Do you know where your American ancestors were between 1861 and 1865? Over three million men fought during the Civil War. Approximately 2 percent of the population of the United States were killed--more than 620,000 people. That's more casualties than the US has suffered during any other war. If you've lost track of an ancestor after the 1860 census, there's a good chance that they may have died during the Civil War, either in battle or due to illness. Their disappearance might also indicate that an event during the war caused them to relocate. How can you find out what role, if any, your ancestors played during the conflict between the states?

In the article, we'll explore some of the many resources available for discovering information about your Civil War ancestors.

New Civil War Records Available at MyTrees.com

We have teamed up with Footnote.com again to bring you a new collection of Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers. This index contains over 4 million records from soldiers who served in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and organizations formed by the Confederate Government (and therefore not associated with any one state).

To help you more easily locate your Confederate ancestor, you can search this new index for free at MyTrees.com. You can narrow your results by specifying which state your ancestor served in, as well as a name and birth year range. You may notice that the same individual is listed multiple times in your results list. Each result references a different image, which means that there are multiple documents which reference that individual's name. The original documents are available, for a small fee, from Footnote.com.

What type of information can you find in this collection at Footnote.com? Here is a brief explanation of what information might be included in the images:

• Jacket envelope- All the documents pertaining to a specific soldier were kept in an envelope. The outside of the envelope contains general information about the soldier, such as name, rank, and unit. It also lists the number of abstract cards, personal papers, and medical records included in the envelope.
• Abstract cards- These cards contain entries regarding the solder from muster rolls, returns, rosters, payrolls, appointment books, hospital registers, Union prisoner of war registers and rolls, parole rolls, and inspection reports.
• Personal papers- Include any papers that relate solely to the soldier, such as pay vouchers.
• Cross-reference cards- If the soldier was included in the record under more than one spelling of his name, cross reference cards will be included which point to the other spelling(s).
• Office caption cards- These cards will list information about the officers who served in the unit.
• Record-of-events cards- These cards document events the unit was involved at a specific time.

Other MyTrees.com Civil War Records

In addition to this new index, we also have various extracted record collections that may include information on your Civil War ancestors. These records include a partial extraction of the 1850 US Census, an index to the 1860 US Census (images available from Footnote.com for a small fee), and many smaller collections such as Lauderdale County Alabama Marriages: 1820 - 1887 or Indiana, Newton County, Marriage Records 1860-1979. You can view a complete list of our Extracted US Records by clicking here. You can also click the "US Genealogy" link located in the Specialized Searches menu on the left of our homepage.

Another great resource is our Books and Records database , which contains text extractions from various vital records, newspapers, and family history books. Many of the resources in this collection contain information from the time period surrounding the Civil War. Some examples are Wisconsin, Grant Marriages, 1857-1866; Alabama, Jefferson, Marriage Records, 1815 - 1899 ; or California, El Dorado, Cemetery Records, 1857-1952. For a complete list of the resources available in the Books and Records database, click here.

Other Resources for Civil War Records

Online resources for information about the Civil War are plentiful. Whether you're looking for a specific ancestor who served in the war, or just want to get a feel for what it would have been like to live during the time period, there are many websites that can help. Here are just a few sites to get you started:

• The U.S. National Archives and Records Adminstration - The NARA houses many Civil War collections. Unfortunately, only a very few of their records are available online. But the NARA website is a great research took. Civil War resources available online include descriptions of military records and where to find them, indexes for some collections, articles, pictures, and links to other Civil War websites. You can also order paper copies of records from some collections online.
• Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System - This online database contains basic information about soldiers who fought on both sides during the war. It contains information on 6.3 million soldier names. This is a great place to start if you think your ancestor may have fought in the war, but you don't have any details of his service.
• U.S. Civil War Prison Camps Claimed Thousands - This National Geographic News article discusses the conditions of prison camps during the Civil War.
• Civil War Prison Camps - This website gives information about both Union and Confederate prision camps. For some camps this information includes the names of men who died there.
• Civil War Rosters- A collection of links to Civil War Rosters that have been posted on various websites.
• The USF Africana Heritage Project - This site has some excellent resources for African American research, including some information and links for Civil War resources.
• Native Americans in the American Civil War - This Wikipedia article discusses the role Native Americans played in the Civil War and lists tribes that were involved in the conflict.
• Women of the American Civil War - This website takes a look at the roles women played during the war.

Article written by Aubrey Fredrickson