About Civil War Richmond

This website was launched in the Summer of 1997, designed to be an ongoing research project into the City of Richmond during the Civil War. The purpose of the site is to collect primary sources (documents, photographs, maps, etc.) together in a logical manner, fully cross-referenced and accessible.

The overall thrust of Civil War Richmond has been focused on the documentation of the sites associated with the city - that is to say, this is NOT a genealogical site, though much of the information here will be useful to genealogists. To break down the overwhelming volume of material at issue, it was decided to focus on sites and events rather than concepts and lists. Many of the documents can be used to document concepts (Richmonders' attitudes towards slavery, for instance), but since defining which ones those might be is a subjective process, it was decided to let the individual user make those decisions, rather than the webmaster.

On a more philosophical note, the other purpose was to present these documents without commentary, trusting the individual to make whatever use of them was appropriate. The site cannot, out of necessity, ever be FINISHED - it is a constant work in progress. The documents speak for themselves. The documents related to Richmond are exposed here, warts and all.

Civil War Richmond is, and always has been, a one-man effort. Michael D. Gorman of Richmond, VA is responsible for the design of the site, transcription and collection of the information, and publication to the internet. Though not affiliated with any university or institution, the highest standards of historical methodology are applied to the creation of the site.

Mike Gorman
mike@mdgorman.com
Richmond, Virginia

Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Class of 1998
Virginia Commonwealth University, 2003
National Park Service, 1999-present