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Union Service Records

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Civil War, 1861-1865
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Compiled Service Records

The Compiled Service Records of volunteer Union soldiers were made by the United States Record and Pension Division of the War Department, beginning in 1890. The Record and Pension Division made card abstracts from documents in the custody of the War Department and from muster, pay, and other rolls borrowed from the Second Auditor of the Treasury. In addition to the cards, original documents that related only to the individual soldier were included. See also Regimental and Company Books of Civil War Volunteer Union Organizations, 1861 - 1867.

Envelopes were made for each of the soldiers and card abstracts pertaining to that individual were placed inside along with original documents that related only to that individual. Service records may provide rank, unit, date of enlistment, length of service, age, place of birth, and date of death. Preceding the jacket-envelopes for the individual soldiers there are some envelopes containing record-of-events cards giving the stations, movements, or activities of the regiment.

The Compiled Service Records ($) (Fold3.com) of volunteer Union soldiers are available online. In the future, these records will be made available at no charge through the National Archives web site. The service records are also available to access at no charge at any library that provides free access to Fold3.com.

Related Articles

  • Claire Prechtel-Kluskens.Thank you, General Fred C. Ainsworth! NGS Magazine 37 #4 (October-December 2011): 54-57.
  • Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. Compiled Service Records. Part I: The records inside the CMSR Jacket. NGS Magazine 38 #1 (January-March 2012): 32-36.
  • Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. Compiled Service Records. Part II: The records outside the CMSR Jacket. NGS Magazine 38 #2 (April-June 2012): 32-38.
  • Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. Compiled Military Service Records. Part III: The record of events. NGS Magazine 38 #3 (July-September 2012): 28-31.
  • Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. Compiled Military Service Records. Part IV: Carded medical records. NGS Magazine 40 #4 (October-December 2014): 37-40.

Note: The following Union volunteer records are not available online as of November 2011. However, indexes for these records are available. See Compiled Service Records of Individual States below for indexes by state.

  • Arizona Territory
  • California
  • Colorado Territory
  • Connecticut
  • District of Columbia
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • NY (vol engineers is avail.)
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • Washington Territory
  • Wisconsin
  • Veteran Reserve Corps
  • Organizations Not Raised by States and Territories

Check to see a list of states currently available online at Fold3.

In addition to the above states, the records of Union volunteers that served with the U.S. Colored Troops are only partially online. Check to see a list of regiments currently available online at Fold3.

Compiled Service Records of African Americans

Regiment NARA Pamphlet FHL Microfilm Libraries[1] Fold3 FamilySearch[2]
55th MA Infantry M1801 PDF 2155607-22 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
1st-6th Cavalry M1817 PDF 2428750-902 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Artillery M1818 PDF Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
1st Infantry M1819 PDF Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
2nd-7th Infantry M1820 PDF Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
8th-13th Infantry M1821 PDF 2310942-1050 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
14th-19th Infantry M1822 PDF 2428930-9034 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
20th-25th Infantry M1823 PDF 2429035-132 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
26th-30th Infantry M1824 PDF Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
54th MA Infantry M1898 PDF 2155547-66 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
31st-35th Infantry M1992 PDF 2446713-97 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
36th-40th Infantry M1993 PDF 2447302-417 Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
41st-46th Infantry M1994 PDF Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
47th-55th Infantry M2000 PDF Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
56th-65th Infantry
66th-138th Infantry Fold3 ($) FamilySearch

Compiled Service Records of Galvanized Yankees

Listed below are the service records of former Confederates or "Galvanized Yankees" who enlisted in the Union from prison camps:

See the official NARA pamphlet explaining the service records of the "Galvanized Yankees" at M1017.pdf.

  • Dee Brown, The galvanized Yankees reprint. Lincoln, Nebraska : University of Nebraska Press, 1986, c1963 FS Library 978 M2br

Compiled Service Records of Veteran Reserve Corps

Soldiers who were no longer able to serve combat duty but who could still perform limited duty, such as being prison guards and hospital stewards served in the Veteran Reserve Corps. The compiled service records of the Veteran Reserve Corps have never been microfilmed.

An index to these records is available:

Compiled Service Records of Other Units

The Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations Not Raised by States and Territories Excepting the Veterans Reserve Corps and the U.S. Colored Troops have never been microfilmed. Included in these records are special units not raised by the states. The collection includes:

U.S. Sharp Shooters; Signal Corps; U.S. Volunteers; Pioneer Brigade (Army of the Cumberland); U.S. Veteran Volunteers, Engineers; U.S. Veteran Volunteers, Infantry; U.S. Volunteer Infantry; Confederate Prisoners of War who enlisted in the U.S. Army (Galvanized Yankees); brigade bands; Indian Home Guards; Mississippi Marine Brigade/Marine Regiment, U.S. Volunteers; enlisted men transferred to the Mississippi Flotilla, February 21, 22, and 23, 1862; Departmental Corps (Department of the Monongahela) ; Varner's Battalion of Infantry; and Captain Turners Company, Volunteer Pioneers.


