The Rosenbach kicks off its commemoration of Civil War 150 with this exhibition focusing on the war’s causes and earliest days, from the pre-war wrangling over abolition and states’ rights, through the election of Lincoln and the secession winter, to the bombing of Fort Sumter and the first pitched battles. Among the items on display are the papers of Elmer Ellsworth, the first officer killed in combat; Robert E. Lee’s letter to Winfield Scott resigning from the U.S. Army, and Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard’s report on the First Battle of Manassas.

Would you like to view more Civil War era documents online? Try Today in the Civil War. This blog celebrates the Civil War 150 by posting Civil War-era documents from the Rosenbach collection 150 years after they were originally created. Each object is be accompanied by a full or partial transcript.