City of Manchester ((Manchester City Archives)

Manchester, New Hampshire’s City Archives will restore three volumes of financial records related to the payment and support of local Civil War soldiers. These volumes illustrate the financial hardship and personal distress felt by families and individual soldiers as they served in the Union Army. They also indicate a commitment by the Manchester City government to support its citizens during a time of war. These important homefront records represent a relatively undocumented aspect of Civil War history by illustrating some experiences of families trying to cope with the head of household being away from home for months and sometimes years.