Manuscripts

Manuscripts include unpublished letters, diaries, and personal reminiscences. Official U.S. Army and War Department records published on microfilm by the National Archives are cataloged with the manuscripts. A listing of some of the Society's collections pertaining to the Civil War can be found in the manuscripts section of About the Collections.

The manuscripts deal primarily with Minnesotans and Minnesota organizations. Some of the materials were donated by veterans who served in regiments from other states and later moved to Minnesota. Though you can access many of these collections through the library catalog, a number of older and smaller manuscript collections have not been recataloged, so we recommend that you examine the Manuscripts card catalog as well. You can search both catalogs by:

• Collection name (Walter Ransom diary, for example)
• Unit name (10th or Tenth Minnesota Infantry, for example)
• Broader topics ("New York Infantry," for example)
• Browse manuscript collections in the library catalog

Most of these collections are cross-referenced by campaign.

You can also browse the Civil War-related Finding Aids. A finding aid is an inventory that lists the contents of an archival collection.

Another helpful source is the Lemons Collection, a small but detailed card file created in 1961 by a volunteer researcher who cross-referenced our Civil War manuscripts collections by subject, battle, and campaign. Since then, some of the collections have been recataloged, and many papers have been added.

See More

• First Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• First Battalion Minnesota Infantry
• Second Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Third Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Fourth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Fifth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Sixth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Seventh Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Eighth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Ninth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Tenth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Eleventh Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• Minnesota Sharpshooters
• Minnesota Artillery
• Minnesota Cavalry
• Prominent Minnesotans
• National Archives materials at the Minnesota Historical Society