Discover the stories of Wisconsin
in the Civil War

The Civil War (1861-1865) was one of the bloodiest and most tragic, with over 600,000 soldiers killed. During its four long years, more than 90,000 Wisconsin soldiers fought for the Union cause.

To mark its sesquicentennial (150th anniversary), we created "Wisconsin in the Civil War," a digital collection containing more than 20,000 original documents. The collection provides ready access to dozens of diaries, regimental histories and book-length memoirs, thousands of soldiers letters, hundreds of newspaper articles, and more than 1,000 photographs, maps and other images.

The collection goes beyond basic facts about Wisconsin military units. It offers personal, in-depth, and moving portraits of Wisconsin soldiers in war.

New documents will be added every week throughout 2011.

• See the war through the eyes of Wisconsin soldiers in stories
• View pictures, diaries, maps, and broadsides
• Find ancestors and leaders in people
• Discover how your hometown was involved in places
• Uncover military facts in regiments and battles

Note: This online collection contains little information specifically about the home front.

Rights and Permissions

All material may be printed or downloaded at no cost for nonprofit educational use by teachers, students and researchers. Nothing may be reproduced in any format for commercial purposes without prior permission.