Records of the War of the Rebellion include copies of army correspondence (reports, letters, telegrams, and general orders) from both the Union and Confederate Armies discussing their operations. The second series, according to the preface in Series 1, Volume 1 contains "the correspondence, orders, reports, and returns, Union and Confederate, relating to prisoners of war, and (so far as the military authorities were concerned) to State or political prisoners" (p. iii). Index starts on page 1005.

Records of the War of the Rebellion include copies of naval correspondence (reports, letters, telegrams, and general orders) from both the Union and Confederate Navies discussing their operations. According to the introduction in the first volume, the first series "embraces the reports, orders, and correspondence, both Union and Confederate, relating to all naval operations on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and inland waters of the United States during the war of the rebellion, together with the operations of vessels acting singly, either as cruisers or privateers, in different parts of the world. These reports are accompanied by such diagrams and maps as may be necessary" (pp. ix-x). Index starts on page 813.