South Carolina Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection consists of Confederate service records of soldiers who served in organizations from South Carolina for the years 1861 to 1865. The records include abstracts of entries relating to the soldier as found in the following original records:


 * Name and age of soldier
 * Year(s) of service
 * Rank and military unit in which served
 * Physical description
 * Occupation
 * Town, county and state of residence
 * Prison registers
 * Parole rolls

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Service
 * Name of soldier
 * Soldier's rank, company and regiment in which served
 * Date and place of enlistment
 * Time period of enlistment
 * Reason for detachment
 * NARA publication number, title, and roll number
 * Sometimes, an estimated year of birth

Collection Content
For each military unit the service records are arranged alphabetically by the soldier's surname. The Military Unit field may also display the surname range (A-G) as found on the microfilm. This collection is a part of RG 109, War Department Collection of Confederate Records and is National Archive Microfilm Publication M267. Index courtesy of Fold3 (previously Footnote.com).

Service records were kept for each Confederate soldier. Those records, or their abstracts, were compiled into individual files. Each envelope/jacket contains information and cross references to original records relating to the soldier.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The approximate age or birth date of the soldier
 * The place where the soldier enlisted
 * The years the soldier served

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the estimated age to calculate a birth date
 * Use the age and location of the military unit to find the soldier’s family in census, church and land records
 * Continue to search the index and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have served in the same unit or a nearby unit
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name
 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Search the records of nearby military units
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of South Carolina.
 * US Military Basic Search Strategies
 * Beginning United States Civil War Research
 * Locating a Confederate Civil War Soldier (1861–1865)
 * South Carolina Guided Research
 * South Carolina Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * J. H. Segars, In search of Confederate ancestors : the guide Madison, Georgia : Southern Lion Books, c2005 FS Library 973 D27seg 2005
 * James C. Neagles, Confederate research sources : a guide to archive collections 2nd ed. Ancestry Publishing, c1997 FS Library 973 A3ne 1997
 * Patrick McCawley, Guide to Civil War records : a guide to the records in the South Carolina Department of Archives and History Columbia, South Carolina : South Carolina Department of Archives and History, c1994 FS Library 975.771/C1 J5m
 * Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of South Carolina
 * Artificial limb vouchers for Confederate service (South Carolina), 1867-1869, 1880-1887
 * William J. Rivers; editor and designer, Judith M. Andrews. Roll of the Dead, South Carolina troops, Confederate States service. Columbia, South Carolina: Public Programs Division, S.C. Dept. of Archives and History, c1995. FS Library 975.7 M2rd
 * Randolph W. Kirkland, Jr., Broken fortunes : South Carolina soldiers, sailors and citizens who died in the service of their country and state in the War for Southern Independence, 1861-1865Charleston, South Carolina : South Carolina Historical Society, c1995 FS Library 975.7 M2k

Local Publications
 * Papers of the Soldiers' Board of Relief, Darlington District, 1863-1864
 * Edgefield County, Returns, 1862-1863
 * York County, Board of Soldiers' Relief, Petitions, 1861-1865
 * York County, Soldiers' Board of Relief, Papers, 1862-1863

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * compiled by A.S. Salley. South Carolina troops in Confederate service. 3 vols. Columbia, South Carolina : R.L. Bryan, 1913-1930.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.