Nebraska in the Civil War

Introduction
The Nebraska Territory was strongly against secession. When the regular army left Nebraska to fight further East, concerns about Indian hostilities increased. Eventually 3,157 men from Nebraska fought in the Union army. No Civil War battles were fought in Nebraska.

For additional information about Nebraska in this war, see the Wikipedia article, Nebraska in the American Civil War.

For statistics about Nebraska in the Civil War, see The American Civil War web site (accessed 18 March 2011).

Military Units
The following information about the military units is from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, except as noted.


 * 1st Regiment, Nebraska Infantry Organized at Omaha June 11 to July 21, 1861. Regiment ordered mounted October 11, 1863, and designation changed to 1st Regiment, Nebraska Cavalry November 6, 1863.


 * 1st Regiment, Nebraska Cavalry Organized from 1st Regiment, Nebraska Infantry October 11, 1863. Mustered out July 1, 1866 at Omaha, Nebraska.


 * 1st Regiment, Nebraska Veteran Volunteers, see 1st Regiment, Nebraska Cavalry. Consolidated with other organizations December 20, 1861 and known as 5th Iowa Cavalry by order dated June 25, 1862.


 * 1st Battalion, Nebraska Cavalry  Organized at Omaha January to August, 1864 Fort Laramie until July 1865. Consolidated with 1st Regiment, Nebraska Cavalry July 10, 1865.


 * 2nd Regiment, Nebraska Cavalry Organized at Omaha October 23, 1862. Mustered out December 23, 1863.


 * Curtis' Horse, Nebraska Volunteers, see 5th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Companies A, B, C, and D.


 * Omaha Scouts, Nebraska Cavalry Organized at Omaha May 3, 1865. Mustered out July 16, 1866


 * Pawnee Scouts, Nebraska Cavalry Organized at Columbus, Nebraska., January 13, 1865. Mustered out April 1, 1866.

Records and Resources
Indexes to service and pension records for about 3,000 soldiers are at the Family History Library.

Published rosters usually give the soldier's name, rank, regiment, age, and residence. These include:

Service Records

 * The Compiled Service Records ($) (Fold3.com) of volunteer Union soldiers who served in organizations from the Territory of Nebraska are available online. In the future, these records will be made available at no charge through the National Archives web site. The service records are also available at no charge at National Archives research rooms. The compiled service records consist of an envelope containing card abstracts taken from muster rolls, returns, pay vouchers, and other records. Service records may provide rank, unit, date of enlistment, length of service, age, place of birth, and date of death. For more information see Union Service Records.


 * Nebraska, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers - FamilySearch Historical Records describes the collection with a link to the database.


 * Nebraska. Secretary of State. Roster of Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the War of the Rebellion Residing in Nebraska, June 1st, 1891. Lincoln, Nebraska: State Journal Company, 1892. (Family History Library ) (Ancestry) ($)


 * Nebraska. Secretary of State. Roster of Veterans of the Mexican, Civil, and Spanish-American Wars Residing in Nebraska, 1915. Lincoln, Nebraska: Secretary of State, [1915]. (Not at Family History Library)


 * Nebraska. Secretary of State. Roster of Soldiers-Sailors and Marines Who Served in the War of the Rebellion, Spanish-American War and World War: Waters-Barnhart Printing Company, 1925. (Family History Library .)

Pension Indexes

 * Civil War Pension Index Cards - An of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. The majority of the records are of Civil War veterans, but the collection also includes records for veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Indian Wars, and World War I. For more information see Union Pension Records.

The actual pension records have not been filmed and are only at the National Archives.

1890 Census Veterans Schedules
1890 Census Veterans Schedules - The "Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War" (NARA M123) are available online for the state of Nebraska. The schedules list Union veterans and their widows living in Nebraska in 1890. For more information on the 1890 Veterans Schedules see Union Census Records.

General Databases

 * The Nebraska State Historical Society maintains an online database of Nebraska Civil War Veterans compiled to help researchers locate individuals referenced in the Civil War Veterans Indexes. It is not a complete index.


 * NEGenWeb, Nebraska Civil War Veterans, (accessed 18 March 2011), has a master list of both Union and Confederate veterans, as well as links to several other Internet sites with information about Nebraska veterans.

Burial Records

 * Burial records of Civil War veterans of the Department of Nebraska, Grand Army of the Republic, are also available in alphabetical order . The records provide the veteran's military unit, date and place of death, cemetery, and sometimes date and place of birth.

Rosters

 * Nebraska. Adjutant General.Roster of Nebraska Volunteers from 1861 to 1869. (Hastings, Nebraska: Wigton and Evans, State Printers, 1888). Internet Archive.


 * Dudley, Edgar S. Roster of Nebraska Volunteers from 1861 to 1869. (Hasting, Nebraska: Wigton and Evans, 1888)..


 * Roster of Nebraska Soldiers, (Omaha, Nebraska: Klopp, Bartlett and Company, 1888).


 * Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska has rosters for companies.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)
Grand Army of the Republic founded in 1866 - 1956, was the largest veteran’s organization in the country after the Civil War. It was a fraternal organization members were veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, Marines and Revenue Cutler Service who served in the American Civil War. The group supported voting rights for black veterans, and lobbied the U.S. Congress to establish veterans' pensions. In 1890 the membership was 490,000.

In 1888 there were 188 posts and 5,690 members in the state of Nebraska

GAR Posts in the State of Nebraska

[https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2721451 Nebraska, Grand Army of the Republic Burial Records. Indexed on FamilySearch]

Sherard, Gerald E. has compiled list of Civil War Veterans, for most of the counties of Nebraska, copies available at the Family History Library.

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
With the death of the last member of the Grand Army of the Republic the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was formed.

Other Sources

 * Sherard, Gerald E. (Gerald Emerson). Civil War veterans, Holt County, Nebraska. (Lakewood, Colorado : G.E. Sherard, [1990?]), and Civil War veterans, Garfield & Wheeler counties, Nebraska.  and Civil war veterans, Greeley County, Nebraska..