Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Civil War Records - Here's One Book "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore After the War Between the States there were literally buildings full of records in Washington pertaining to the War & even though these records were recognized as primary source material for historians it was not until 1880 that editing & publications was begun. During the next twenty-one years twenty-three editors were employed & three million dollars were spent on publications by the U.S. government. When the project was completed there were seventy volumes arranged in one hundred & twenty-eight books, the last volume was a general index. There were 11,000 sets originally published & 2,000 of this number were reserved for government departments. There were also two volumes of war maps published. These books are considered by historians, Confederate buffs & research persons as a most notable publication. It is without a doubt the most valuable & sought after source for the history of the War Between the States, 1861-1865. The books were printed on cheap paper & the bindings were flimsey. As a result many of the sets disintegrated or are in poor condition. The State Library in Raleigh, the Department of Archives & History in Raleigh & Mount Olive College (not complete) Library have sets. In 1973 the National Historical Society reprinted 600 sets of the official records but they were spoken for in advance of publication. These books do not carry a roster of either the Confederate or Union troops. Individual states have prepared rosters of troops. In the 1890s John W. Moore prepared & published the roster of N.C. troops, but even at that time it was realized that this work was not entirely complete since he did not have all the regimental records at hand. A new roster is being done by the Department of Archives & History & several volumes have already been published. Most county libraries carry these volumes. It will be of interest to students of North Carolina history to know that Vol. XLVII (Series 1) of the Official Records carries the official correspondence, orders & returns relating to operations in North Carolina, South Carolina & Georgia from January 1 to June 30, 1865. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Guy Potts ==============================================================