19 January 1862, Kentucky, War Between the States

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(How to get a copy of a soldier's "official" military record)

The CSRs in the National Archives (NA) are a summary of a soldier's military record. They were compiled between 1903 and 1927 by clerks in the War Department, because the constant handling of the original muster rolls and other records, due to requests from state governments to verify a soldier's service as part of a pension application, was tearing these documents up (and some are really in terrible shape today because of this). So the clerks went through all (or most, anyway) of the original records, extracting names. Every time they found an identifiable name and unit, they made an index card, noting what was said for this name, and the source (muster roll, so-and-so date, &c.).   Because these records now appear as a series of index cards for each soldier, they are sometimes called the "Carded Service Records."

This is what you get today - a photocopy of all those index cards that apply to that soldier. They are not really original Civil War period records, but they contain the data on that soldier from those records. For Federals, these often contain muster-in and muster-out data (including, sometimes, the soldier's discharge certificate or other actual period documents), as well as extracts from muster and pay rolls. For Confederates, these are usually just extracts from muster and pay rolls (normally just a note that the soldier was present for muster on a given date), but they sometimes contain descriptive data, especially if the soldier was ever wounded, or was captured and therefore had Federal prison records.

These CSRs are only as complete as the surviving official records. Many Confederate units did not keep complete records, and many of the Confederate records were destroyed at the end of the war, or taken home and never turned in to Federal authorities (the Federals did some of this themselves at the end of the war, too). Many Confederate companies have only a few original muster rolls on file, even though the unit may have existed for most of the war. So your soldier may have only a small CSR.  Indeed, most CSRs have only a few cards, noting nothing more than the dates when the soldier mustered in, was present for pay or other musters, and mustered out.

The index cards are stored in envelopes, or card jackets. These envelopes sometimes contain original individual documents, as well as the carded CSRs. When the clerks found an original document that applied only to a single soldier, they filed this document with that soldier's CSR. In the case of officers, these individual documents take the form of pay vouchers, requisitions, and sometimes letters and reports, and can run to many pages, with a wealth of data. Even privates' records may contain many pages of individual papers; it all depends on what original records survived.

The CSRs of the Confederate soldiers and Federal soldiers from Border and Southern states have also been microfilmed, but when you order a copy from the NA, you get a copy of the original cards and papers, not the microfilm. These microfilm rolls can be found in many state and larger city libraries. There is also a microfilm index of the records, arranged by state. An overall index of Confederates has been microfilmed as series M253.

A little known source that can be a goldmine of information on a unit is the "Captions and Records of Events," which is a sort of CSR for a unit. When the clerks extracted the data from the muster rolls for individual soldiers, they also extracted the comments on the company itself (each commander was supposed to state on the roll his company's activities and actions since the last roll). Of course, some commanders didn't write much, but some gave a complete history of the unit. These are on index cards in card jackets, just like a soldier's CSR, but they are filed at the beginning of the first box for a unit's CSRs (they are also at the beginning of the first roll of microfilm for that unit's CSRs). These "Records of Events" have also been microfilmed separately, as series M594 (Union) and M861 (Confederate). They are also currently being published as part of the "Supplement to the Official Records" from Broadfoot Publishing (Wilmington, NC).

In order for the NA to identify your soldier and copy his CSR, you have to know (at the least) his name and the state from which he served. The listings used to find the CSRs are arranged by state, so you have to identify the soldier by state - the NA will not search for his record otherwise. It helps a lot to also know his unit. But keep in mind, since the CSRs are subfiled by unit, if a soldier served in more than one unit, he will have more than one CSR, and since there is no real cross-reference, this fact might not be immediately apparent. Pension records have to be ordered separately, on NATF Form 85. The NA does not hold Confederate pension records; these are in the various state archives.

