Oregon in the Civil War

United States   U.S. Civil War    Oregon    Oregon Military    Oregon in the Civil War



Introduction
When the war began, regular Army troops in Oregon were sent East, so volunteer cavalry and infantry were raised in California and went to Oregon to replace them. Oregon later furnished two Union regiments: the 1st Oregon Cavalry (1862 to November 1866) and the 1st Oregon Infantry (1864 to July 1867) as well as Olney's Detachment, Oregon Cavalry (Union). The regiments guarded Indian reservations and migration trails, including wagon trains, and protected settlers from Indian raiders. Several infantry units guarded survey parties and built roads in central and southern Oregon.

The Wikipedia article, Oregon in the American Civil War, has additional information about Oregon and its citizens during the Civil War.

Oregon Military Units

 * 1st Regiment, Oregon Cavalry (Union) Organized at large in Oregon February to April, 1862. Regiment mustered out November 20, 1866.


 * 1st Regiment, Oregon Infantry (Union) Organized at large November 11, 1864, to January 2, 1865. Mustered out July 19, 1867.


 * Olney's Detachment, Oregon Cavalry (Union) "Compendium of the War of the Rebellion" by Frederick H. Dyer contains no history for this unit.

Roster
A published roster that provides each volunteer's name, rank, dates of service, place of enlistment, place of birth, age, occupation, and company is M.A. Pekar and Edna Mingus, comps., Soldiers Who Served in the Oregon Volunteers, Civil War Period, Infantry and Cavalry (Portland, Oregon: Genealogical Forum of Portland Oregon, 1961; Family History Library book also ; film ; fiche ).

Honor Roll
A published list of deaths reported to the Oregon department of the Grand Army of the Republic is Jane Myers, Honor Roll of Oregon Grand Army of the Republic, 1881-1935 (Cottage Grove, Oregon: Cottage Grove Genealogical Society, 1980; Family History Library book No. 53).

Service Records
The Family History Library has an index to service records of Union Army soldiers (Family History Library film ) and a nationwide index to pension records.

Compiled Service Records

The Compiled Service Records ($) (Fold3.com) of volunteer Union soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Oregon are available online. In the future, these records will be made available at no charge through the National Archives web site. The service records are also available at no charge at National Archives research rooms. The compiled service records consist of an envelope containing card abstracts taken from muster rolls, returns, pay vouchers, and other records. Service records may provide rank, unit, date of enlistment, length of service, age, place of birth, and date of death. For more information see Union Service Records.

Pension Records
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.

The actual pension records are currently available only at the National Archives.