Burial of Unoin soldiers, Fredericksburg, VA, 1864

Burial of Unoin soldiers, Fredericksburg, VA, 1864 – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Civil War and Reconstruction (1850–1877)

The mid-nineteenth century was a period of massive upheaval in America. The country’s battles over race, slavery, and state’s rights ultimately degenerated into Civil War. Among those making significant contributions to the Union victory in the war were General (and 42nd governor of Connecticut) Joseph Hawley, General J. K. F. Mansfield of Middletown, and Connecticut’s 29th (Colored) Volunteer Infantry (CVI). The years that followed witnessed the rapid expansion of railroads and other means of transportation in Connecticut, helping foster in a period of mass industrialization that drew residents off of their farms and into the cities, while also attracting diverse foreign populations to Connecticut in record numbers.

More on Civil War and Reconstruction 1850-1877 from the CT Digital Archive

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General Mansfield's uniform epaulets

One of the Honored Dead: General J. K. F. Mansfield

A resident of New Haven and Middletown, Joseph Mansfield rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Union army before losing his life at the Battle of Antietam. …[more]

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Websites

National Park Service - Richmond National Battlefield Park. “29th Regiment Connecticut Infantry (Colored),” 2017. Link.
Connecticut. “Connecticut Men in the Civil War.” Connecticut Military Department, 2017. Link.
New Britain Industrial Museum. “The Stanley Works,” 2017. Link.

Places

Connecticut Freedom Trail. “29th Colored Regiment Monument,” 2017. Link.
Connecticut Freedom Trail. “Charles Ethan Porter House,” 2017. Link.
“Connecticut Museum of Culture and History,” 2017. Link.
“Middlesex County Historical Society,” 2017. Link.
“New Britain Industrial Museum,” 2017. Link.
Connecticut State Library. “The Museum of Connecticut History,” 2017. Link.
“Waterbury Button Museum.” Mattatuck Museum, 2017. Link.

Documents

“Broadside: Company A 1st Regiment, Conn. Vol. Artillery: Soldiers’ Memorial,” 1863. Connecticut Historical Society. Link.
“Connecticut African American Soldiers in the Civil War, 1861-1865.” State of Connecticut - Historical Commission, 2000. Link.
Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Digitized Historic Newspapers - Connecticut Newspapers During the Civil War and Reconstruction (1850–1877),” 2017. Link.
“Emancipation Proclamation,” 1863. National Archives - Our Documents. Link.
Connecticut Historical Society. “Kellogg Brothers Lithographs - Digital Collections,” 2017. Link.
Warner, Ezra J. Patent Number 19,063 - Can Opener. 19,063. Waterbury, CT, issued January 5, 1858. Link.
Lallement, Pierre. Patent Number 59,915 - Improvement in Velocipedes. US59915 A. New Haven, CT, issued November 20, 1866. Link.
Connecticut State Library. “Research Guide to Civil War Materials,” 2017. Link.

Books

Spencer, J. Ronald, ed. A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln’s Cabinet: Navy Secretary Gideon Welles Chronicles the Civil War. Hartford, CT: The Acorn Club, 2014.
Hill, Isaac. A Sketch of the 29th Regiment of Connecticut Colored Troops Giving a Full Account of Its Formation, of All the Battles Through Which It Passed, and Its Final Disbandment. New York, NY: Baker & Godwin  Printers, 1881. Link.
Smith, Julia Evelina. Abby Smith and Her Cows: With a Report of the Law Case Decided Contrary to Law. Hartford, CT, 1877. Link.
Niven, John. Connecticut for the Union the Role of the State in the Civil War. New Haven,  CT: Yale University Press, 1965.
Warshauer, Matthew. Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice, and Survival. Middletown,  CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2011.
Mycek, Mary J., Marian K. O’Keefe, and Carolyn B. Ivanoff. Ebenezer D. Bassett (1833-1908). Derby, CT: Valley Historical Research Committee, 2008.
History of Battle-Flag Day, September 17, 1879. Hartford, CT: Lockwood & Merritt, 1880. Link.
Warshauer, Matthew. Inside Connecticut and the Civil War: Essays on One State’s Struggles. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2014.
Grant, Ellsworth S. “Joseph Hawley.” In The Miracle of Connecticut, edited by Oliver Ormerod Jensen. Hartford, CT: Connecticut Historical Society and Fenwick Productions, 1995.
Fiske, Samuel. Mr. Dunn Browne’s Experiences in the Army. Boston; New York: Nichols and Noyes, 1866. Link.
Newton, A. H. Out of the Briars: An Autobiography and Sketch of the Twenty-Ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers. Philadelphia, PA: A.M.E. Book Concern, 1910. Link.
Connecticut. Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion. Hartford,  CT: Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1889.
Soldiers’ Hospital. Rules and Regulations of the Soldiers’ Hospital at Fitch’s Soldiers’ Home, Noroton Heights, Connecticut. Hartford,  CT: Case,  Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1890.
Grant, Ellsworth S. The Colt Legacy: The Colt Armory in Hartford, 1855-1980. Providence, RI: Mowbray Company, 1982.
Eaton, William W., and Connecticut Democratic Party . State Central Committee. The Union, Past, Present, and Future a Speech Delivered at City Hall, Hartford, on Saturday Evening, March 3d, 1860. Hartford, CT: Connecticut Democratic Party, 1860. Link.

Articles

Hartford Courant. “Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 Visit To Hartford.” January 24, 2014, sec. Hartford Courant 250th Anniversary. Link.