Note: The compiled service records of the 1st through 6th U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments (Galvanized Yankees) from this collection have been reproduced as microfilm publication M1017 (mentioned above). Three companies of engineers, Indian scouts, and infantry from the U.S. Volunteer Infantry that were not part of the six regiments were not included in M1017.[3]

An index to these records is available:

  • Alphabetical Card Name Indexes to the Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers who Served in Union Organizations not Raised by States or Territories, Excepting the Veterans Reserve Corps and the U.S. Colored Troops NARA M1290. (FS Library 1604884–920) (Worldcat) (Fold3) ($)

Compiled Service Records of Individual States

The records below all refer to Union soldiers only, even though they may have been serving from Southern states.

State Index NARA Pamphlet FHL MicroFilm Libraries[1] Fold3 FamilySearch[2]
Alabama Index M276 PDF 1276611–20 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Arizona Territory Index
Arkansas Index M399 PDF 1380796–855 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
California Index Fold3 ($)
Colorado Territory Index Fold3 ($)
Connecticut Index
Dakota Territory Index M1960 PDF 2229930-32 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Delaware Index M1961 PDF Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
District of Columbia Index Fold3 ($)
Florida Index M400 PDF 1299987‑97 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Georgia Index M403 PDF 1276608 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Illinois Index
Indiana Index
Iowa Index
Kansas Index
Kentucky Index M397 PDF 881492-1521,
1487066–90057 		Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Louisiana Index M396 PDF 1380930–79 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Maine Index
Maryland Index M384 PDF 1477976–8213 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Massachusetts Index
Michigan Index
Minnesota Index
Mississippi Index M404 PDF 1292659–62 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Missouri Index M405 PDF 1500223–01075 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Nebraska Territory Index M1787 PDF Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Nevada State/Territory Index M1789 PDF 2155471-486 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
New Hampshire Index
New Jersey Index
New Mexico Territory Index M427 PDF 0471538–83 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
New York Index
NY - 1st Vol. Engineers M2004 PDF Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
North Carolina Index M401 PDF 1473248–72 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Ohio Index
Oregon Index M1816 PDF Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Pennsylvania Index
Rhode Island Index
Tennessee Index M395 PDF 1482042–261 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Texas Index M402 PDF 1292646–58 Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Utah Territory Index M692 PDF 0821588 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Vermont Index Fold3 ($)
Virginia Index M398 PDF 1292638–44 Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Washington Territory Index
West Virginia Index M508 PDF 1478231–475,
1482026–041 		Worldcat Fold3 ($) FamilySearch
Wisconsin Index

Indexes

Indexes for Compiled Service Records

There are microfilmed name indexes for each state. Consult state archives for records of state or local militias or National Guard units that were not federalized. Individual indexes to state volunteer regiments are available on microfilm for every Northern state and every Southern state except South Carolina.

A transcription of the National Archives indexes to compiled Military Service records of Volunteer Union soldiers is:

  • The Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861–1865 (FS Catalog 973 M29h) (Worldcat) 33 Volumes. Wilmington, North Carolina: Broadfoot Publishing, 1997–. This series is currently in publication.

An index for Union soldiers that served in the U.S. Colored Troops is:

  • Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with United States Colored Troops National Archives Microfilm Publication M589. (FS Library 1266617–43 and FS Library 1266546–616) (Worldcat) Covers many former slaves from the South as well as free African‑Americans who served in the Union Army between 1863 and 1865.

To order compiled military service records from the National Archives see Requesting copies of Civil War service and pension records. To order a service record you must have the soldier's name, rank and unit number.

Finding Aids

See also NARA finding aid to Compiled Military Service Records Sources for the following states:

Union

Medical Records

For medical information about volunteer soldiers who fought in the Civil War, consult the National Archives series,"Carded Medical Records of Volunteer Soldiers in the Mexican and Civil Wars, compiled 1846 - 1865" found in Record Group (RG) 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 17862-1984, entry 534. These cards relate to volunteers admitted to hospitals for treatment and may include information such as name; rank; organization; complaint; date of admission; hospital to which admitted; and date returned to duty, deserted, discharged, sent to general hospital, furloughed, or died. This series is arranged by state, thereunder by the number of the regiment (cavalry, infantry, and artillery are filed together under the common regiment number) and then by initial letter of surname.

