Experiencing the Civil War Through Your Ancestor’s Eyes
“Pvt.” Don Worth, Co. C, 48th Regt. Ohio Vol. Inf.

1)Find out more about your Civil War soldier’s experience than just the names and dates. Immerse yourself in the history he was making. If you don’t have a direct ancestor in the war, research an uncle or cousin or “borrow” one from your spouse.

2)Search the NPS Soldiers & Sailors Database:

3)Service Records online at Fold3 or you can order them from the National Archives here:

4)Order pension files (if any) from NARA (same link above).
Lyn Gesch’s Handout on researching Civil War pension records (2013 workshop):

Confederate Pensions:

5)Army organization:

6)Brief history of the Regiment – Soldiers & Sailors Database (Battle Units)or Frederick H. Dyer’s Compendium:

7)Search the Official Records (OR) on Cornell’s Making of America:

Lyn Gesch’s handout on the OR:
Memoirs of generals and their staff (Grant, Sherman, Edward Porter Alexander)
Modern histories (James McPherson, Gary Gallagher, etc.)
National Military Park research libraries (eg. Gettysburg)

8)Regimental Bibliographies:
US Army Heritage and Education Center, Digital Collections:

Ohio in the Civil War:
Search for regiment in Wikipedia, FamilySearch Wiki, Cyndi’s List, etc.

9)Regimental History books:
Also Google Books, Internet Archive (archive.org), WorldCat & Inter-library loan, Huntington Research Library, bookfinder.com, EBAY (Followed searches).

10)Regimental Web sites:
Google search (“48th Ohio Infantry” or “forty-eighth ohio civil war”, etc.) or
Civil War Interactive LinkCentral:
Cyndi’s List UNION:
Cyndi’s List CONFEDERATE:
Also look on Cyndi’s List in UNITED STATES/state/MILITARY

11)Published Rosters (books):
Google state name and civil war rosters (from Wayback Machine):

12)Prisons:
Rosters are on NPS Soldiers & Sailors Database & Cyndi’s List
Published memoirs, historical sites, etc.

13)Newspapers & journals – local papers during the war report on local regiments, Harpers Weekly & Frank Leslie’s for national coverage & engravings & maps:

Century Magazine “Battles & Leaders of the Civil War”:

14)Maps:
Library of Congress Map Collection:

Official Records Atlas:
Trailhead Maps, Civil War Battlefield Series(Topo maps with monuments)

15)Flags, museum artifacts, souvenirs:
Visit museums in the state or area where the regiment was raised
Or if you want to buy a relic:

16)Visit the battlefields and other locations and find where they were located:

Blue & Gray magazine tour guides:
Tour Guide Books of Civil War campaigns (on Amazon)

17) Diaries & Letters home
Published diaries, Huntington Library soldier letters, web sites, etc.

18)Soldier photographs
Library of Congress, regimental web sites, etc.
US Army Heritage and Education Center, Digital Collections:

19)Camp Life:
Hardtack & Coffee, John D. Billings
Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life, Carlton McCarthy
The Young Volunteer, Joseph Crowell (archive.org)

20)The Civilian Experience:
Days of Uncertainty and Dread, Gerald R. Bennett
Who Wore What?, Juanita Leisch

21)Reunions, GAR & UCV,monument dedications:
EBAY, relic & ephemera dealers, notices in GAR & UCV publications, etc.

22)National Tribune & Confederate Veteran newspapers:
National Tribune – Library of Congress,
Confederate Veteran – Internet Archive,

23)Medals – West Virginia Civil War Medals – over 3,500 unclaimed!

24)Soldier graves, obituaries:
Local newspapers,
National Cemetery Administration grave locator:

25)My “Civil War Moment” – reenacting the Civil War
Civil War reenactments locally:
Fort Tejon reenactments:
Uniforms & Equipment: