This year marks the 150th anniversary of America’s Civil War. It is the perfect time for genealogists to do some research on the military history of their family, or to learn more about ancestors who were alive when the Civil War took place. There are plenty of online resources that you can use.
The Library of Congress has an archive of U.S. Civil War Regimental Histories. This is a good place to find details about the organization and achievements of a particular unit. You can also find unit rosters, personal narratives (like letters and diaries), and more. There is a table of contents that is split into links that are relevant for people whose ancestors served the Union, and links that are relevant for people whose ancestors served the Confederacy. These records can be easily sorted through by genealogists who already know which side their ancestor served on.
The American Civil War Homepage is another good resource. Genealogists will find the section containing “Rosters & Regimental Histories” to be particularly useful. You may also want to check out the section of “State & Local Studies”, which are conveniently broken down by state. Another interesting section is the one called “Images of Wartime”, which includes links to maps and photos from the Civil War.
Ancestry.com has many collections of Civil War records. You have to be a member of Ancestry.com to access these records. If you aren’t already a member, perhaps now is a good time to take advantage of their free trial period. Their collection of “U.S. Civil War Photos” has nearly 7,000 photographs from the Civil War. There is a collection of “U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records” which are from 1861- 1865. The most interesting collection might be the “U.S. Civil War Soldiers” one, which includes more than 6 million names of servicemen who fought in the Civil War between 1861 and 1865. These are just a few of the Civil War collections you can find on Ancestry.com.
Flickr has an interesting collection of quilt patterns that were used during the Civil War. It might be fun to check these out, and wonder if any of your female ancestors who were alive during the Civil War may have made quilts that used these kinds of patterns.
Image by quiltexplorer on Flickr