1 July 2014
Among the particularly valuable resources published by the National Archives is the preliminary inventory to Record Group 109, the so-called "Captured Confederate Records."1 On occasion, in one teaching venue or another, EE's chief guru has invoked this guide. On occasion, then, a student has expressed dismay over a perceived "uselessness" of the inventory to those whose research interests lie in Northern units.
Ah, how easy it is to miss valuable records when we erect arbitrary walls around our research! Within this classic guide, we learn about reams of official correspondence relating to the 12,912 Union soldiers held at Anderson Prison. And military prison hospitals such as Salisbury. And records for legions of other wounded Union soldiers treated at any of the other Confederate hospitals and camps. And . . . and . . . and . . .
When your research involves issues that carry strong emotional or ideological ties, are you able to shuck those blinders called Preconceived Notions?
IMAGE: Adapted from CanStockPhotos.com, image 6299733; used with license.
1. Elizabeth Bethel, Preliminary Inventory of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records, PI 101 (Washington: National Archives and Records Service [NARS], 1957; for a reprint edition with enhancements, see Bethel and Craig Roberts Scott, Preliminary Inventory of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records, PI 101 (Athens, Ga.: Iberian Pub. Co., 1994).