Civil War Ancestors: Union and Confederate Service and Pension Records
More than three million men served in the Civil War. How to find out whether your ancestor served, and how to find his service records, pension file and the stories of his regiment.
If you have American ancestors who were adult men in the 1860s, there's a good chance at least one of them served in the Civil War, Union or Confederate. Civil War records are some of the richest sources in American genealogy, especially pension files, which can run to dozens of pages of family detail. For an overview of other wars, see Military Records from the Revolution to World War II.
Step 1: Find out whether he served
- The National Park Service Soldiers and Sailors Database, free online, lists millions of soldiers with their regiments.
- Census clues: the 1910 census asked whether a man was a Union or Confederate veteran. The surviving 1890 veterans schedule lists Union veterans and widows (and some Confederates), for states alphabetically from about Kentucky onward; most of the rest was lost.
- Gravestones, which often name a company and regiment, and veterans' headstone applications.
- Obituaries, county histories and veterans' organizations such as the Grand Army of the Republic (Union) and the United Confederate Veterans.
- Pension indexes (below).
Common names can match many soldiers. Confirm the right man by location, age and family before you dig in.
Step 2: Service records
The Compiled Military Service Records (CMSRs) at the National Archives summarize each soldier's service from muster rolls, hospital records and other documents: enlistment, promotions, absences, wounds, capture and discharge. They exist for both Union and Confederate soldiers (the Confederate records were compiled from captured and donated Confederate records). Many are digitized on Fold3, and indexes are free on FamilySearch.
Step 3: Pension records
Union pensions
Union veterans, and later their widows, children and dependent parents, could apply for federal pensions. Applicants had to prove service, disability, marriage and children's births, so the files can include:
- Marriage records, sometimes the original certificate
- Affidavits from relatives, neighbors and comrades
- Children's names and birth dates
- Medical examinations describing the veteran
- His residences for decades after the war
- The widow's maiden name and her own later life
Start with the General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934, free on FamilySearch and also on Fold3 and Ancestry, which gives the application and certificate numbers. Many widows' files are digitized on Fold3; others can be ordered from the National Archives.
Confederate pensions
Confederate veterans did not receive federal pensions. Instead, the former Confederate states, and a few others, paid pensions to veterans and widows living in the state. These records are held by state archives, and many have free online indexes. The state of residence, not the state the soldier served from, granted the pension.
Other Civil War records
- Regimental histories, many published, describing the unit's battles and movements
- Union draft registration lists (1863–1865)
- U.S. Colored Troops records, about 180,000 men, whose pension files are especially rich for African American families. See Researching Enslaved Ancestors.
- Prisoner of war records for both sides
- Soldiers' home registers. See Institutional Records.
- Southern Claims Commission files, for Southern Unionists claiming property taken by Union troops
- Letters, diaries and photographs, in family hands, libraries and archives
Putting it together
Once you know your ancestor's regiment, follow its story: where it marched, which battles it fought, how many men it lost. Compare your ancestor's service record (present, absent, wounded, sick) with the regiment's history. You'll know where he was on the days of the great battles, and often why he came home changed.