This data set is the product from a grant project funded by the Tennessee Wars Commission – “We Regret to Inform You: Civil War Deaths in Nashville’s Union Army Hospitals,” designed to support ongoing efforts to understand the impact of the Union Army occupation of Nashville, from 1862 to 1865.

During the Civil War at least 18 different newspapers were published in Nashville, starting and stopping at various dates. The surviving copies of these papers are all on microfilm at the Library & Archives. In some of these papers, lists of the dead provided by military hospitals were published. While the majority of those who died were Union soldiers, in other cases the deceased is identified as a contraband, a Confederate soldier or a civilian. This information, particularly about the African Americans who were called “contraband” by the authorities, often appears nowhere else. Locating these lists and harvesting the information about individuals named will provide a better understanding of the massive effort expended to care for the sick and wounded in Nashville, as well as helpful information for descendants who need to know what became of their ancestor.