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

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.

Other Sources

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


 * Daughters of the American Revolution (Kansas). Genealogical material from Kansas State D.A.R. (source material). (Genealogical material from Kansas State D.A.R. (source material))


 * John Haupt Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Index to the Kansas militia in the Civil War, Topeka, Kansas : Daughters of the American Revolution. John Haupt Chapter, c1979


 * Decker, Eugene Donald. A selected, annotated bibliography of sources in the Kansas State Historical Society pertaining to Kansas in the Civil War Emporia, Kansas :Kansas State Teachers College, 1961. ;

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 433 posts and 17,310 members in the state of Kansas

GAR Posts in the State of Kansas

The FamilySearch Catalog list records of the Kansas Grand Army of the Republic.

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.