Kansas in the Civil War

United States U.S. Military  U.S. Civil War, 1861 to 1865  Kansas Military  Kansas in the Civil War



Introduction
From about 1854 and 1858, fighting between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups had caused the state to be known as 'bleeding Kansas'. Finally on January 29, 1861, Kansas was admitted as a free state. 20,097 Kansas men joined the Union forces, more than had been requested.

Kansas Military Units
Most units were numbered, however, some were named. See the table below for lists of the regiments, battalions, batteries, and other units.

The information in the lists of Kansas Military Units comes from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors web site. That web site also can be searched by the name of a soldier.

Kansas Units by Number or by Name Union Units 1st-22nd A to Z Kansas Units by Type of Unit Union Units Infantry Cavalry Artillery Guards Colored Troops Other


 * Kansas Negro Regiment in the Civil War. Cornish, Dudley Taylor: Kansas Historical Quarterly 20, no. 6 (May 1953):417-429. FHL Book 978.1 B2k

Service Records
An index to the Kansas Adjutant General's Report, 1861-1865, is on the Kansas Historical Society website (free search). The index gives name, regiment, company, and place of residence with occasional notes. This index is mostly about volunteer regiments. It does NOT include all Kansans who served in the Civil War; in particular, the index does not include the Kansas State Militia.

The Adjutant General's Report, 1861-1865, lists the names of all troops who served in the Kansas volunteer regiments during the Civil War. It also includes each soldier's rank, the place and date of enlistment, his discharge date, and notes about promotions, prisoner of war status, and other events. If a soldier died on active duty, the place, date, and cause of death are listed.

See Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kansas, Vol. 1. - 1861-1865and Vol. 1 Reprint. A film copy is also available through interlibrary loan from the Kansas Historical Society [microfilm reel LM 977].

The compiled service records of Kansas soldiers have not been microfilmed and are only available from the National Archives. For more information see Union Service Records.

Officers from Kansas
For a list of officers commissioned by the President see here.

For a list of officers from Kansas commissioned in Regiments not belonging to the State see here.

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.