Publishing Co., 1894., Northern Illinois University
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- Uncompleted Earthworks Camp Defiance
- Miller, Francis Trevelyn, The Photographic History of the Civil War. Vol 1. New York: The Review of Reviews Co., 1911., Northern Illinois University
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- Mounting Artillery in Fort Darling at Camp Defiance
- Miller, Francis Trevelyn, The Photographic History of the Civil War. Vol 1. New York: The Review of Reviews Co., 1911., Northern Illinois University
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- Defenders of Cairo, Illinois
- Miller, Francis Trevelyn, The Photographic History of the Civil War. Vol 1. New York: The Review of Reviews Co., 1911., Northern Illinois University
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- 'Plundering the Soldier -- Is it True!' in the 'Illinois State Register, 01 July 1861'
- Northern Illinois University
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- 'Mason and Slidell Captured.' in the 'Illinois State Register, 18 November 1861'
- Northern Illinois University
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- 'Hon. John McClernand to the Soldiers.' in the 'Illinois State Register, 20 June 1861'
- Northern Illinois University
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- 'The Battle at Belmont.' in the 'Illinois State Register, 11 November 1861'
- Northern Illinois University
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- 'Gen. McClernand's Report of the Battle of Belmont.' in the 'Illinois State Register, 22 November 1861'
- Northern Illinois University