Tulane University's
Louisiana Research Collection

Soldiers’ letters contain unintentional, first-hand accounts of military history, and they have great power and authenticity even when the authors are not in any way famous. They may range in style from the conversational to the formal, and may be clearly handwritten or composed in a nearly illegible, ornate fashion. Here are a few of the archival collections among LaRC’s holdings which contain original letters of the Civil War era. • USA: Alfred A. Parmenter papers, 1861-1862, 1962-1963. Manuscripts Collection 690. This collection consists of the Civil War correspondence of Union soldier, Alfred A. Parmenter. Twentieth-century typed transcriptions accompany most of the letters. Also included are biographical research notes, printed material, and copies of official certificates produced in the 1960s, concerning Parmenter and his regiment. Alfred A. Parmenter (1836-1880) was a musician in the 26th Regiment, Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry. His parents were Horace and Betsey Parmenter o...

In 2009, the Louisiana Research Collection acquired a collection of Civil War period letters and postal covers from donor Al Lippman. The forty postal covers, with one exception , depict Union sentiment and patriotism. Many depict Confederate figures such as Jefferson Davis and General Beauregard. Sometimes these depictions are animal-like caricatures , others tend towards violent depictions, including several showing a hanging Jefferson Davis. Some postal covers portray a disdain of Britain's relationship with the Confederacy, others are steeped in Union patriotism and imagery of Uncle Sam. We have digitized the postal cover collection, and are pleased to announce its debut on the LOUIS Digital Library site. You can access the entire collection here . (Image from the Al Lippman Civil War Collection, Manuscripts Collection 993, Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University Libraries. Image may not be reproduced without permission.) Posted by Eira Tansey.