More than 200,000 men were involved in the Civil War military efforts in the “Trans-Mississippi Theater,” an area that includes all the land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.

Consequently, some of your ancestors may have been involved in some of those battles and skirmishes.

The Springfield-Greene County Library District has embarked on an ambitious project to provide information via the Internet about the impact of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi region.

Although most of the information and photographs are about events, places and people in Missouri, several of the topics also relate to surrounding states, such as Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. The site is found at www.ozarkscivilwar.org.

Among the battles fought in the Trans-Mississippi area were the battles of Wilson’s Creek, Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge, Westport, Big Cabin and Lexington.

The exceptional site is well organized. Visitors can enter a keyword into a search box; browse the collections; or check the information by county, theme or battle.

From Frankie Meyer via Joplin Globe

EVERYTHING in the 1860s was right handed- left handedness was simply not recognized back then. Try and load and fire a musket left handed, or write a letter with a dip pen, pushing instead of dragging. I can't tell whether this writing contest held by The Soldier's Friend magazine was for natural lefties or amputees.

From: Civil War Talk

The histories of Illinois Civil War regiments and units are included in the first eight volumes of the nine volume publication, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois (1900-1902). (The ninth volume lists units of the Black Hawk, Mexican and Spanish-American Wars as well as the War of 1812.) The histories, some written shortly after the war's end, are the work of numerous authors throughout the intervening years. The 1886 version of the Adjutant General's Report included regimental histories compiled by that office which had not previously been published. 

The final 1900-1902 republication of the report incorporated revisions and corrections to the histories. In recognition of the service of Illinois' six regiments during the Mexican War, the assignment of regimental numbers for infantry began with seven.

Regimental Histories from Illinois Civil War Veterans Database