OR = "The War of Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official records of the Union and Confederate Armies" or most often just shortened to Official Record.

It was a compilation of orders, correspondence, and reports put together after the war and published by the Federal government in 1880. As such, it does a pretty good job of reporting what occurred but clearly tends to bias towards putting the Union in a better light. ("To the victor goes the spoils.") An independent group of editors have put together a "Supplement to the Official Records" referred to as the "Supplement". The supplement is privately published by Broadfoot but is widely available at libraries. The OR is available on line in several places. My favorite online version is here: http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/ There is an Atlas of Maps that was published by the Army Engineers in 1895 that is a great coffee table book, at least that is where mine is, that is a companion to the OR.

Glad to help, hang around here very long and you will find out that the Civil War in Missouri was anything but "civil" and your 8th grade history class leaves much to be desired as it relates to CW history.

John R.