2nd Regiment, US Volunteer Infantry (Union)

Brief History
Although the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System site states that the "Compendium of the War of the Rebellion" by Frederick H. Dyer contains no history for this unit, Dyer in Part III describes its history as follows: “Organized at Rock Island, Ill., October, 1864. Ordered to Dept. of Missouri and assigned to duty in District of Upper Arkansas along the Santa Fe Road from Little Arkansas River to Fort Dodge and Cimaron Crossing. Stationed by Companies at Fort Riley, Salem, Fort Ellsworth, Fort Learned, Fort Zarah and Fort Scott, Kansas, on guard duty and operating against Indians till November, 1865. Mustered out November 7, 1865.”

Recruits in this Regiment
Recruits to the 2nd Regiment and the five other US Volunteer Infantry regiments were drawn from Confederate prisoners at Union prison camps. They were called “Galvanized Yankees.” See the official NARA pamphlet explaining the service records of the "Galvanized Yankees" at M1017.pdf. The soldiers of this Regiment enlisted at the Rock Island, Illinois, prison camp for terms of one to three years. For their service records, see *Compiled service records of former Confederate soldiers who served in the 1st through 6th U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments, 1864-1866. NARA M1017. (Worldcat) (Fold3) ($).

Other Sources

 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier or sailor. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in 'Union Volunteers in the Civil War' and 'United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865' (see below).


 * National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.


 * Union Volunteers in the Civil War describes many Union sources, specifically for the Union Volunteers, and how to find them.. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.