If all you have is a Confederate soldier's name, there is one reference you can check that may help you identify him. Broadfoot Publishing Co. in Wilmington, NC, has published a roster of all the Confederate soldiers who have CSRs in the NA (they are planning a series for Federal soldiers, too). This book series, called "Roster of Confederate Soldiers," can be found in larger libraries, particularly those with better genealogy collections. The rosters show names, states, and units, and give you a starting point from which to search further.

The CSR copies have to be ordered on NATF Form 86, which can be obtained from:

General Reference Branch (NNRG-P)
National Archives & Records Administration
7th & Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20408

The fastest way to order these forms is online at http://www.archives.gov/global_pages/inquire_form.html. You can also order NATF Forms 85 and 86 by e-mail - send a request, including your name and snailmail address to: inquire@arch2.nara.gov. In 2004 the NARA expect to have an online system for ordering the military records themselves in place.

You can find further info at:  http://www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/research_topics/military.html

Follow the directions on the form for filling it out (include as much info as you know, but if you're not sure of something, best to leave it blank), and it is best to annotate "ALL RECORDS" somewhere on the form.  The current (2003) price is $17 per record, regardless of number of pages (I've ordered CSRs that ended up being over 100 pages, and the cost was still the same). You can pay by charge card, which speeds up delivery. But be patient -- delivery usually takes a couple of months.

When you get the copies, you will probably find entries with notes which refer to the original records from which the information on the cards was taken.  These notes are usually found at the bottom of the cards, and often appear as entries such as "Roll No. 288" or "See Manuscript No. 2839."  While it is very tempting to write the National Archives and request a copy of these original records, I advise you to forget it.  Obviously, these original manuscripts most likely still exist somewhere in the NA, but finding them is the problem.  They are no longer filed by any system used on the card notes, and unless the source is obvious from the card note, the original will be next to impossible to locate.  The only way you MIGHT have some luck in doing this would be to visit the NA in person, and locate some archivist who is familiar enough with the Civil War records to point you in the right direction.  Even then, you would have to find someone who is sympathetic to your search, because in the vast majority of cases, finding such records as noted on the CSR cards would take an in-depth search, which the staff will not conduct for you.

Note -- There are some sources on the Internet that offer to supply copies of these records, sometimes at a price that appears to be lower than the NA price. If you use one of these services, make sure you know what you're getting for the price. Some of them supply only a copy of the index sheet for a soldier -- only the first page of the CSR, not the entire record. Some of them charge substantially more for copies of a service record that contains more than the usual 10-15 index cards (such as individual info or officers' records). And the copies will be from microfilm, which can be substantially lower quality than the copies from the NA.

For most Civil War soldiers, the bulk of information on their military service can be found in the NA CSRs or the soldier’s pension records. But some state collections, particularly those Southern states which had units in Confederate service, have extensive holdings of period information on state units, and these records sometimes have information on individuals that is not found in CSRs or pension files. It is unfortunately the exception, not the norm, but you can sometimes find very valuable info on an individual in these state records. Be aware that some states have made much greater progress than others in arranging and cataloguing their records, and important records can sometimes be found in out-of-the-way places. Be sure to check not only the state archives, but historical societies, genealogical societies, and any state military museums or libraries. For Southern states, an excellent guide to these sources is James Neagles’ "Confederate Research Sources" (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Pub., 1986). (I know of no comparable reference for sources in Northern states.)

For further information on the military service records in the National Archives, see "An Overview of Records at the National Archives Relating to Military Service," available online at  http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/fall_2002_military_records_overview.html.

Best of luck in your search!

Geoff Walden
Elizabethtown, KY
gwalden1864@earthlink.net

Thanks to Christine Blackerby at the National Archives, for updated info on new forms and links.

Copyright © 1995, Geoffrey R. Walden; all rights reserved.  Updated Sept. 2003.

Homepage URLs: 

Kentucky "Orphan" Brigade, CSA  --  http://www.rootsweb.com/~orphanhm/index.html

Battle of Mill Springs / Fishing Creek  --  http://www.oocities.org/Pentagon/Quarters/1864/Default.htm