You are fighting to keep the United States of America united as one country.

You are fighting for "the North," or the Union. Some people call you a Yank or a Federal. Your uniform is blue.

You are 18 years old.

Civil War Journal of Bingham Findley Junkin, 100th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

Sullivan Ballou 

Civil War Diary of E.B. Root

Letters To & From Civil War Participants

Christmas 1861-1865 (Click on Union links)

The Life of a Soldier (Some links from this page don't work.)

You are fighting for states' rights and especially the right to secede from the Union and start a separate country. You believe that national government should not be more powerful than state governments . 

You are a member of the Confederacy, or the CSA (Confederated States of America) otherwise known as "the South." Some people call you a Reb. Your uniform is gray. 

You are 18 years old.

Confederate Soldier Memoirs

Civil War Memories of Robert C. Carden (Scroll down until his story begins.)

Christmas 1861-1865 (Click on Confederate links)

The Confederate Soldier

The Life of a Soldier (Some links from this page are don't work.)

You are 16 years old.

You were wealthy before the war, but now your slaves have departed, and you are left to run a large farm (plantation) with only the help of your aging mother and father.

There are battles all around your home and you have been asked by Robert E. Lee to be a spy for his army.  

Family Letters During Civil War (Select a letter & click on the brown link "transcription" to read it.)

Alice Williamson Diary

Rose O'Neal Greenhow (A Confederate spy)

A Woman's World 

You are 17 years old.

You live in a small town. 

There is a battle raging near your town and there are many wounded soldiers.  You must decide what you will do to help. 

Memories of Tillie Pierce at Gettysburg

Civil War Nurses 

A Woman's World

Sarah E. Thompson, Spy [Thanks to Duke University Special Collections Library]