Civil War Manuscripts is a guide to the collections of the Manuscript Division that are made up of materials-either whole or in part-relating directly to the Civil War. The guide does not cover original materials in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, the Prints and Photographs Division, the Music Division, the Geography and Map Division, or the general collections. Although it is focused on the period of the war, it does include a few significant postwar items, such as materials concerning the assassination of President Lincoln, the trial of the Lincoln conspirators, and the Fitz-John Porter and Henry Wirz trials. No attempt has been made to survey collections concerning prewar politics and the secession controversy. Also, it is not a guide to entire collections unless those collections are composed wholly of materials relating to the war, which is why National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) numbers have not been included. Users will not necessarily be led to all of the material on any one subject; however, if they possess a good knowledge of the war and basic research skills, they can be reasonably certain of having been directed to most of the relevant items. In no case are all the papers of or about a single campaign, battle, individual, place, or topic contained in the Library of Congress. It is indeed rare when additional information on any subject cannot be found in other major libraries and archives.

Volume IV: Compiled and revised by Silas Felton. 1063 pp., revised with books missed in vols. I,II, and III, regimental publications, personal narratives, biographies, campaigns and battles, Northern and Southern. Felton?s new compilation is without peer. He covers the subject from five different perspectives: Regimental Publications and Personal Narratives, Union and Confederate Biographies, General References, Armed Forces and Campaigns and Battles.And, making the work extremely useful, the last 236 pages contain a complete Index of Authors of Volumes I through IV as well as a new Index of Titles in the Revised Volume IV.Furthermore, to clear up confusion created by the multiple names often used by Confederate units during the war ? artillery batteries in particular ? which carried a state designation but were commonly known by the battery commander?s name, Felton has cited a written work with a single number designation but indexed and listed it under its common appellation to aid the researcher and eliminate confusion.