![Union Homefront: A History in Documents](../assets/md5images/948af120d7a2d2058ba664df8ac01a6c.png)
Union Homefront: A History in Documents
IN PROGRESS... Wallace Hettle, a history professor at the University of Northern Iowa, compiled a collection of approximately 80 primary source transcriptions related to the Union homefront during the Civil War. The Union Homefront: A History in Documents collects excerpts from letters, newspapers, poems, speeches, etc., along with brief introductions that examine the circumstances and biases of each source. Professor Hettle wrote brief introductions that examine the circumstances and biases of each source. A period photograph, the source citation and the document are included in each entry. This Open Educational Resource collection is intended to be used by K-12 and higher education educators. The source materials are in the public domain. All images in the collection are from the Digital Collections of the Library of Congress. The compilation with introduction of each entry has been assigned a Creative Commons Noncommerical 4.0 attribution license. This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the original work as long as they credit Wallace Hettle for the original creation. The source documents are arranged by the year.
Sub-Collections. Entries for each year of the war (arranged chronologically in columns):
1861 | 1863 | 1865 | |
1862 | 1864 |
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01. 1861 - John Brown Song
Wallace Hettle and John Brown
Document citation:
Simonds, Phillip. John Brown’s Song. Boston: Russell & Patee, 1861, pg. 1-3.
Retrieved from: https://lccn.loc.gov/2023783905
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02. 1861 - A Riot in Baltimore (3 documents)
Wallace Hettle, Lucius Chittenden, Edward F. Jones (Colonel), and George William Brown (Mayor)
Document 1 citation:
Chittenden, Lucius E. Recollections of President Abraham Lincoln and His Administration. New York: Harper & Bros., 1891, pg. 37-39.
Retrieved from: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000566606.
Document 2 citation:
Jones, Edward F. “Report of Colonel Edward F. Jones, Sixth Massachusetts Militia. April 22, 1861.” In The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records, Series 1, Volume 2, pg. 7-9, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
Retrieved from: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000625514
Document 3 citation:
Brown, [Mayor] George William. Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861. Baltimore: Isaac Friedenwald, 1887, pg. 49-51.
Retrieved from: https://lccn.loc.gov/rc01003453
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03. 1861 - The Holy War - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Wallace Hettle and Harriet Beecher Stowe
Document citation:
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. “The Holy War,” The Independent (New York), May 9, 1861, pg. 1.
Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/pub_independent
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04. 1861 - First Inaugural Address - Abraham Lincoln
Wallace Hettle and Abraham Lincoln
Document citation:
Lincoln, Abraham. “First Inaugural Address” March, 1861.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/mal0773800/
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05. 1861 - Morals of Our Soldiers
Wallace Hettle and Christian Recorder
Document citation:
W.H. “Morals of Our Soldiers,” The Christian Recorder (Philadelphia), August 31, 1861, pg. 4.
Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/payneamec
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06. 1861 - Kentucky Civil War Neutrality Proclamation
Wallace Hettle and Beriah Magoffin
Document citation:
Magoffin, [Governor] Beriah. Proclamation by the Governor of Kentucky, May 20, 1861.
Retrieved From: https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r41g0m071.
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07. 1861 - The Vacant Chair
Wallace Hettle and George Root
Document citation:
Root, George F. and H.S.W. “The Vacant Chair” Chicago: Root & Cady, 1861.
Retrieved from: https://lccn.loc.gov/2023783845
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08. 1861 - The Land of Promise
Wallace Hettle and Illinois Staat-Zeitung
Document citation:
“The Battle for Freedom and American Citizens of German Descent” Illinois Staats-Zeitung (Illinois), July 26, 1861.
Retrieved from: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008717782
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09. 1861 - The Pathfinder
Wallace Hettle and John C. Fremont
Document citation:
Fremont, J.C. “Proclamation from Major-General J.C. Fremont. August 30, 1861” in The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records, Series 1, Volume 3, pg. 466-467, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
Retrieved From: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000625514
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10. 1861 - Solution of the Negro Question
Wallace Hettle and James Henry Lane
Document citation:
"Gen. Lane and his Solution of the Negro Question," New York (NY) World, November 19, 1861, p. 1.
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11. 1861 - Bread and the Newspaper - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Wallace Hettle and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Document citation:
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. “Bread and the Newspaper,” Atlantic Monthly (Massachusetts), September 1861, pg. 346-352.
