A friend told me that many records relating to slavery have been lost because Confederate forces deliberately burned down courthouses in the Civil War. Is this accurate? A quick Google showed up dozens of Southern courthouses being burned, some by one side, some by the other. Was there a deliberate policy on either side to destroy them? Has our understanding of slavery been damaged by the loss? Thank you!
This is an interesting question, and one I don't have any real answer for right now. I'll check my library when home later, but just from the reading I've done on the subject, this practice of targeting courthouses isn't something I've read about. When Confederate forces were in northern territory, if they burned or destroyed anything, it was the supplies that they couldn't raid or carry back. Understand that these would almost always be cavalry raids, and that these Confederate forces wouldn't have had a lot of time before having to move on. When in town, the practice was usually to maximize your time there by taking horses, wagons, and whatever food provisions they could carry (including stock).
As for as northerners, again, this isn't something I've read much about. The Union troops would have had far more time in "occupied" territory, so if anyone did it, I would have to imagine it would be them.
Sorry for the vague answer - I'll try to get to my books later to see if there's anything else that sheds light on this.
[Sources I'm referring to and double-checking later are: Bruce Catton: 'Mr. Lincoln's Army,' 'Glory Road,' 'Grant Takes Command' & 'Grant Moves South'; James McPherson, 'Battle Cry of Freedom'; Jay Winik, 'April, 1865'; Doris Kearns Goodwin, 'Team of Rivals']