Individual Narratives & Memoirs

• Lt. F.M. Abbott (manuscript, Harvard University Library)
• Louisa May Alcott 
• Jourdon Anderson
• Sgt. Onley Andrus (from Civil War Letters of Sgt. Onley Andrus. Fred A. Shannon (ed.) University of Illinois Press) 
• Pvt. Thomas B. Barker (from the Collections of the Maine Historical Society) 
• Henry Bibb
• John Wilkes Booth 
• Gen. Frank Blair 
• Sgt. John Brobst (from Well Mary: Civil War Letters of a Wisconsin Volunteer. Margaret B. Roth (ed.) University of Wisconsin Press)
• John C. Brock 
• Noah Brooks 
• William Wells Brown
• Lt. John Burnham 
• Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain 
• Mary B. Clay
• Peter H. Clark 
• Sgt. Samuel Clear (Menge, Bill and Shimrak, Gus (eds.). The Civil War Notebook of Daniel Chisholm. Used by permission of J. August Shimrak and W. Springer Menge) 
• A. Davenport
• Judge David Davis 
• Anna Elizabeth Dickinson 
• Frederick Douglass
• W.J. Ferguson 
• James Ford 
• Cpl. J.G. Fraser (Joshua G. Fraser Papers, Indiana Historical Society)
• A.G. Frick (letter from A.G. Frick to Abraham Lincoln, Feb. 14, 1861, collections of the Chicago Historical Society) 
• Giuseppi Garibaldi 
• Cpl. James H. Gooding
• Gen. Ulysses S. Grant 
• Horace Greeley 
• Gen. Henry Halleck
• Cornelia Hancock 
• Sgt. James H. Harden 
• Eliza Harris
• Pvt. William R. Hartpence 
• Harry Hawk 
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• John M. Hay 
• Sgt. A.F. Hill 
• Gen. Joseph Hooker
• Elizabeth Keckley 
• Laura Keene 
• George Kimball
• William.E. Limbarker (William E. Limbarker diary, Jan. 16, 1862, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan) 
• Abraham Lincoln 
• Pvt. William H. Lloyd (from the Collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society)
• James Russell Lowell 
• Gen. George B. McClellan 
• Alexander K. McClure
• Pvt. G.F. Newhall (used by courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library) 
• John G. Nicolay 
• Pvt. Oliver Wilcox Norton
• Sgt. Eli K. Pickett (from the Eli K. Pickett Correspondence, Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society)
• Marcus M. Pomeroy 
• Gen. John Pope
• Gen. Horace Porter 
• George Haven Putnam 
• A.H. Rice
• William Howard Russell 
• Pvt. Henry J. Savage 
• Gen. Carl Schurz
• Gen. Philip Sheridan 
• Gen. William T. Sherman 
• Edwin M. Stanton
• Rev. A.M. Stewart 
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• George Templeton Strong 
• Sgt. David L. Thompson
• George Ticknor 
• Harriet Tubman 
• Rev. Henry M. Turner
• Pvt. Theodore Upson (from With Sherman to the Sea: The Journal of Theodore F. Upson. Oscar O. Winther (ed.) Louisiana State University Press) 
• Bethany Veney 
• Thurlow Weed
• Gideon Welles 
• Walt Whitman 
• Josephine Wilcox
• Gen. James Harrison Wilson 
• Robert Winthrop 
• Jesse Bowman Young

 

Music

All of the songs in Reunion date from before the end of the Civil War.

