Maine archive puts Civil War-era letters online

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine State Archive has launched a website that includes glimpses of how the Civil War affected the lives of Maine people from that era.

The website, which became available this month, shows images of original letters, transcriptions to help readers understand the script, graphics, and narratives to give the letters context.

Through the site, the state is showcasing part of Maine's extensive collection of Civil War material, which includes 180,000 letters from the Civil War period, and more than 14,500 pages of muster rolls and over 2,000 pictures of Maine soldiers.

The letters are written not just by politicians and military officers, but by soldiers, their wives and widows, and volunteers who made supplies such as shirts, socks and mittens for the soldiers.

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Maine archive Civil War stories: http://tinyurl.com/2vt6f7j