Where can I find specific battle records for a civil war ancestor?

Question

All of the sources I use only tell me what regiment he served in and the dates he was mustered in and discharged. Where can I actually find something that tells me about his combat history?

Answer 1

For Civil War records it's important to know which side the ancestor served on since records are kept in different ways.



In general,

The compiled military service file maintains muster rolls. This is typically a monthly roll call to see which soldiers were present with their company on that date. If a solider was present in June, but not in July, the July muster usually tells why (killed, injured, imprisoned, or AWOL). The muster roll nor the compiled service records do not usually tell all of the battles the soldier was involved in, as these types of records simply weren't kept on a soldier by soldier basis.



Compiled service records are available at NARA for soldiers in the Regular U.S. Army and Confederate States armed forces. Many soldiers were state guard or local militia. These records are kept at the state level.



The compiled service record will also tell of some other unique events, such as imprisonments, hospitalizations, and payroll receipts.



Using the compiled service record (especially the muster rolls) to know when he was present with the unit, you can research that unit's battle history. Chances are, if your ancestor was with the unit at the time he served in the battle.



Unless something very odd happened, you won't find a record that is at the level of detail "John Smith pulled his rifle and shot 4 times into the air, then charged forward, tripping over a stone before proceeding, and stabbed an enemy." In battle, no one has time to write down this kind of detail about 1 person. You will find general details of the battle, and may find references to unique acts of valor and/or officers.



Some units have historical texts written about them. You can search these books for your ancestor's name. Even if he is not mentioned by name, the text will give some insight into where he was, what it was like, what battles he would have served in, and what happened at those battles. Many texts include extracts from journals and letters. If you're super-lucky your ancestor may be mentioned in one of these.



Another possible way of searching is to look for pension applications. They don't give a battle history, but there might be a unique mention of a certain battle in his file. This is especially true if he was injured or imprisoned in battle.

Answer 2

if you know his regiment, then you are in good shape. during CW times, the regiment was the basic unit for command and control. every regiment had a laison officer that received the orders from the Army commander. For example, Grant gave direct orders to every regiment when he was commander of the Army of the Mississippi. Each regiment kept a 'diary' of major events and assignments and these summaries are preserved in national archives. Every company would have generated a record of orders too, but these are buried deep at military records holding depots and not easily researched. Another aspect you might want to research is many CW survivors later filed for disability compensation in the 1890s. the disability records may have information on widow and date of death, info sometimes hard to come by otherwise. and speaking of 1890, the special veterans census mostly survived the fire that destroyed the general census.

Answer 3

Jason,



You could research the history of the regiment.



If this person had a pension file... that is, he applied for a pension based on his civil war injuries or service, you will find as part of that document a history of his illnesses and battle wounds during his time in the regiment with dates and places. Research how much money it takes to get a copy of the pension file. There are two types of packages for such files, a complete file with lots of unnecessary but interesting paperwork, and the bare documents including proof he served, proof he was married if the pension is for his wife, proof of battle wounds and service, proof of death if the widow applied, etc. The National Archives has these files and you can go online and search how to apply for them.



Check:

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/civil-war/civil-war-genealogy-resources/

Answer 4

At the time the army did not hold very specified team of workers documents for participants. They did not take some time to list "Battle of x" on every person's list and bring the ones documents by way of the discipline. Everyone within the unit could were worried in a wrestle in some thing ability their put up required, and so they recorded the hobbies as a unit. They took a per month-ish muster roll to make certain every person was once reward, and did head counts after battles to spot the wounded, lacking, and lifeless. Between muster rolls, they could list matters that got here up, like discovering a soldier AWOL or lifeless from ailment. Hospital and jail documents could have recorded arrival, switch, pardon, and free up. These might or won't make it again to the unit (on the time). The documents simply were not centralized by means of individual then. After the struggle, compiled provider documents have been created that amassed documents by means of character. These more often than not include muster roll slips, receipts, jail, and health facility documents. How to find those is determined by if the soldier was once Union or Confederate and what he state he served. Fold3 has a quantity of them, and NARA is a well supply for Union infantrymen. The legitimate unit historical past in combo together with his muster-in and muster-out date are useful. If he served on xxx date (with out being AWOL or incapacitated) and the unit was once in yyy wrestle on that date, it is a lovely well indicator he was once most probably worried in that wrestle. Books approximately unit historical past also are a tight secondary supply. These are more often than not taken from unit histories, as good as journals, letters, and so forth. Sometimes you could discover an ancestor written approximately specially. If your ancestor was once an officer, the chances upward push on account that they could have written extra letters, documented know-how, and had extra matters written approximately them. The pension program can be a well supply. They more often than not include an outline of ways the soldier grew to be in infirmed even as in provider, the muster-in and muster-out areas and dates, and might be a few testimony from people that realize the soldier. Finding the pension program additionally is determined by Union or Confederate. Union pensions have been administered by means of the U.S. Government. Confederate programs have been administered by means of the State.

Answer 5

Attempt to locate his military records they are probably in the National Archives.

Answer 6

The 'records' REAL records are normally kept in the countries National Archives, sometimes these are partnered by military archives...........but the National Archives is the first place you would look in any country.................... then it depends on what the countries laws are with what you can see, what has survived, are they indexed and /or scanned onto film, fiche or uploaded online or do you have to visit and view personally.............

Answer 7

You might find some records at the National Archives.



http://search.archives.gov/query.html?qt=civil+war+records&submit=GO&col=1arch&col=social&qc=1arch&qc=social



I put my great great grandfather in here and found this.



http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-regiments-detail.htm?regiment_id=UMI0020RI