• Abraham's Daughter 
  (Words & Music: Septimus Winner)
• All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight 
  (Words: Ethel L. Beers, Music: John Hill Hewitt)
• Battle Cry of Freedom 
  (Words & Music: George F. Root)
• Beautiful Dreamer 
  (Words & Music: Stephen Foster)
• Better Times Are Coming 
  (Words & Music: Stephen Foster)
• Comrades, Fill No Glass for Me 
  (Words & Music: Stephen Foster)
• Darling Nelly Gray 
  (Words & Music: Benjamin R. Hanby)
• Der Deitcher's Dog 
  (Words & Music: Septimus Winner)
• Grafted into the Army 
  (Words & Music: Henry Clay Work)
• Hard Times Come Again No More 
  (Words & Music: Stephen Foster)
• Heav'n Bound Soldier 
  (Words & Music: Traditional)
• Home, Sweet Home  
  (Words & Music: Henry R. Bishop)
• John Brown's Body 
  (Words & Music: Traditional)
• Lincoln and Liberty 
  (Words: Jesse Hutchinson, Music: Traditional)
• Marching Along 
  (Words & Music: William B. Bradbury)
• Marching Through Georgia 
  (Words & Music: Henry Clay Work)
• May God Save the Union
  (Words: Rev. G. Douglass Brewerton, Music: Carl Wolfsohn)
• Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade 
  (Words & Music: Traditional)
• Somebody's Darling 
  (Words: Marie Ravenal de la Coste, Music: John Hill Hewitt)
• Steal Away 
  (Words & Music: Traditional)
• Tenting on the Old Camp Ground
  (Words & Music: Walter F. Kittredge)
• The Liberty Ball 
  (Words & Music: Traditional)
• Wake Nicodemus 
  (Words & Music: Henry Clay Work)
• Wasn't That A Wide River
  (Words & Music: Traditional)
• We Are Coming, Father Abr'am 
  (Words: James Sloan Gibbons, Music: L.O. Emerson)
• Weeping Sad and Lonely 
  (Words: Charles C. Sawyer, Music: Henry Tucker)
• We'll Fight for Uncle Abe 
  (Words: C.E. Pratt, Music: Frederick Buckley)

Historical Works

Popular Reference

• Ward, Geoffrey C., Burns, Ric and Burns, Ken. The Civil War (PBS).
• Catton, Bruce and McPherson, James M. (eds.). The American Heritage New History of the Civil War. 
• Kunhardt, Philip, et al. Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography.
• Davis, William C., Time-Life Editors. Brother Against Brother: Time-Life Books History of the Civil War.

Civil War History

• Catton, Bruce. Mr. Lincoln's Army. Classic narrative about The Army of the Potomac and Lincoln's relationships with its commanders and men.
• Catton, Bruce. The Coming Fury. Rich account of events leading up to Fort Sumter.
• Commager, Henry Steele (ed.). The Blue and the Gray: The Story of the Civil War As Told by Participants. (2 vols.) A vast, wonderfully organized 2-volume collection of original letters, articles, song lyrics, memoirs, etc., from both sides.
• Leech, Margaret. Reveille in Washington. (1941) Pulitzer Prize-winning book overflowing with rich detail about political and social life in the capital during the Civil War. This wonderful book is often not in stock--don't pass it up if you can find it.
• McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Brilliant book, called by many the best one-volume book about the war. Explores military, economic, racial and political causes and effects.
• Sears, Stephen W. Landscape Turned Red. The story of the horrific Battle of Antietam and the events preceding and following, including McClellan's restoration to command and Lincoln's issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
• Wiley, Bell Irvin. The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union. Breakthrough work documenting the lifestyle and attitudes of Union soldiers, backed up with their own words. This book is a follow-up to Wiley's groundbreaking earlier book, The Life of Johnny Reb.

