Civil War
More than 250,000 slaves and free blacks fought for the Union during the Civil War. If they applied for a pension, you can find their date of birth, place of birth, marriage records, and the names of their parents and children
The 1910 census asked whether a person was a veteran of the Union Army (UA) Navy (UN), or the Confederate Army (CA) or Navy (CN)
Do not assume that all Southerners fought for the south or that all confederate soldiers were white
The federal government did not pay pensions to Confederate veterans or their families, but many southern states did. These records are normally in the state archives
Following the Civil War many Southerners fled to Brazil, which still allowed slavery. The town of Americana (Vila dos Americanos) is know for its Confederate roots
The Library of Congress has papers from the American Colonization Society where thousands of African Americans colonized Liberia, Africa
Draft Records
First Union registration took place July 1, 1863 followed by three smaller enrollments.
Men were divided into classes
Class I: age 20-35 plus unmarried men age 36-45
Class II: nearly everyone else
Registrations were assembled into consolidated lists, which can be found online through Ancestry Military Records collection
The original consolidated lists are in Record Group 110 (Records of the Provost Marshal General) at National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
The Confederate Conscription Act of 18622 required all white males age 18 to 35 to register. This was extended to ages 17-50 by early 1864
There are no consolidated lists of Confederate registrations. Each Southern state conducted its own drafts
The best place to search for Southern conscription records is in the State Adjutant General’s Records
Useful Websites
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database
Contains a list of all known soldiers from Union and Confederate forces
eHistory contains the 128 volume Officials Records (“OR”) of the Civil War, complete with an index and atlas
Fold3 contains service records, muster rolls, prison and hospital registers, Confederate amnesty papers, and much more
Civil War Diaries and Letters from the Iowa Digital Library
Southern Claims Commission Records contains claims by southerners for livestock and property taken by Union troops during the war.