Research

Tips on researching your ancestors or soldiers who may have fought in the American Civil War.

As Executive Director for The Center for the Study of the American Civil War I am often asked advice on researching ones own relatives or soldiers who fought in the American Civil War.

The books and resources listed below are great and will give you great detail on how to dig out information kept in databases, archives, and dusty shelves; but I want to give ten tips on how to research a relative who may have fought in the Civil War that have simply been discovered by sheer persistence and a little luck.

Tip #1 - Watch variations of personal name spellings.

First and last names were often spelled differently on records, documents, in databases and letters - even the same documents. If a name has two “L”s in it, try searching with just one. Play around with different spelling-combinations that would make sense to someone trying to spell a name phonetically (i.e., by how it sounds). Sometimes Thomas was just spelled Thom. Be creative and don’t give up. Also, even if you know the middle name of the person you’re looking for, the records may not record it, or record it improperly. Ls and Ts are often mistaken for one another. Keep in mind, common names like Williams, Jackson, Smith, etc., can result in so many “hits” in your search that it can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But if his first name is rather unusual, like Lemuel, then it makes your search easier.

Tip #2 - Ask your older relatives or friends about great grandpa.

People who are 75 years and older are a living treasure. They also might be key to “remembering sitting on the lap of great grandpa” who served in the American Civil War. It’s hard to believe but some people who are old enough to still remember great grandpa - who fought in the Civil War - are the last living connection to that original generation who fought in the great struggle. If your lucky enough to have a relative still alive, especially 80 or over, make sure you personally ask them if they remember great grandpa (to them), or hearing of grandpa talking about his father or uncles who might have served in the war.

Tip #3 - Internet search results tips.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found some good information on a person I thought was in the Civil War just by learning how to use a good search tool like Google. First, make proper use of quotation marks. Separate your search terms by quotation marks so your results are more precise. For example, if you know your relative fought for the 58th Indiana then put “58th Indiana” in quotes together. If you know his name was Thomas Williams then put that in quotation marks too - “Thomas Williams”. The more information you know about the person the better when you get started. Try to search by these parameters, using quotes to narrow your search:

• Name of person (watch mis-spellings)
• Residence at time of enlistment; state, city or county
• What side they fought for; check both, especially if your relative was from the South or perhaps a border or neutral state like Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, etc.
• Regiment (e.g., 58th) and type of service (i.e., infantry, cavalry, artillery, sharpshooters, etc.)
• The Company they served with (e.g., Company A, Company F, etc.)
• Armies they fought in (e.g., Army of Tennessee, Army of the Cumberland, Army of Northern Virginia, etc.)

Tip #4 - Regimental histories and online personnel records.

Once you find an actual regiment an ancestor fought in (e.g., the 58th Indiana) you can find helpful information in official regimental histories. There are some online databases that have official regimental histories, including the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System web site, but usually a simple search like “58th Indiana” “regimental history” will yield solid results. When you find regimental records and histories, you will often find personnel lists or rosters, usually listed by Company. When these roster lists are on single pages it makes it easy to scan and look for soldiers last names especially. Sometime you will find several soldiers with the same last name, in the same Company. It was very common for relatives, whether brothers, fathers or first-cousins, to fight in the same company or regiment especially. I once learned the name of a soldier who served with 38 other first-cousins and two brothers by this method.

Tip #5 - Battles the regiments fought in and Orders of Battles.

Once you’re lucky enough to discover the likely regiment and the regimental history of your ancestor or soldier, it becomes a lot more fun to trace his Civil War experience by learning about the regiments engagement record in battle. Keep in mind, just because the 120th Indiana fought at Franklin (Nov 30, 1864), and your relative fought with the 120th, does not guarantee your relative was there for the battle. He could have been sick, on parole, AWOL, a deserter, etc. You can get closer to the truth by ordering your loved one’s Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR) from the NARA. To do this, visit their web site. You can order the CMSR record of a soldier too.

Tip # 6 - Reenactor groups and Civil War buffs

Civil War reenactor or living history groups can be quite helpful in learning more about a regiment and/or it’s history during the Civil War. Occasionally you might even find information about your loved one who fought for a given regiment. These groups are rich resource for authentic detail and information about the regiment they portray. Okay, let’s just call them Civil War nerds. But that is good for you as one needing reliable info about a regiment or a soldier. You can easily find them doing a Google research and the members of a modern regiment often publishes their personal email addresses on their web site. 98% of the time these great people don’t mind you emailing them to ask a question.

Also, some people are not reenactors, like myself, but are Civil War buffs or enthusiasts. People like me often keep Civil War blogs or network in Civil War related web spaces that result in us becoming fairly knowledgeable on limited areas or regiments.

Tip # 7 - understanding basic army structure

Depending on the time of the war, troop sizes (and by side, that is, Union or CSA) varied in these ranges. This interview with historian Steven Woodworth is helpful.

• What was a Company? Was usually around 70-100 men.
• What was a Brigade? Was usually around 900 - 2,500 men, made up of several regiments.
• What was a Division? Was usually around 4,000 - 10,000 men, made up of several brigades.
• What was a Corps? Was usually around 10,000 - 30,000 men, made up of a few divisions.
• What was an Army? Could be anywhere between 50,000 to 200,000 men; made up of a few Corps.

Tip # 8 - You can’t trust everything you read on the Internet.

Since anyone can post something on the Internet it certainly does not mean it’s true or accurate. You have to be careful. Experience helps to smell out spurious information. You gotta use a watermelon philosophy: eat the watermelon and spit out the seeds.

But you increase your chances of getting better info from respectable people and places like:

• Civil War Message Boards
• Genealogical sites
• Online databases
• Civil War Reenactor web sites
• University manuscript centers
• Public libraries, reference librarians
• Local historical societies and clubs
• Published authors and scholars (they do have email addresses you know)
• Cemetery records
• Government (State and National) resources

Tip # 9 - when to go professional?

Why use a professional genealogist or researcher?

• You’ve reached a dead end - when you’ve simply run into a dead end and it’s beyond your amateur ability to work through
• You can’t even seem to get started - for whatever reason, you might be running into a brick wall at step one. You can’t get any traction at all even starting out.
• You’re ancestor was a Confederate - a lot of Southern and CSA records were destroyed. Union records are more plentiful.
• You just don’t have the time - you might not have the time but you have some money you could invest in learning about your ancestor(s) or loved ones.

Tip # 10 - Have fun with it!

Doing research on a loved one or relative to discover if they fought in the Civil War; and if they did, what their experience was like, can be a lot of fun. Especially if you’re a little bit of a histor-nerd, or you like research. I do ongoing personal research for my family and interests. I’ve had a blast. My efforts have resulted in finding a plethora of things that helped tell the story of a loved one, including: letters, diaries, journals, pictures, houses, other relatives, equipment or personal items, etc. Oh, and there are braggin rights at stake too. Enjoy your search.

Reading and Resource list:

1. The Civil War Research Guide, by McManus.

2. Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor, by Groene.

3. The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System web site

4. How to Research the American Civil War by Sauers