Collections of Letters and Narratives

• Bishop, Jim. The Day Lincoln Was Shot. Sturdy journalistic account of the events surrounding the assassination, based upon first-person sources available at the time of publication.
• Blockson, Charles L. The Underground Railroad: First-Person Narratives of Escapes to Freedom in the North.
• Buel, Clarence C. and Johnson, Robert U. (eds.). Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (4 vols.). (1887) Massive collection of first-person narratives collected by Century magazine 20 years after the war. Includes everything from explanations of battles written by the generals themselves, to personal observations of enlisted men from both sides. Reprints available in several variations:
• Bradford, Ned (ed.). Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Condensed version including material from all of the 4 original volumes.
• Dannett, Sylvia G.L. (ed.). Noble Women of the North. First-person experiences of the women who worked behind the lines.
• Holzer, Harold (ed.). Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President. Rich collection of letters from ordinary citizens, maniacs, foreign dignitaries, political allies and rivals, etc.
• McPherson, James M. For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. Wide-ranging study of why soldiers on both sides fought, based on hundreds of letters, with incisive commentary by the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian. Though this book was published after REUNION was written, it is included here because of its value in understanding the common soldier's point of view.
• McPherson, James M. The Negro's Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union. Indispensable collection and commentary covering every imaginable aspect of black participation and experience in the war.
• Meltzer, Richard. Voices of the Civil War. Miscellaneous collection of first-person writings.
• Osofsky, Gilbert (ed.). Puttin' On Ole Massa. Collection of slave narratives.
• Redkey, Edwin S. (ed.). A Grand Army of Black Men: Letters from African-American Soldiers in the Union Army, 1861-1865. Letters from men who served in the U.S. Colored Troops.
• Sterling, Dorothy (ed.). We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century. Excerpts from letters, journals, newspapers and memoirs.
• Tapert, Annette. The Brothers' War. An excellent chronological arrangement of letters from soldiers of both sides. (Out of print, but available in many public libraries)
• Wheeler, Richard. Lee's Terrible Swift Sword. One of a very good series of “eyewitness”narrative books by the same author. (Out of print, but available in many public libraries)
• Wheeler, Richard. Sword Over Richmond. Eyewitness accounts of McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. (Out of print, but available in many public libraries)
• Wheeler, Richard. Witness to Gettysburg. Eyewitness accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Memoirs & Diaries

• Alcott, Louisa May. Hospital Sketches. (1864) Best-selling account of the author's brief but eventful term as a Union nurse in Washington.
• Chamberlain, Joshua L. The Passing of the Armies. (1915) Moving account of the final phase of the war in the east, written in lavish Victorian style by the hero of Gettysburg.
• Dennett, Tyler (ed.). Lincoln and the Civil War in the Diaries and Letters of John Hay. Unique fly-on-the-wall view of Lincoln and his White House by his assistant secretary.
• Gooding, James H.; Adams, Virginia M. (ed.). On the Altar of Freedom: A Black Soldier's Civil War Letters from the Front. Letters to a newspaper from a member of the 54th Massachusetts, one of the first regiments made up of African-Americans.
• Grant, Ulysses S.; McPherson, James M. (ed.). Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. Generally pointed to as one of the greatest American autobiographies.
• Keckley, Elizabeth. Behind the Scenes, Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. Memoir of the Lincoln White House by freedwoman dressmaker who became Mary Todd Lincoln's closest friend and confidant.
• Menge, Bill and Shimrak, Gus (eds.). The Civil War Notebook of Daniel Chisholm: a chronicle of daily life in the Union Army, 1864-1865. Combined diaries of two soldiers who served in The Army of the Potomac for the final two years of the war.
• Porter, Horace. Campaigning with Grant. Close-up view of Grant's command. (Out of print, but still available in some large bookstores)
• Sears, Stephen W. (ed.). The Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence, 1860-1865. Full of insights into McClellan's thought processes and character, as well as his troubled relationship with Lincoln and the cabinet.
• Whitman, Walt; Lowenfels, Walter (ed.). Walt Whitman's Civil War. Collection of his letters, poems and speeches revolving around his experiences as a nurse in Washington, his search for his wounded brother, and the death of Lincoln.
• Brooks, Noah. Washington in Lincoln's Time (1896). Journalistic memoir written by Lincoln's last personal secretary, a reporter.
• Brown, William Wells. The Negro in the American Rebellion. (1867) Written by major black figure in the fight for abolition.
• Douglass, Frederick. Douglass' Monthly (newspapers). Original material relating to political conflicts over abolition and slavery.
• Ferguson, W.J. I Saw Booth Shoot Lincoln. Account of the events at Ford's Theatre told by the call-boy who stood in the wings.
• Hill, A.F. Our Boys: The Personal Experiences of a Soldier in the Army of the Potomac. (1890) Memoir of a Union sergeant who loses a leg to the war.
• McClellan, George B. McClellan's Own Story. (1887) Controversial, self-justifying memoir and excerpts from personal letters and dispatches, published just after his death.
• Russell, William Howard. My Diary North and South. (1863) British newspaperman's South-slanted view of the war.
• Thayer, William Roscoe. The Life and Letters of John Hay. (1915) A more complete collection of the writings of Lincoln's young assistant secretary.
• Welles, Gideon. Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson. Insider's view of Lincoln and the cabinet.
• Whitman, Walt. Specimen Days. (1882)

