Tennessee long ago earned the nickname "The Volunteer State." Although Tennessee was divided on issues such as secession and Confederate or Federal sentiment, Tennesseans displayed no hesitancy when it came to defending their cause. With over 186,000 Confederate and approximately 31,000 Federal forces from Tennessee, a wealth of information was captured, recorded, and is available through a variety of documents housed in various collections.

Often, when researchers delve into the Civil War compiled service records, they are disappointed with the lack of detailed information. Occasionally, a descendant can find a description or notation that the soldier died on a particular day. More often than not, however, only brief notations are made as to the date and place of enlistment and when the soldier was present at muster. On a rare occasion, there may be information concerning a promotion, capture, hospitalization or death. It is possible much more can be discovered, allowing for a more vivid illustration of a soldier’s military life. If a researcher is fortunate enough to uncover a record such as a Volunteer Enlistment, not only is there affirmation that the ancestor was, indeed, a Civil War soldier, but even more information can be found. Elie Nelson’s Volunteer Enlistment reveals he was 21 years old at the time he volunteered; was born in Coffee County, Tennessee; was six feet, three inches tall and had blue eyes and "light" hair. He was a tall man, young and fair-haired, brought to life through physical description and thrust into battle upon making his "mark."

Lack of detailed information in compiled service records is not the only stumbling block encountered by researchers. Omission of soldiers’ names from muster rolls was not unheard of during the Civil War. Making research even more difficult, particularly in the case of Confederate units, is the fact that not all personnel records survived the war. Under such circumstances, researchers must turn elsewhere in search of information. One such collection is the William Alonzo Wainwright, United States Assistant Quartermaster Records, which is the second largest collection of Quartermaster’s records in the country. The Wainwright collection is replete with reports offering glimpses at military life through obscure details, and, in some cases, may offer evidence of service when other documentation is not available.

Not only do the records provide information relative to a soldier’s military experience, but they also provide insight into the nature of the sophisticated operation necessary to run the day-to-day activities on both sides of the war. What would normally be considered simple communication and mundane requests, such as clothing and supply orders, evolved into a complex recordkeeping network. For researchers, even a simple receipt for supplies received can reveal a great deal more than the number of trousers required to satisfy the clothing needs of a company. These receipts on occasion included the names of the soldiers. This can sometimes answer unanswered questions if service records and muster rolls were incomplete.

Although the military battle ceased in 1865, reconstruction after the war continued for years. Cleaning up, rebuilding, compensating for properties lost and paying for services rendered are only a few of the matters that endured long after the war. A glimpse at records such as a Soldier’s Application for Arrears of Pay and claims for property taken or destroyed reveals only a minute and tangible portion of the cost of the Civil War. Even more costly were the families torn, lives lost and bitterness endured – costs which were not only more devastating, but impossible to recover.

• Civil War Centennial Commission. Tennesseans in the Civil War. Nashville: Civil War Centennial Commission, 1964.
• Clark, John Elwood. Railroads in the Civil War: The Impact of Management on Victory and Defeat. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2001.
• Goff, Richard D. Confederate Supply. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1969.
• Hoobler, James A. Cities Under the Gun. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1986.
• Nelson, Scott Reynolds and Carol Sheriff. A People at War: Civilians and Soldiers in America’s Civil War, 1854-1877. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
• Risch, Erna. Quartermaster Support of the Army, A History of the Corps, 1775–1939. Washington, D.C.: Quartermaster Historian’s Office, Office of the Quartermaster General, 1962.
• Rusling, Gen. James F. Men and Things I Saw in Civil War Days. New York: The Methodist Book Concern, 1914.
• Taylor, Lenette S. The Supply For Tomorrow Must Not Fail: The Civil War of Captain Simon Perkins, Jr., A Union Quartermaster. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2004.

• Record Group 21, Adjutant General's Office Records, 1796-1900
• Army of Tennessee Records
• Record Group 4, Provisional Army of Tennessee Records, 1861
• William Alonzo Wainwright, United States Assistant Quartermaster Records, 1861-1870
• Buell-Brien Papers, 1805-1943
• Benjamin Franklin Cheatham Papers, 1834-1893
• Wingate T. Robinson Family Papers, 1855-1948
• Civil War Collection
• Tennessee Historical Society Civil War Collection, 1860-1982
• Manuscript Files
• McGavock-Hayes Family Papers, 1784-1888
• Walter King Hoover Collection, 1810-1949
• Morgan Family Papers, 1775-1938
• Lillard Collection, 1806-1913
• Semmes Family Papers, 1861-1937
• Fergusson Family Papers, 1784-1927
• Barnsley Family Papers, 1825-1904
• Claiborne Family Papers, 1846-1938
• Dunlap Papers, 1824-1905
• Joseph Branch O'Bryan Papers, 1836-1884
• Michael Campbell Papers, 1797-1914
• Crockett Family Papers, 1827-1947
• William Wells Berry Papers, 1838-1896
• James Allen Hoobler Photograph and Drawing Collection, 1862-1986
• Library Photograph Collection
• Cabinet Card Photograph Collection
• Robert J. Gasper Collection
• Tennessee Historical Society Map Collection