Connecticut and the Civil War

Connecticut and the Civil War 

Even though none of its battles were fought in Connecticut, the Civil War touched every corner of the state. Men and boys from every town marched off to fight, many of them never to return. Connecticut manufacturers supplied Union forces with armaments and ammunition, ships, and even cloth and buttons for uniforms. Connecticut men were found at every level of military and civilian leadership, while Connecticut women managed farms and businesses, kept families together, and provided much-needed morale by writing letters and sending care packages to soldiers in the field.

In the realm of ideas, Connecticut also participated actively in the debates over slavery and states’ rights that preceded the war. Once fighting began, the state, like many others, experienced division over the prosecution of the war and even whether it should be fought at all. After Appomattox, Connecticut citizens struggled to reunify the nation, to heal soldiers’ physical and mental wounds, and to complete the process of ending slavery and bringing black Americans into full citizenship, a process that many undertook only with ambivalence.

As we observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Connecticut’s landscape is full of reminders of the struggle that threatened to tear the nation apart. The monuments that dot the state’s main streets and town greens are only the most obvious reminders. Homes of prominent people, sites of military camps and hospitals, and the factories that supplied the goods needed to carry out the fighting all survive as well. You can read about some of them here. We encourage you to seek them out, and to search for others as well, in the hope that these places can help us continue to think about what the Civil War meant, and what it means.    

This article originally appeared in the November/December, 2011, issue of Connecticut Preservation News.