Many of the documents that soldiers wrote during the war, either official documents or private letters, memoirs and diaries, still exist. Many of them are now in collections that are open to the public. These archives are a rich place to learn more about Civil War history by reading the actual words written then, in the context they were written, mis-spellings and all.
| Bentley Historical Library | Located at the University of Michigan, this library has a vast archive of primary source material. | http://bentley.umich.edu/ |
| Detroit Public Library - Burton Historical Collction | Located on Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, this archive is full of Detroit's history - including a lot about the regiments raised here, the Detroit barracks and Fort Wayne | http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/featuredcollection/burton-historical-collection |
| Clarke Historical Library | Located in Mount Pleasant, there is a strong Civil War section in this archive. Several books have been published from its information. | https://www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/Pages/default.aspx |
| Monroe County Library | Housed in the Ellis Reference and Information Center is the Lawrence A. Frost Collection of Custeriana. This is a treasure trove all all things Custer. | http://monroe.lib.mi.us/research/special-collections/george-armstrong-custer-collection |
| Detroit Free Press Archive | Even though you must pay to get access to parts of this site, it is the repository of a newspaper that was published then and still publishes today. | http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/freep/advancedsearch.html |
| Ypsilanti Historical Society | This society's archives includes documents from quite a few Civil War veterans and the family members they wrote back home. | http://www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org/archive.html |
| Benson Ford Reserach Center | Housed next to Henry Ford Museum on the complex of The Henry Ford, this archive has significant Civil War holdings, even if it's primary focus is based in the automotive industry. | http://www.thehenryford.org/research/index.aspx |
| Library of Michigan | If you want to go to the State of Michigan archives, which is an excellent place to find primary inforamtion, this link will give you the details. | http://www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan/0,2351,7-160-50206---,00.html |
| National Archives | Though it's not based or located in Michigan, we'd be remiss to have a page about archives and not provide a link to the National Archives. Amongst other things, you can order soldiers service and pension records here. | http://www.archives.gov/index.html |
| Michigan State University Archive | The oldest of the Land Grant Universities, it's fitting there is a good archive of Civil War items here. | http://civilwar.archives.msu.edu/ |