How to Search Online Civil War Records of Your Family History, for Free
Among its other firsts, the Civil War was probably the first administratively modern war, in terms of the records kept during the war, and archived afterwards. Most of these Civil War archives are still in boxes, or on microfilm, but a few have found there way online. Here's how to search for your Blue or Gray ancestors, and their involvement in the Great War of Northern Aggression, or the War Between the States, of the War of Southern Rebellion, or...oh, heck, just read on.
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Instructions
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**Check the CWSS**
The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors (CWSS) System, run by the National Park Service, is the largest publicly available database of military records from this era. A quick and easy lookup will give you a soldier's basic information : name, rank, regiment, and of course, which side they fought on. This is a great free genealogical tool for family history research.
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**Search Through Old Records at Cornell**
There are so many digitized books and records available online these days that they have become a valuable resource for family history searches during the Civil War era, or any period, for that matter.
The Making of America collection at Cornell (run in conjunction with the University of Michigan) has some important resources, like official "War of the Rebellion Reports" and "Civil War Naval Records". Cornell is also home to an important collection of Anti-Slavery documents that are a rich source for African American family research.
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**Visit Google Books**
Google Books is another deep resource for genealogical searches in historical books and records. You'll find the official "List of Pensioners" from 1883, detailing thousands of soldiers, the pensions they receive, and the reason for their stipend ("blind in both eyes -- $24/mo").
Google Books also contains dozens of Civil War era city and regional directories that can be searched for your ancestors, and for the businesses of the time.
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**Don't Forget Old Newspapers**
You can search through Civil War era newspapers as well, at both free archive sites, as well as at several subscription services such as Ancestry.com.
The Resources section has links to some terrific newspaper archive sites, as well as the other Civil War family search resources mentioned here.
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Resources
- Photo Credit loc.gov