Retrieved From: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1861/09/bread-and-the-newspaper/308748/
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12. 1861 - General William T. Sherman Insane
Wallace Hettle and Cincinnati Commercial
Document citation:
“Gen. William T. Sherman Insane.” Cincinnati Daily Commercial (Ohio), December 11, 1861, pg. 2.
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13. 1861 - The Battle Set in Array - Henry Ward Beecher
Wallace Hettle and Henry Ward Beecher (Reverend)
Document citation:
Beecher, Henry Ward. Patriotic Addresses in America and England from 1850 to 1885, on Slavery, the Civil War, and the Development of Civil Liberty in the United States. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert, 1887, p. 277-288.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/14020036/
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14. 1862 - Representative Thaddeus Stevens
Wallace Hettle and Thaddeus Stevens
Document citation:
Stevens, Thaddeus. “Untitled. January 22, 1862” In The Congressional Globe: The 37th Congress - The Second Session, edited by John C. Rives, 439-441. Washington: Congressional Globe Office, 1862.
Retrieved from: https://www.congress.gov/browse/37th-congress
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15. 1862 - The Battle Hymn of the Republic - Julia Ward Howe
Wallace Hettle and Julia Ward Howe
Document citation:
Howe, Julia Ward. “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” The Atlantic Monthly (Massachusetts), February 1862, Vol. IX: No. LII.
Retrieved From: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/1862/02/
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16. 1862 - Letter to Abraham Lincoln - Ellen E. Sherman
Wallace Hettle and Ellen E. Sherman
Document citation:
Sherman, Ellen E. Letter to Abraham Lincoln, January 9, 1862.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/mal1390400/
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17. 1862 - Transcontinental Railroad - Sioux City Register
Wallace Hettle and Sioux City Register
Document citation:
Bliss, P. “Pacific Railroad.” Sioux City Register (Iowa), January 18, 1862, p. 1.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84031042/1862-01-18/ed-1/
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18. 1862 - Senator Samuel C. Pomeroy
Wallace Hettle and Samuel C. Pomeroy
Document citation:
Pomeroy, Samuel C. “Untitled. May 7, 1862” In The Congressional Globe: The 37th Congress - The Second Session, edited by John C. Rives, 1938-1940. Washington: Congressional Globe Office, 1862.
Retrieved from: https://www.congress.gov/browse/37th-congress
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19. 1862 - A Prayer for the Twenty Millions - Horace Greeley
Wallace Hettle and Horace Greeley
Document citation:
Greeley, Horace. “The Prayer of Twenty Millions.” New York Daily Tribune (New York), August 20, 1862, pg. 4.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83030213/1862-08-20/ed-1/
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20. 1862 - Letter to Horace Greeley - Abraham Lincoln
Wallace Hettle and Abraham Lincoln
Document citation:
Lincoln, Abraham. “President Lincoln’s Letter.” New York Daily Tribune (New York), August, 25, 1862, p. 4.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83030213/1862-08-25/ed-1/
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21. 1862 - Proclamation and the Negro Army - Frederick Douglass
Wallace Hettle and Frederick Douglass
Document citation:
Douglas, Frederick. “The Proclamation and A Negro Army, Speech Delivered February 1863” in The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass Vol. 3, edited by Philip Foner, 321-337. New York: International Publishers Co., 1952.
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22. 1862 - The President’s Proclamation - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wallace Hettle and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Document citation:
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “The President’s Proclamation.” Atlantic Monthly (Massachusetts), November 1862, p. 638-642
Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1862/11/the-presidents-proclamation/306550
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23. 1862 - To the Editor of the N.Y. Tribune - Lydia Maria Child
Wallace Hettle and Lydia Maria Child
Document citation:
Child, L. Maria. “A Letter from L. Maria Child.” New York Daily Tribune (New York), September 5, 1862, p. 9.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83030213/1862-09-03/ed-1/
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24. 1862 - Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races
Wallace Hettle and Anonymous
Document citation:
Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, applied to the American White Man and Negro, p. 48-60. New York: H. Dexter, Hamilton & Co., 1864.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/05009520/
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25. 1862 - What They Have to Do Who Stay at Home - Frederick Law Olmsted
Wallace Hettle and Frederick Law Olmsted
Document citation:
Olmsted, Fred. Law. “What They Have to do Who Stay at Home - October 21, 1862, ” In Documents of the Sanitary Commission Vol. 1, no. 50 p.1-12. New York: United States Sanitary Commission, 1866.
Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/b20413257_0001
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26. 1862 - Letter to Abraham Lincoln - John Pope
Wallace Hettle and John Pope
Document citation:
Pope, John. Telegram to Abraham Lincoln, November 11, 1862.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/mal1950700/
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27. 1862 - Six Weeks in the Sioux Teepees - Mrs. Sarah F. Wakefield
Wallace Hettle and Sarah F. Wakefield Mrs.
Document citation:
Wakefield, Sarah F. Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees. Minneapolis: Atlas Print. Co., 1863.
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28. 1862 - Chiefly About War Matters, By a Peaceable Man - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Wallace Hettle and Nathaniel Hawthorne
Document citation:
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Chiefly About War Matters. By a Peaceable Man.” Atlantic Monthly (Massachusetts), July 1862, p. 43-61.
Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1862/07/chiefly-about-war-matters/306159/
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29. 1862 - The Indian Imbroglio, Abraham Lincoln, Don’t you do it! - Andrew J. Van Vorhes
Wallace Hettle and Andrew J. Van Vorhes
Document citation:
“The Indian Imbroglio — Abraham Lincoln, Don’t you do it!” The Stillwater Messenger (Minnesota), November 11, 1862, p. 2.
Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/jan1186123thes/page/n5/mode/1up.
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30. 1863 - How a Free People Conduct a Long War - Charles J. Stillé
Wallace Hettle and Charles J. Stillé
Document citation:
Stille, Charles J. How a Free People Conduct a Long War. New York: Loyal Publication Society, 1863.
Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/howfreepeople00stille
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31. 1863 - My Imprisonment - Rose O’Neal Greenhow
Wallace Hettle and Rose O'Neal Greenhow
Document citation:
Greenhow, Rose O’Neal. My Imprisonment and The First Year of Abolition Rule in Washington. London: Richard Bentley, 1863, p. 220-222.
Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/myimprisonmentfi00gree/page/n7/mode/2up
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32. 1863 - Fancy Books - Private Circular. For Gentlemen Only
Wallace Hettle and Anonymous
Document citation:
Broadside Leaflet: Private Circular, For Gentleman Only, n. d.. n.p. 1870.
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33. 1863 - Copperhead - Clement Vallandigham
Wallace Hettle and Clement Vallandigham
Document citation:
Speech of Hon. Clement L. Vallandigham of Ohio in the House of Representatives,
February 23, 1863, Congressional Globe: 37th Congress: 3d Session, House of Representatives, 172-77. congress-37-session-3-part-2.pdf
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34. 1863 - Man without a Country - Edward Everett Hale
Wallace Hettle and Edward Everett Hale
Document citation:
Edward Everett Hale, “The Man Without a Country,” The Atlantic, 12 (74), 665-679.
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35. 1863 - The Sleeping Sentinel, William Scott - Frances De Haes Janvier
Wallace Hettle and Frances De Haes Janvier
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36. 1863 - Battle of Gettysburg - Rachel Carmany
Wallace Hettle and Rachel Carmany
Document citation:
James C. Mohr, editor, and Robert E. Winslow III, assistant editor, The Cormany Diaries: A Northern Family in the Civil War (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982).
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37. 1863 - The Prayer of One Hundred Thousand…Emancipation Petition of the Women’s National League
Wallace Hettle, Charles Sumner, and Susan B. Anthony
Document citation:
The prayer of one hundred thousand. Speech of Hon. Chas. Sumner on the presentation of the first installment of the emancipation petition of the women's national league ... [New York 1864]. http://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.12501000
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39. 1863 - Letter to President Lincoln - A. E. Rutdge
Wallace Hettle, A. E. Rutdge, and R. K. Scott
Document citation:
Lincoln, Abraham. Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833 to 1916: A.E. Rutdge to Abraham Lincoln, Wednesday,Complains about failure of post office to deliver letters reporting that her son had been seriously wounded; endorsed by R. K. 1863. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mal2571200/.
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40. 1863 - Notice of Petition for Divorce - Mary Ellen Montgomery
Wallace Hettle and Mary Ellen Montgomery
Document citation:
The Emporia News. (Emporia, Kansas), Sep. 19 1863, p. 3. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82016419/1863-09-19/ed-1/.
