From the Internet Started in the 1960s by the U.S. military, the Internet has evolved into a world-wide network of computers. There are many ways to access the internet via your computer and modem, including through most of the major online services and many universities. The following is reprinted by permission of the author. ---------------------------- Date: Sun Dec 26 17:03:16 EDT 1993 Subject: CIVIL WAR ANCESTORS To: internet!VM1.NoDak.EDU!ROOTS-L (Multiple recipients of list ROOTS-L) Civil War Ancestors & the National Archives An ongoing compilation by wmm@hopper.itc.virginia.edu The National Archives hold one million cubic feet of records of every conceivable type, all of which are accessible to anyone. They contain: Compiled military service records for each soldier, whether volunteer or regular, Union or Confederate; Most of the compiled Union and Confederate Naval & Marine Corps service records; Union pension records for all state volunteers and regulars, Army, Navy and Marines; Court-martial records (Union only); Medical records on individual soldiers; Prisoner-of-war records; Draft records; Burial records. To begin your search at the Archive, send for free copies of NATF Form 80 from the Military Service Branch, National Archives & Records Service, 8th & Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20408. Be certain to completely fill in this form, or the Archives will return it to you, unanswered. For Union veterans, use separate forms to request military service records and pension records. Then, in red ink, write after veteran's name, "Please send complete contents of file." Mail the completed form and $10 check made out to the National Archives Trust Fund to the address above. Allow 2-3 months for delivery. You will get a refund if nothing is found. Send a separate form for a Confederate veteran. Check only the box for military service records. Add, in red ink, "Please send complete contents of file." Send the form and a $10 check. Send a separate form and check for each name you wish researched. If your ancestor served in more than one regiment, you must send a form and check for each regiment. Records for enlisted men are scarce, in some cases non-existent. Officers' records are usually extensive. þ If you think your ancestor was brought before a court martial After you receive the above records, send another NATF Form 80 and a $10 check with an attached note reading: "Please send all court-martial records". Do this for Federal soldiers only, Confederate court-martial records are very scarce. þ If you suspect he was sick, wounded, or disabled Send another NATF Form 80 and $10 check with an attached note: "Please send complete medical records". þ If you receive a reply stating records cannot be found Send the whole thing again -- you will get a different researcher the second time, who might find something. þ If your ancestor was drafted (US only - draft records were compiled for men 20-35, unmarried men 35-45, married men 35-45, and those who volunteered for service. The lists are arranged by state, then by county.) Give name of veteran, state, county, city (including the ward), or town. Write to Navy & Old Army Branch, National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408 þ If your ancestor took an amnesty oath Amnesty oaths taken by Confederate soldiers and citizens, and amnesty papers for high Confederate officials & persons owning more than $20,000 in property, are arranged by state, then alphabetically by surname. They show the date the oath was taken, the place, signature, and sometimes the age, personal description, and/or Confederate military unit. Write to Navy & Old Army Branch, National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408. þ If your ancestor was ever a prisoner File M347 contains names of Confederates in Union prisons and Federals in Confederate prisons, arranged alphabetically by surname. File M346 contains records of payments to Confederate citizens or firms for materials purchased by the U.S. Army or Navy. Send inquiries regarding these files to Reference Services Branch (NNIR), National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408. þ If your ancestor was buried in a National or Military Cemetery Reference Services Branch will search cemetery listings of Union soldiers buried in National cemeteries. They are arranged by state, then alphabetically by cemetery. Send veteran's name and the name of the cemetery you think he is buried in. Also write Memorial Division, Quartermaster General's Office, Washington, D.C. 20025 to search their similar file on military cemeteries, arranged same way, titled "Roll of Honor." þ If your ancestor was buried in a non-military cemetery Under an 1897 law, the U.S. government supplied, on request, a headstone for any veteran buried in a non-military cemetery. Applications for these stones made between 1879 and 1903 are indexed. Write Reference Services Branch (NNIR), National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408, giving name, military unit, date of death, and place of burial (if known). Microfilm rolls of records can be obtained by your library as an inter-library loan. Check "List of National Archives Microfilm Publications" for available titles. If you request information about a regiment's history, a specific battle, ship, etc. the Archives will tell you which records it can duplicate or provide on microfilm. - Dec.26, Maury of Albemarle County, Va. Email replies should have the following on the first line of message text: TO: Maury.