The Civil War:  Looking Back
150 Years

This year as our country looks back 150 years to the beginning of the Civil War, the library will periodically highlight here some Civil War resources, especially those relating to area events on the topic. 

Tommorow night at Lake Forest College, the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society and the college are sponsoring a lecture, Lake County in the Civil War: Front Line to Home Front, by Diana Dretske of the Lake County Discovery Museum.  You can read more about this event at either of these links:  Lake Forest - Lake Bluff Historical Society or Lake Forest College. 

Here are some titles from our collection on our state or region during the Civil War.

Illinois in the Civil War by Victor Hicken (University of Illinois Press, 1966) - It begins with a summary of Illinois and the War in 1861, then follows Illinois' involvement campaign by campaign, and concludes with a chapter on Confederate prisons and the return home.

A History of Lake County Illinois by John J. Halsey (Roy S. Bates, 1912) - Chapter VI, "Through Centennial Year," covers the Civil War period.

Lake Forest Illinois History and Reminiscenses 1861-1961 by Edward Arpee; Supplement by Susan Dart (Lake Forest-Lake Bluff istorical Society, 1991) - Chapter VI of this book covers Lake Forest history during the Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1870.

On to Atlanta: The Civil War Diaries of John Hill Ferguson, Illinois Tenth Regiment of Volunteers by John Hill Ferguson (University of Nebraska Press, 2001) - This selection of Ferguson's diaries covers 1864-65 when his regiment moved through the Carolinas and Georgia under General Sherman.

The Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois (Le Baron & Co., 1877) - This history includes the chapter Lake County War History and Record by Charles A. Partridge.  That chapter includes Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery rosters.

The Prairie State: A Documentary History of Illinois, Vol. 2 Civil War to the Present Robert P. Sutton, editor (Eerdmans Pub., 1976) - The first chapter of this volume has a selection of letters and diaries from Illinois soldiers.

The Story of the Fifty-Fifth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the civil War 1861-1865 by a Committee of the Regiment (W.J. Coulter, 19987) - This history includes an appendix with company rosters and brief company histories.