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41. 1863 - Up from the Meadows Rich with Corn - John Greenlef Whittier
Wallace Hettle and John Greenleaf Whittier
Document citation:
Atlantic Monthly October 1863, pp/ 495-6.
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42. 1864. Consumer Goods (2 Documents)
Wallace Hettle, Harper's Weekly, and Portland Daily Express
Document citations
Document 1:
Harper’s Weekly: A Journal of Civilization, Vol. 8, Iss. 366, January 2, 1864, page 16. https://archive.org/details/sim_harpers-weekly_1864-01-02_8_366/mode/2up.
Document 2:
Portland Daily Express, May 20, 1864.
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43. 1864 - The Mission of War - Frederick Douglass
Wallace Hettle and Frederick Douglass
Document citation:
Frederick Douglass, “The Mission of the War,” January 13, 1864, Women’s Loyal League, Cooper Institute in New York City. The speech is reported in the New York Tribune, January 14, 1864.
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44. 1864 - Vassar College: Women’s Own - Milo P. Jewett
Wallce Hettle and Milo P. Jewett
Document citation:
Jewett, Milo P. "Vassar College: Women's Own," Speech Delivered Before the Trustees at Their Meeting, February 23, 1864.
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45. 1864 - Slave Narratives (2 Documents)
Wallace Hettle, Amelia Jones, and Byers York
Document citations
Document 1:
Amelia Jones in Federal Writers Project; Works Project Administration, Slave Narratives, Kentucky, Volume 7, collected by Bogie Woods. 416-418.
Document 2:
Federal Writers #39; Project: Slave Narratives, Vol. 7, Kentucky, Laurel County collected by Byers York., 1936, 11-12.
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46. 1864 - Song of the Working-Women - Ann S. Stephens
Wallace Hettle and Ann S. Stephens
Document citation:
Fincher’s Trades Review, April 2, 1864.
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47. 1864 - Letter to Abraham Lincoln - A. M. Gilford
Wallace Hettle and A. M. Gilford
Document citation:
Lincoln, Abraham. Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833 to 1916: A. M. Gilford to Abraham Lincoln, Tuesday,Does not want her son to be drafted. 1864. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mal3550700/.
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48. 1864 - Democratic Party Platform - Edward Stanwood
Wallace Hettle and Edward Stanwood
Document citation:
“Democratic Party Platform, 1864” in Edward Stanwood, ed., A History of Presidential Elections (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., 1896) 237-243.
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49. 1864 - Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races (2 Documents)
Wallace Hettle and Anonymous
Document citations
Document 1:
Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, applied to the American White Man and Negro, p. 48-60. New York: H. Dexter, Hamilton & Co., 1864. Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/item/05009520/.
Document 2:
Miscegnation;” Or Color Blending with the Negro; Anonymous, Attributed to Republicans, 1864.
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50. 1864 - Emancipation and Amalgamation: Lydia Maria Child
Wallace Hettle and Lydia Maria Child
Document citation:
“Emancipation and Amalgamation: A Letter from L. Maria Child” To the Editor of the New York Tribune, Reprinted in The National American Anti-Slavery Standard, September 13, 1862.
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51. 1864 - Letter of George B. McClellan in Acceptance of the Nomination of the Chicago Convention
Wallace Hettle and George B. McClellan
Document citation:
Mcclellan, George Brinton. Printed. Letter of Geo. B. McClellan in acceptance of the nomination Chicago Convention. Orange, New Jersey, September 8, 1864. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/scsm000266/.
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52. 1864 - Elmira Prison Camp (8 Documents)
Wallace Hettle, Benjamin Munger, William Hoffman, Seth Eastman, Eugene F. Sanger, William P. Jordan, B. F. Tracy, and Miles Sherrill
Document Citations
Documents 1-7:
Official Records War of the Rebellion; A Compilation of the Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901, Series II, Volume 7:1, 691-693, 1092-1095, 1133-1135.
Document 8:
Miles Sherrill, A Soldier’s Story: Prison Life and Other Incidents in the War of 1861-1865 (Newton: North Carolina Enterprise: c. 1903-4), 8-12.
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53. 1864 - Female Students at Medical Colleges
Wallace Hettle and New York Times
Document citation:
New York Times, December 6, 1864.