Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live.
WHAT DO WE OFFER
The Research Arsenal offers access to all of the federal army ordnance returns from the Civil War in an easy-to-use way. You will be able to quickly filter by year, quarter, and regiment. All 8 rolls of M-1281 from the National Archives (NARA) have been uploaded to our unique database in a way that hasn't been available until now.
NO CREDIT CARD NEEDED TO SIGN UP.
WHAT IS THE RESEARCH ARSENAL
The Research Arsenal is quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing Civil War research sites, giving access to hundreds of thousands of primary documents to the hobby historian, genealogist, reenactor and many more.
Not only do our users have access to all of the quarterly ordnance returns, but we also provide the ability to search tens of thousands of letters, photos, field forms, and so much more.
We have digitized Civil War documents from private collections and rural archives that have never been available online.
Stop wasting time and money traveling to archives only to not find what you are looking for! Take your next step in Civil War research and join the Research Arsenal!
ACCESS TO ALL FEDERAL ORDNANCE RETURNS
FILTER ALL REGIMENTS IN SECONDS!
Have you ever wanted access to the detailed reports on the equipment that each regiment carried with them in the field, but never knew someone who had the NARA microfilm?
The Research Arsenal is revolutionizing Civil War research by giving the general public access to resources once only available to professional historians.
The Research Arsenal has digitized the Quarterly Ordnance Returns of every major federal regiment in an easy-to-use filter menu that allows you to search by unit, date, corps, and much more!
Search thousands of returns tagged with each specific federal regiment.
Start your risk free trial now and search for your favorite regiment! We don’t even ask for your credit card until you are ready to unlock access to the full “Arsenal” of primary records available at the Research Arsenal.
ORDNANCE RETURN SEARCH FEATURES
Reveloutionizing Civil War Research
The Research Arsenal makes it easy to filter through the more than 4,000 quarterly ordnance returns by Army, Corps, Regiment, and Company. For unique units given a name instead of a number designation (i.e.- Purnell Legion), simply search the name and find what you are looking for. No other site makes it this easy to search the ordnance returns by simple-to-use filters.
The ability to search records by date is important for Civil War research since the same regiment may have been issued multiple different weapons and uniforms as the Civil War progressed. Our easy-to-use filters allow you to select the specific year, quarter, month, and/or day. This dynamic filtering method makes it easy to compare the differences of a regiment before and after major campaigns.
The quarterly ordnance returns that we have made easily searchable show a wide variety of equipment that each regiment had during the American Civil War. From which type of rifle, to the number of cartridge boxes, to the number of cartridges per company. The detailed breakdown of every piece of equipment given to the soldiers is an amazing discovery each time!
"The Research Arsenal allows me to search by keyword across multiple categories. As a historian, this means that for the first time, I can search on one site for a specific battle and find photographs, private letters, and military documents all at once. It combines ease of use with access to previously unavailable research material."
Johanna Wickman, Author/Historian