To learn more about love and courtship in 19th-century America, and about the Civil War, explore these links:

“When This Cruel War is Over” a popular Confederate song by Charles Carroll Sawyer

Dearest Love, do you remember, when we last did meet,
How you told me that you loved me, kneeling at my feet?
Oh! How proud you stood before me, in your suit of gray,
When you vow’d to me and country to be true throughout the fray.

“Love Me Did” an audio program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.  Listen to an interview with Pam Epstein, who shares some of her favorite personals ads from the 1800s.

Cooking for a Civil War Wedding  Civil War era cake recipes

American Civil War Ladies’ Clothing  Civilian merchants who operated within army camps were known as sutlers or victualers. Modern day sutlers provide uniforms and costumes to reenactors and living history participants.

“My Precious Loulie…” Love Letters of the Civil War an exhibit from Special Collections at Virginia Tech University

Civil War Poetry and Music – Union and Confederate

Hymns for the Camp – issued in 1861 by the Baptist Colportage Board of Virginia for use by Confederate soldiers.

The Christian Harmony – Jeremiah Ingalls hymnbook (1805) contains many tunes that were popular during the Civil War.  Audio included.

Civil War Field Musicians and Brass Bands – Field musicians were part of the military communications network, while bands provided entertainment and music for special occasions.  Listen to the music soldiers would have heard.

Civil War Photos – an online collection of over 1,000 Civil War Images, Civil War Photographs and Cartes de Visites.

Mathew Brady Civil War Photographs on Flickr from the National Archives

National Park Service Civil War Home Page which includes the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS), a database of all men who served on both sides of the war.

The Civil War Home Page – a database of links to many online resources.  “Dedicated to the participants, both North and South, in the great American Civil War 1861-1865”

The Civil War Trust – a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving America’s Civil War  battlefields.  Creators of the “Battle App” and home of “This Day in the Civil War”, a Civil War timeline.

Civil War Interactive and Blue Gray Daily  links to Civil War blogs, games, resources, and information about “This Day in the Civil War.”

             “Sweet Evalina” – 2nd South Carolina String Band