United States Civil War 1861 to 1865, Part 1

United States Civil War, 1861-1865
Getting Started
Beginning Civil War Research Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
General Topics
African Americans Battles Bibliography Cultural Groups Indigenous Peoples Maps and Photographs Manuscript Collections State Records Southern Claims Commission Provost Marshals File
Union
Awards Biographies Casualty Records Cemetery Records Census Records Draft Records Navy Pension Records Prisoners of War Service Records Soldiers Homes Unit Histories Societies
Confederate
Amnesty Records Awards Biographies Casualty Records Cemetery Records Census Records Citizens File Navy Pension Records Prisoners of War Service Records Soldiers Homes Unit Histories Societies
Personnel Types
Conf. Regular Troops Union Regular Army Union Volunteers Union Veteran Reserve Corps

United States Genealogy U.S. Military US Civil War

The American Civil War began on 12 April 1861 when troops in South Carolina fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Also called the "War between the States" and the "War of Secession", the Civil War lasted until 1865. Approximately 3.5 million soldiers fought in the war resulting in almost 600,000 deaths.

Best Sources

• United States Civil War 1861 to 1865, Part 2 describes and explains the best sources for Civil War genealogical research.
  

Getting Started with Civil War Research

• Beginning United States Civil War Research
• Getting started with Union records
• Getting started with Confederate records
• Civil War Genealogical Research 46 min. video
• Military Records: Civil War 35 min. video

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System of the National Park Service is a free Internet index of both Union and Confederate service records.

The database contains approximately 6.3 million names (some names are duplicated because of spelling variations and multiple enlistments) covering 3.5 million soldiers. The database tells whether the soldier was Union or Confederate and gives regiment and rank.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System index was compiled in cooperation with the National Archives, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the Genealogical Society of Utah. Numerous volunteers worked together to make a computerized index to Union and Confederate soldiers.

State Civil War Records

States in 1861

Northern States (blue) California Connecticut Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota New Hampshire New Jersey New York Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont West Virginia Wisconsin	Southern States (red) Seceded before 15 Apr 1861 Alabama Florida Georgia Louisiana Mississippi South Carolina Texas Southern States (orange) Seceded after 15 Apr 1861 Arkansas North Carolina Tennessee Virginia Slave States which did not secede (yellow) Delaware District of Columbia Kentucky Maryland Missouri	States not yet formed or which were territories in 1861 (grey) Alaska was not part of the United States until 1867. Arizona Colorado Hawaii was not part of the United States until 1898. Idaho Oklahoma Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico North Dakota South Dakota Utah Washington Wyoming
United States Military Records

Research Tools

• 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.
  

• The American Civil War Homepage has links to many sites with information about the Civil War.
  

• LSU United States Civil War Center at the Louisiana State University focuses on Civil War records and research. LSU has many Civil War related books and manuscripts. It's Index of Civil War Information Available on the Internet has links to many interesting web sites.
  

• New York Public Library, "USSC Civil War Soldiers Inquiry Database" on the U.S. Sanitary Commission collection of records of over 9,000 sick, wounded, or missing Union servicemen to answer inquiries from their relatives.

Ethnic Groups

• African Americans, see United States Colored Troops in the Civil War
• Indigenous Peoples in the American Civil War
• Cultural Groups in the American Civil War
• Cultural Groups in the American Civil War
• Danes in the Civil War A great article describing the contributions and stories of a few Danish men serving in the American Civil War.

Major Sites with Digitized Records

Many Civil War records have been digitized and indexed on various Internet sites. Check the lists showing many of the digitized records on FamilySearch, Ancestry, and Fold3.

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