Nevada, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Nevada

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of Union service records of soldiers who served in the First Battalion Nevada Cavalry and the First Battalion Nevada Infantry from the Territory and State of Nevada, for the years 1861 to 1865. The records include abstracts of entries relating to the soldier as found in the following original records:


 * Muster rolls
 * Returns
 * Rosters
 * Payrolls
 * Appointment books
 * Hospital registers
 * Union prison registers and rolls
 * Parole rolls
 * Inspection reports

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 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s - 1917, and is National Archive Microfilm Publication M1789. Index courtesy of www.fold3.com (previously Footnote.com).

Service records were kept for each 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.

This index was created to provide quick access to compiled service records. The records are in individual files which usually include the following:


 * A jacket-envelope for each soldier, labeled with his name, rank, and the unit in which he served
 * A card (or cards) with abstracts of entries from original muster rolls, returns, rosters, payrolls, appointment books, hospital registers, parole rolls, and inspection reports
 * The originals of any papers relating only to the particular soldier

What Can these Records Tell Me?
The index to these records contains the following:


 * Jacket name
 * Soldier’s full name and rank
 * Company and battalion in which served
 * Date and place of enlistment
 * Date when mustered-in
 * Year(s) of service
 * Birthplace and age
 * Occupation
 * Physical description
 * Date of discharge
 * Type of records in file
 * NARA publication number, title, and roll number

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The unit in which the soldier served.
 * The place where the soldier resided.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

Use the information found in the index (such as roll number and the unit served in) to locate your ancestors in the service records.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Nevada, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Nevada Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually. Collection Citation

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):