Arizona Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
The records in this collection are for the years 1861 to 1863.

Record Description
This is an index to compiled service records for Confederate soldiers from Arizona. The records indexed are from the National Archives and Records Administration publication M318.

Record Content
The records are in individual files which usually include the following:


 * A jacket-envelope for each soldier, labeled with his name, his 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, Union prison registers and rolls, parole rolls, inspection reports.
 * The originals of any papers relating only to the particular soldier.
 * The index to these records contains the following:
 * Jacket name
 * Soldier’s full name
 * Year
 * Age (often estimated)
 * Military unit served in
 * Type of records in file
 * NARA publication number, title, and roll number

How to Use the Record
Use the locator information found in the index (such as roll number and the unit served in) to locate your ancestors in the service records. Compare the information in the records to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names. Keep in mind that even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

When you have located your ancestor’s service record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * Use the estimated age to calculate a birth date.
 * Use the age and location of the military unit to find the soldier’s family in census, church and land records.
 * Continue to search the index and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have served in the same unit or a nearby unit.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, check for variant spellings of the surnames.

Record History
Service records were kept for each Confederate soldier. Those records, or abstracts of those records, were compiled into individual files. Each envelope/jacket contains information and cross references to original records relating to the soldier.

Why this Record Was Created
This index was created to provide quick access to compiled service records.

Record Reliability
The information in this index is quite reliable. However, keep in mind that even though this index is very accurate it still may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings or misinterpretations.

Related Web Sites

 * Civil War in Arizona
 * Civil War Soldier Search - Confederate Service Records
 * Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
 * Footnote $ Compiled service records for Confederate Soldiers from Arizona.
 * Ancestry $ Searchable Civil War service records.
 * The Civil War in Arizona / New Mexico Territory A brief history of Arizona in the Civil War.

Related Wiki Articles
Confederate Service Records

Arizona Military Records

Sources of Information for This Collection
“Arizona, Service Records of Confederate Soldiers of the Civil War,” database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/); from United States Federal Archives and Records Center. NARA M318. FHL digital images, 2,400 records, Family History Library Salt Lake City, Utah.

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. 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.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * "Arizona, Service Records of Confederate Soldiers of the Civil War, 1861-1863." index and images, FamilySearch: (www.familysearch,org: accessed March 4, 2011). entry for Henry Smith, age 27, citing Military Records, Herbert's Battalion, Arizona Calvary, reference NARA publication M318, NARA roll number 1; United States Federal Archives and Records Center.