Chaplains

  • John W. Brinsfield, ed Faith in the fight : Civil War chaplains. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania : Stackpole Books, c2003. FS Library 973 M2bfc
  • United States War Department. Chaplains in the army : letter from the Secretary of War, in answer to resolution of the House of 11th instant, transmitting the names of all the chaplains on the rolls on file in the office of the Adjutant General, March 25, 1862. (Washington, D.C.: 1862) FamilySearch Digital Library

Officers

  • United States Adjutant General's Office. Official Army Register of the Volunteer Force of the United States Army for the Years 1861, 62, 63, 64, 65 8 volumes. reprint Gaithersburg, Maryland: Olde Soldier Books, 1987.v. 1. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut -- v. 2. New York, New Jersey -- v. 3. Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia -- v. 4. West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky -- v. 5. Ohio, Michigan -- v. 6. Indiana, Illinois -- v. 7. Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, California, Kansas, Oregon, Nevada -- v. 8. Territories of Washington, Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska, Colorado, Indiana, Dakota, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Veteran Reserve Corps, 1st Army Corps (Veteran), Miscellaneous, Colored Troops. V.1 FamilySearch Digital Library; v.2 FamilySearch Digital Library; v. 3 FamilySearch Digital Library; v.4 FamilySearch Digital Library; v. 5 FamilySearch Digital Library; v.6 FamilySearch Digital Library; v. 7 FamilySearch Digital Library: v. 8 FamilySearch Digital Library
  • Ron R. Van Sickle. ed. and comp. General Index to Official Army Register of the Volunteer Force of the United States, 1861–65. volume 9 Gaithersburg, Maryland: Olde Soldier Books, 1987 FS Library 973 M23ua 1987 v. 9
  • William Henry Powell. Officers of the Army and Navy (Volunteer) Who Served in the Civil War. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: L.R. Hamersly, 1893. FamilySearch Digital Library

Regular Army

Enlisted Men

The War Department did not compile military service records for those who served in the Regular Army during this period.

A register of enlistments is available online, see US Army Enlistments, 1798-1914. See volumes 54-61 for enlistments from 1859-1865.

The National Archives also maintains a textual record, entitled "Regular Army Enlistment Papers, 1798–1894", Record Group 94, entry 91. This series is arranged alphabetically by name of soldier and generally shows the soldier's name, place of enlistment, date, by whom enlisted, age, place of birth, occupation, personal description, regimental assignment, and certifications of the examining surgeon and recruiting officer. Soldiers usually have multiple enlistment papers if they served two or more enlistments.

Officers

The "Historical Register and Dictionary of the US Army" by Francis B. Heitman, lists Regular Army and volunteer officers from 1789 to 1903 in two volumes giving a brief history of the officers service and awards received. Casualties (including prisoners of war) from 1789 to 1902 are also listed as well as a chronological list of battles, actions, etc., in which troops of the Regular Army have participated.

The War Department did not maintain or compile personnel files for Regular Army officers until 1863. For service prior to that date, the best place to start is the series of letters received by the adjutant general entitled, "Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General (Main Series), 1861–1870,", National Archives Microfilm Publication M619.

For an officer's military service after 1863, consult the Commission Branch (CB) and Appointment, Commission and Personal Branch (ACP) records: "Letters Received by the Commission Branch of the Adjutant General's Office, 1863–1870," National Archives Microfilm Publication M1064.

The following may be of help when researching officers:

Sailors

Enlistment Rendezvous

The "Weekly Returns of Enlistments at Naval Rendezvous ("Enlistment Rendezvous") Jan. 6, 1855-Aug. 8, 1891" (NARA M1953) list the sailor’s name, enlistment date, birthplace, age, occupation, personal description, date of or return of enlistment, and record of previous naval service.

Online

Index

An index to sailors who enlisted between 1861 and 1865 is listed below:

Officers

  • Lewis Randolph Hamersly.The Records of Living Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps with a History of Naval Operations during the Rebellion of 1861–65, and a List of the Ships and Officers Participating in the Great Battles. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1870; reprint. Mattituck, New York: J.M. Carroll & Co., 1988 FamilySearch Digital Library

Other Records

For records of sailors who served in the Union Navy, contact the National Archives. The records have not been microfilmed and are available only at the National Archives in Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel.

Related Books

  • Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel. PI 123 compiled by Virgil E. Baugh (FS Library 973 A3bv) (Worldcat)

Additional Carded Record Collections

References

  • Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. "Sutlers of the Civil War" NGS Magazine 40 #2 (April-June 2014): 39-43. FS Library 973 D25ngs
  • Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. "Union Army Laundresses" NGS Magazine 42 #3 (July-September 2016): 33-37 FS Library 973 D25ngs
  1. ↑ United States. National Archives Trust Fund Board. Pamphlet Describing M1290: Alphabetical Card Name Indexes to the Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers who Served in Union Organizations not Raised by States or Territories, Excepting the Veterans Reserve Corps and the U.S. Colored Troops. Washington, National Archives And Records Administration, 1988.


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