Biographies

• Donald, David H. Lincoln. Rich, unique, best-selling biography that attempts to explore Lincoln's decisions from his perspective, concentrating only on the facts he had before him. 
• Sears, Stephen W. George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. Exceptional, detailed and objective life of the frustrating Union commander.
• Bentley, Judith. Harriet Tubman. Modern biography of the famous one-time slave. 
• Bradford, Sarah H. Harriet Tubman, The Moses of Her People. (1886)
• Brooks, Noah. Abraham Lincoln (1888) Written by his last personal secretary.
• Creahan, John. The Life of Laura Keene. (1896) The life of the star of Our American Cousin, including background on how a touring company operated and accounts of the assassination.
• Helm, Katherine. The True Story of Mary, Wife of Lincoln. Sympathetic biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, written by a descendant. 
• Laughlin, Clara E. The Death of Lincoln. (1909) Collection of source material compiled almost 50 years after the assassination.
• Nicolay, John G. and Hay, John M. Abraham Lincoln: A History. (1888) Massive "approved" biography by the two men who served as Lincoln's secretaries through most of the war.
• Ruggles, Eleanor. Prince of Players. Important biography of Edwin Booth, with a lot of space devoted to John Wilkes Booth.
• Tanner, James. While Lincoln Lay Dying. Original testimony dictated by eyewitnesses to the assassination, recorded by the Union army stenographer who happened to be rooming across the street from Ford's Theatre.

Background Reference

• Botkin, Benjamin A. A Civil War Treasury of Tales, Legends and Folklore. Entertaining collection of miscellaneous items relating to both sides
• Dickens, Charles. American Notes and Pictures from Italy. Outsider's view of many aspects of life in 1842 America, north and south, with especially strong views on slavery.
• Gragg, Rod. The Civil War Fact & Quiz Book.
• Kimmel, Stanley Preston. Mr. Lincoln's Washington. Wealth of original newspaper accounts and local color about life in the capital during the war years.
• Shaw, Dale. Titans of the American Stage. Concise biographies of several early American stage stars, including Edwin Booth.
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Irreplaceable as a document recording the passions of the antislavery movement in the years just before the war.
• War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Available in many public and university libraries.
• George B. McClellan Papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.

Music Reference

• Botsford, Florence. The Botsford Collection of Folk Music.
• Crawford, Richard (ed.). The Civil War Songbook: Complete Original Sheet Music for Thirty-Seven Songs. 
• Glass, Paul. Singing Soldiers: The Spirit of the Sixties.
• Johnson, James Weldon and Johnson, J. Rosamond. The Books of Negro Spirituals (2 vols.).
• Lovell, John, Jr. Black Song: The Forge and the Flame.
• Siegmeister, Elie and Downes, Olin. A Treasury of American Song.
• Silber, Irwin (ed.). Songs of the Civil War.
• Silber, Irwin (ed.). Songs American Voted By.