Locating a Union Civil War Soldier (1861-1865)

United States U.S. Military  U.S. Civil War  Locating a Union Soldier

If you have a male ancestor who was born in the 1830s or 1840s, you may use this guide to see if he served in the Civil War. Most who served were in their late teens or early twenties but could have been older or younger. Union military units existed for every state except South Carolina, and these units kept records. To find records, you need to know at least:


 * the name of your ancestor
 * the state where your ancestor lived when the war started in 1861


 * Bell Irvin Wiley. The life of Billy Yank : the common soldier of the Union. Baton Rouge, Louisiana : Louisiana State University Press, 1983, c1980. FHL 973 M2wb
 * James I. Robertson. Soldiers blue and gray. Columbia, South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press, c1988. FHL 973 M2rj

Search service records to find the military unit
Military service records may give the rank, dates of service, place of residence prior to enlistment, age, place of birth, physical description, and date and place of death or discharge. To locate your Civil War soldier or sailor check the:

Military service records may give the rank, dates of service, place of residence prior to enlistment, age, place of birth, physical description, and date and place of death or discharge.

What you will need to get started
Service records are normally arranged by state, then by military unit, and then alphabetically by the serviceman's name. In order to find the service records you will need to determine the state from which he served, his military unit, and the name by which your ancestor was identified during the war.


 * Search the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database on the Internet. This easy-to-use database lists over 6 million Confederate and Union soldiers, and 18,000 African American sailors. The search engine finds names alphabetically.


 * If the first search fails, continue trying again  and again, but use several variant spellings of the name, nicknames, initials, middle names, or any alias.If you find too many matching names, try to narrow the field by using clues from your knowledge of your ancestors, such as his place of residence, or relatives or neighbors that joined up with him. Also, each state's ". . . in the Civil War" page on the Wiki has a link to that state's military units regiment-by-regiment. That regimental list sometimes gives the place where they were first organized or discharged. The majority of regiments were raised mostly in one or two counties..

Sometimes the database shows the same person under more than one spelling of his name.

1. Each entry in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database has the potential to list each serviceman's:


 * regiment or battalion (always listed)
 * if Confederate or Union (always listed)
 * company
 * soldier's rank in
 * soldier's rank out
 * alternate name
 * National Archives source microfilm number (always listed)

2. Check each state for an index to the Compiled Military Service Records. These can be searched by name at fold3. This site is free at the Family History Library. The National Archives microfilm indexes at the Family History Library are available on the 2nd floor. They have also been copied into books located on the 3rd floor:

3. Book. Find FHL Book 973 M29h. The Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861 1865. 33 vols., Janet B. Hewett, ed. Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Pub., 1997–2000.

4. Look for your ancestor’s service record in the Compiled Military Service Records. These records are available online at fold3. This website is free at the Family History Library. To order Civil War Service Records complete the NATF Form 86 National Archives Order for Copies or order the records online. If you order using Form 86 send your request to:


 * Old Military and Civil Records (NWCTB-Military), Textual Archives Services Division, National Archives &amp; Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20408-0001

Search for your ancestor’s pension records
Pension records contain information on a soldier’s military service, wife and children, and place of residence. The Federal Government issued pensions to veterans and their widows who met the eligibility requirements. Not all veterans received a pension. Find the application or pension numbers you need in order to request Union pension records (pension files). The actual files have not been microfilmed, but the indexes are available at the FamilySearch, fold3 and Ancestry.com. Search the index General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934. It is alphabetical by the veteran's name.

If your ancestor was still alive between 1907 and 1933, search this index:


 * Veteran’s Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907–1933. [[Image:Army widows pension cards.jpg|center|500px|Army widows pension cards.jpg]]

Obtain copies of a pension file from the National Archives.

 * Complete the NATF 85 form, which is available online.
 * Send the completed form to the National Archives address listed below

Old Military and Civil Records (NWCTB-Military), Textual Archives Services Division, National Archives &amp; Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20408-0001

Pension records can also be ordered on online through the National Archives website.

Look for additional information about Civil War records in the National Archives on their Web site.

Search other sources.
Look for additional information about Civil War records in the FamilySearch Research Wiki. Search the topic United States Civil War and click on the link to Union records.

These can also be found in the FamilySearch Catalog under the name of the state and the topic Military Records—Civil War 1861 1865.

Search the records of veteran organizations and lineage societies. Read the Family History Library’s U.S. Military Records Research Outline, pages 32–33 for help in finding information on veteran organizations and lineage societies.

If your ancestor survived the war, he may have joined a veteran’s organization like the Grand Army of the Republic.


 * Look in the records of such organizations because they may provide biographical information about their members.
 * Check with the state archives, historical society, or state library for any available records of the state in which your ancestor lived after the war. *See the research outline for the state where your ancestor lived for the addresses.

A descendant of your ancestor may also have joined a lineage society like the Sons of Union Veterans, or Daughters of Union Veterans.


 * Contact their national headquarters for information.
 * Use the Sons of Union Veterans Web site: www.suvcw.org.