Madison County Genealogical Society

Minutes of the Meeting - January 10, 2019

 

The January 2019 meeting of the Madison County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on Thursday, January 10, at 7:00 pm.

 

President, Robert Ridenour, called the meeting to order.

GIFT MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE

Do you have a family member that is interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.

The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $25.00
Patron Annual Membership $35.00
Life Membership $300.00

Contact our Secretary, Petie Hunter, at petie8135@att.net, about a gift membership.

January Meeting

 

On January 10, 2019, Tom Pearson, Subject Specialist in the Genealogy Room of the St. Louis Public Library, presented a program titled Prairie State Patriots: Researching Illinois Civil War Ancestors.

 

Definitions:

 

A civil war soldier enlisted in a regiment, which consisted of roughly 1,000 men. A regiment was made up of 10 companies, each of which consisted of roughly 100 men. A regiment was normally commanded by a colonel, while each company was commanded by a captain. The ten companies of a regiment were lettered as follows: A B C D E F G H I K. Hey, where’s the letter J? The letter J was not used, because a handwritten I and J look too much alike, and can be easily confused. A cavalry troop of 12 companies would add companies L and M. A regiment was part of a larger group called a brigade, which usually consisted of 3-5 regiments. The commander of a brigade was normally a brigadier general.

 

Union Civil War armies were mainly named for the major river in the area in which they operated, i.e., Army of the Potomac, Army of the Cumberland. Confederate armies were normally named for the geographic areas in which they operated, i.e., Army of Northern Virginia, Army of Tennessee.

 

 

Beginning Your Research

 

Finding information about a Civil War soldier involves discovering six key pieces of information:

1. Which side he was on

2. The state he served with

3. Was he a regular, volunteer, or militia

4. His arm of service

5. His regiment and company

6. Did he survive the war?

 

1. Which Side Was He On?

 

People generally know which side their ancestor served with, although this can be complicated if a man lived in a border state or if he served on both sides, as did some Civil War soldiers (ever heard the phrase, “Galvanized Yankee?”)

 

2. What State Did He Serve With?

 

Men generally (but not always) served with a regiment from the state that they lived in. If he lived in close proximity with another state, or most of his kin resided in another state, then he could easily have served with a regiment from that other state. He might also cross state lines in order to serve with the cavalry or artillery, rather than the infantry. He might also cross state lines in order to serve with a unit in which his native language was spoken. He might also have joined up in another state if he wished to disguise his loyalty to protect his family.

 

3. Was He a Regular, a Volunteer, or Militia?

 

A Civil War soldier could serve in a military unit raised directly by the USA or CSA governments (a regular), raised directly by a state (volunteer unit), or his state’s militia. If he served in the state militia, he would probably be on-call rather than active duty, serve in his local area, and be less likely statistically to be killed/wounded.

 

A majority of Civil War soldiers served in state volunteer regiments or militia units. In fact, many men served first in a local militia unit, then joined a state volunteer regiment. A Union soldier’s status as a regular, volunteer, or militia soldier is very important. It determines whether or not he or his survivors received a pension after the war based on his Civil War service. He was eligible only if his unit was sworn into federal service at some point. If his regiment only performed routine militia duties in his home state, he and his surviving spouse were not eligible for a federal pension.

 

4. What Was His Arm of Service?

 

You will need to find out the arm of service in which your ancestor served. Was he in the Infantry, i.e., on the march with a rifle on his shoulder; in the Cavalry, i.e., a horse soldier; or in the Artillery, i.e., manning the big guns. To complicate things even further, he could also have been an engineer or pioneer. Engineers built roads, bridges, fortifications, and other structures. Pioneers cleared and repaired roads, cleared battlefield obstacles like fences, built pontoon boats, buried the dead, and gathered arms and equipment from the battlefield.

 

Odds are, however, that your soldier ancestor was in the infantry. Approximately 80% of men in both armies were infantry soldiers.

 

5. What Was His Regiment and Company?

 

Confederate regiments could be numbered, as in 1st Texas Infantry Regiment, or known by the name of its first commander, as in Slayback’s Cavalry Regiment.

 

Researching Civil War Regiments

 

A good starting point for researching a Civil War Union regiment is Dyer’s Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. It is a three volume book set chock full of information about Civil War Union regiments. It is a three volume book set chock full of information about Civil War Union regiments. http://www.civilwararchive.com/regim.htm is an online version of Dyer’s Compendium. The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database also has a Regiment search form.

