South Carolina Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States South Carolina

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of Confederate service records of soldiers who served in organizations from South Carolina for the years 1861 to 1865. The records include abstracts of entries relating to the soldier as found in the following original records:


 * Name and age of soldier
 * Year(s) of service
 * Rank and military unit in which served
 * Physical description
 * Occupation
 * Town, county and state of residence
 * Prison registers
 * Parole rolls

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 109, War Department Collection of Confederate Records and is National Archive Microfilm Publication M267. Index courtesy of Fold3.com (previously Footnote.com).

Service records were kept for each Confederate 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.

Collection Content
Most Confederate service record index entries contain the following information:


 * Name of soldier
 * Soldier's rank, company and regiment in which served
 * Date and place of enlistment
 * Time period of enlistment
 * Reason for detachment
 * NARA publication number, title, and roll number
 * Sometimes, an estimated year of birth

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search, it is helpful to know:


 * The name of your ancestor
 * Other identifying information such as the birth place or birth date

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name: Fill in the requested information on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * 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.

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

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors. The following examples show ways you can use the information:


 * 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.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * 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.

What If I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the records of nearby military units.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Web Sites

 * National Archives Collection Description
 * South Carolina Department of Archives and History Confederate Military Records
 * Civil War Soldier Search

Related Wiki Articles

 * Confederate Service Records
 * South Carolina Military Records
 * South Carolina in the Civil War
 * United States Civil War 1861 to 1865, Part 1
 * United States Civil War 1861 to 1865, Part 2

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):