We have a set of the books The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies as well as a set of the covering the Union and Confederate Navy. And I did use them recently to find correspondence between General DH Hill and one of his subordinates about the construction of a Confederate fort on Contentnea Creek in Wilson County. But it can be a daunting task to find what you are looking for in the 159 volumes. Cornell University has now made it a whole lot more accessible. They have digitized the monographs for their Making of America digital collection. So now you can effortlessly comb through the weighty tomes from the comfort of your home or trailer for any date, officer’s name or unit, institution or location. I searched for my great great grandfather, 1st Lieutenant Christopher Columbus Welsh and ….I didn’t find him. But I found many entries referring to Kershaw’s brigade , SC 12th infantry and entries for Captain TF Clyburn the commander of Company E which were all associated with Lieutenant Welsh.
There is an article on this site in the new edition of NGS Magazine
Wilson County Public Library Local History and Genealogy Blog 