mihalik wrote:
Hi, Brett,
Those look like a very valuable sources of information. Do they have anything like it for other periods of the war? Can't afford it just yet, but my SSN will begin later this year.
mihalik,
Absolutely. Go to this site to sign up and see what's available:
https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/start.swe?SWECmd=Start&SWEHo=eservices.archives.govOnce there, you can search the microfilm by number. Two that I can give you which everyone here might be interested in are:
1. M1281, which is the Union Ordnance returns for the entire war. There are 8 rolls ($125 each), one covering artillery for the entire war, two covering cavalry, and the other 5 infantry, including some postwar stuff.
2. M935, which is the Confederate Inspection Reports, only first started in 1864 and continued to near the end of the war. There are I think something like 20 rolls. The ANV is fully covered in rolls 10-15. Each roll is again $125.
Make sure you choose the CD/DVD option, which just takes each slide and makes it an image on the CD. WAY easier to deal with. You can go through the National Archives catalog to find other microfilm series (they usually start with an M like above or a T). All of these are available for purchase at $125 per microfilm roll or CD/DVD.
There are amazing numbers of interesting Civil War items buried in the archives for wargamers, and unless someone buys them and transcribes them, I don't know if they will ever see the light of day.