Civil War News
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October 2021 instructor, who remains a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. Readers may contact him at
Civil War Digital During the early days of the sesquicentennial, Chet Hearn and Mike Marino started the Civil War Digital website: https:// www.civilwardigital.com/index. html. Since its inception, they have amassed many period documents, digitized them, and offered various collections for purchase online. Please take a look at the many different records they have available! For this review, an exploration of documents available for free – Civil War diaries – will serve as the focus. Begin your search at https://www.civilwardigital. com/html/civil_war_diaries.html. The managers of this collection
provide the following tips on searching through the various diaries. They suggest: “To Keyword search the diaries, do one of the following: – Click on Browse Diaries…and open the file in the web browser. Use the Find function to search. [Or] Right Click on Browse Diaries…and download the file. Open in Acrobat Reader and use the Find function to search.” Each method works equally well; this example describes the web browser method. Upon clicking ‘Browse diaries offline,’ a .PDF file opens within your web browser. See the screenshot below. This writer uses the Safari browser on a Mac, but the various web browsers operate
mkscdr11@gmail.com or request speaking engagements via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow Michael on Facebook www. facebook.com/michael.k.shaffer, and Twitter @michaelkshaffer.
similarly. A keyword search of ‘Petersburg,’ via the browser’s search function, yields 46 results. Please allow the search a little time to complete. When finished, researchers will see a page like the one shown. Selecting the ‘Adam K. Brown’ link displays images of the actual handwritten diary. See screenshot from the diary. Diaries offer modern historians a glimpse into the action of the moment, so spend some time investigating this source and continued good luck in researching the American Civil War! Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, and
Brown diary page.
Civil War Digital homepage.
Browse diaries screenshot.
Petersburg results sample.
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Civil War News
October 2021