This article has tips for obtaining service and pension records for your Civil War ancestor, beginning with some online indexes. Copies of these records can usually be ordered by mail. Some service records and most Confederate pension files are also available on microfilm.
Civil War Records Indexes on the Internet
Not all Civil War records are indexed online, but there are many helpful starting points.
For online indexes to some Civil War service records, pension records, veterans census schedules, rosters of soldiers, and prisoners of war see: Online Civil War Indexes, Records & Rosters
To find a Civil War service record you will need to know the soldier's name, allegiance (Union or Confederate), and the regiment and state (example: 10th Missouri Infantry). You can usually find this information in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System Online Database.
Civil War Pension Records - Union
Most (but not all) Union soldiers or their widows (or other dependents) applied for and received a pension. Civil War pension records for Union soldiers are held by the National Archives, and can be ordered online or by mail from them for a fee. For information see...
- Online ordering: Order Civil War Records Online - National Archives
- Ordering by mail: Start by ordering this form: "Military Pension/Bounty Land Warrant Applications (NATF 85)" at: National Archives - Order a Form. After you receive the form in the mail, fill it out and mail it back to them. There will be a fee for ordering copies of the records. Ordering the form is free.
Confederate soldiers or their widows usually were only able to apply for a pension if the soldier was disabled or indigent (poverty-stricken). This varied by state. These records are held by a state archives (where the soldier was living at the time he applied for the pension) or similar repository. You can find a list of links to indexes of Confederate pension records for Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia at this website: Civil War Pension Records
For information on pension records for the other Confederate states not listed above see... Confederate Civil War Pension Records
Also, the LDS Family History Library has Civil War pension files on microfilm for all states that offered Confederate pensions except Louisiana.
Civil War Service Records - Union and Confederate
The National Archives has compiled service records for most volunteer Union soldiers and Confederate officers, noncommissioned officers and enlisted men. Some of the records have been microfilmed (these are organized by state). The microfilmed records are available at the National Archives and some of its branches, and at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. For a guide to ordering these records or finding them on microfilm see... Civil War Service Records Research Guide
Confederate Service Records Online at Footnote
Footnote has scanned service records for Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. (Some of these individual state databases are not yet complete.) You can download digitized copies of these records for a fee. See: Footnote - Civil War Service Records
Online Civil War Records at Ancestry
If you have an Ancestry subscription you can search their Civil War Collection
Name: Joseph C Cuthriell
Residence: Southampton County, Virginia
Enlistment Date: 22 April 1861
Distinguished Service: DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
Side Served: Confederacy
State Served: Virginia
Unit Numbers: 799 799
Service Record: Enlisted as a Private on 22 April 1861
Enlisted in Company F, 41st Infantry Regiment Virginia on 22 April 1861.
Furloughed on 28 December 1861 (Home sick)
Returned on 15 January 1862 (Estimated day)
Issued bounty on 15 March 1862
Reenlisted in Company F, 41st Infantry Regiment Virginia on 15 March 1862
Detailed on 15 April 1862 at Richmond, VA (Gunboat work, Office of Special Services)
Hospitalized on 15 December 1864 at Chimborazo Hospl, Richmond, VA (Intermittent fever)
Height: 6'2"
Eye Color: hazel
Hair Color: dark
(full service records will usually contain more detail than this)
Note: these suggestions may not work for everyone who fought in the Civil War for a variety of reasons. And be sure to try alternate spellings when using indexes.
This article was updated on 5 December 2008.
4 comments:
Hi Joe. I'm enjoying your blog. I'm looking for a tricky Civil War soldier--not a relative. He has a service record, but not a pension record. He also has a lot of variation in the spelling of his name. Anyway, if you want to read more about him, I threw together a web page so I could keep track of my research. It's at www.jlcrook.com/Tillotson
Hi Jude,
Thanks for the comment. Your website summarizing the research you've done is very cool. I notice you mention Rifle, Colorado on that webpage. I often drive through Rifle on my way to or from Salt Lake City to do research. It's often a gas stop. Happy searching...
Hey Joe, that's so cute that he was homesick. Did he have children at this time? Thank you. :)Lynne
The above comment is from the great great granddaughter of Joseph Cuthriell, whose Civil War service record summary is in my blog post as an example.
Lynne, I don't think he was homesick, he was "home sick" - he was sick and at home. At first I thought the same thing too :)
Joseph Cuthriell's children were born after the war - he got married about 1870 and his first child was born about 1871.
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