 

The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies

 

The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion (O.R.) is a multi-volume book set. It can also be accessed online (http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.monographs/waro.html) it is part of the Cornell University Making of America web site. The O.R. is a very good source of information on Civil War regiments — it is not such a good source of information on individual Civil War soldiers, especially enlisted men.

 

The O.R. reprinted those orders that could be located prior to the printing of the book set. Some reports and correspondence were overlooked or were unavailable at that point. Much of this previously overlooked /unavailable material has been gathered together in a book set known as the Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion (https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002912198). The Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion consists of two sections:

·     Reports– overlooked / unavailable items previously omitted from the O.R., and

·     Record of Events section that provides chronologies of service by company for many regiments both Union and Confederate.

 

Regimental Histories

 

Book-length histories have been written for many Civil War regiments. Some were written by members of those regiments; others have been written at various times from war’s end to the present day. There are a number of ways to find if a regimental history exists for a particular regiment. Search WorldCat.org for the name of the particular regiment. If a history exists you can get a list of libraries that hold a copy of this book. The list is arranged by distance from your location.

 

Researching Civil War Soldiers

 

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database (https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm) is a great starting point if you know little or nothing about a Civil War soldier. This database is very user-friendly. To find information on your civil war veteran, perform a search for his name. If the name is found, a results screen will be displayed. Click on your veteran’s name and details on the veteran will be shown.

 

You could find his regiment, company, and rank in and out; alternate names, if any. It could help you find relatives who joined the same regiment, provide regimental and battle histories, provide information on national historic sites and battlefields, and even provide suggestions for further research.

 

Roster of Union Soldiers

 

There is also a book set equivalent of the online Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database. The book set, Roster of Union Soldiers, is organized by state.

 

Ancestry. Com

 

Ancestry.com is great place to continue researching a Union Civil War soldier. It can help you find information on a man’s service record and any pension based on his Civil War service (vet, widow, parents, or minor/dependent adult children). Ancestry.com has a military search form (https://www.ancestry.com/cs/civilwarrecords). The military search form returns almost the same data as the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database. Ancestry.com also has searches for Military Unit History and Military Pension Records.

 

Researching Civil War Soldiers Using State Archives Web Sites

 

When researching a Union soldier, the archives in the state he served with is the one most likely to have information about the soldier and his regiment. It is also smart, however, to check with the state archives in any states he lived in after the war. This rule is doubly smart in the case of Confederate soldiers.

 

Illinois State Archives Online Databases

 

The Illinois State Archives (http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/datcivil.html) has a Descriptive Rolls Search. If your veteran is located by this search, you will be able to see the physical description of your veteran recorded when he enlisted. It also includes a brief service record.

 

Missouri Soldiers Database

 

Missouri also has an online searchable Civil War soldiers database. The Missouri State Archives Guide to Civil War Resources lists the Civil War Records found at the Missouri State Archives.

 

Researching Wounded/Sick Civil War Soldiers

 

It is sometimes possible to find further information about a soldier who was wounded/sick during the war. A great source for this type of information is The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (http://civilwardc.org/texts/cases/about). This book set includes some general and statistical information about Civil War medicine, but also includes accounts of the treatment and outcomes for various individual soldiers. It includes some illustrations and it can be graphic. There is also a digital version — https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002074244.

 

6. What If He Died During the War?

 

It is often possible to find further information about a soldier who was killed or died of disease during the war. National Cemetery Administration (Department of Veterans Affairs) has a web site that includes a section called the “Nationwide Gravesite Locator” (https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/) that can be used to locate the burial places of many Civil War soldiers. You fill in the Nationwide Gravesite Locator search form for your veteran and you should receive details about where the veteran is buried. A map of the cemetery could also be available.

 

GAR Death Rolls

 

State departments of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) often printed a statewide death roll as part of the printed report on its annual encampment.

 

A fairly large number of Civil War soldiers were buried as unknowns, however, because they were not issued dog tags. But dog tags didn’t exist during the Civil War, did they? Actually, they did! Metallic ID disks quite similar to modern dog tags did exist at the time and were bought by some men with their own funds.

 

NEED A HANDOUT?

 

If you contact Mr. Pearson at tpearson@slpl.org, he will send you an electronic handout from the presentation with many more active links to these locations.

 

This presentation was very well received and provoked many questions and comments.

 

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