First Guide to Civil War Genealogy and Research

First Guide to Civil War Genealogy and Research By Gerald Post The years 2011 through 2015 mark the Sesquicentennial (150th) Anniversary of the great American Civil War. This historic event will generate a renewed interest in “all things Civil War” and now is the time to research and learn about your Civil War ancestors. If your ancestors were living in America at the time of the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, chances are very good that your great grandfather or great great-grandfather (you had eight of them) was one of the 3.5 million soldiers who fought for either the North or South. If this is the case, the good news is that there probably is a wealth of information about your Confederate or Union ancestor and his military unit waiting for you in some archive. And, getting your own copy of these records is as easy as going on-line to the Web sites listed in this book In the last few years there has been a virtual explosion of information available on the Internet and in this third edition of his book the author, Gerald Post, has extensively updated the material to include Internet Web sites related to the Civil War. Addresses are given along with a brief description of the contents in each site. Gerald Post became interested the Civil War after inheriting his great grandfather’s Civil War diary which he published, The Civil War Diary and Biography of George W. Bailey. Gerald is a Civil War re-enactor with an Artillery Unit and appeared in the movie Gettysburg. He graduated from Western Michigan University, has an Electrical Engineering Certificate from Michigan State University and a MBA from Western Connecticut University This book gives you the information needed for your own Confederate or Union Civil War genealogical research. Chapter 2 provides a "Quick Start" method using the Internet to get you started on your research with a minimum effort. Chapter 3 lists Web sites for Civil War and genealogy research. Some sites provide free genealogy forms which you can use to record your results. Other chapters explain how and where (addresses and Web sites are provided) to get information about your ancestors from the National Archives, State Archives, the census records, the Internet, local libraries and Civil War clubs, and from many other sources. Since most readers are interested in either a Union or Confederate ancestor, the chapters are arranged so that you can zero in on the source of information for either your Johnny Reb or Billy Yank ancestor. The third edition also provides background information on the Civil War and how military units were raised and organized into armies, corps, divisions, brigades, regiments and companies. The book also describes the new computerized Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS), an online database can be used to access individual information of over 3 million soldiers and sailors using records at the National Archives. . “A few years ago I inherited the Civil War diary of my great-grandfather, George W. Bailey. He served in the 3rd Michigan Infantry from June 1861 until he was discharged in April 1865. I was fascinated with his experiences in all the battles from First Bull Run in 1861 through the Battle of the Wilderness in April 1864 where he was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison in Georgia. What kind of man was he that he could survive all of this and yet return to his home after the war and raise a family of 10 children? The answer to this question led me to a research project involving the National Archives, state archives, trips to libraries and museums, visits to National Parks at Gettysburg and Andersonville, correspondence with dozens of his descendants and finally to an interest in Civil War reenacting. The trail also led me into the field of genealogy where I was able to trace his lineage back to the 1600's in France and to track down 214 of his descendants. “The National Archives proved to be a treasure chest of information on Private George Bailey and most of it came to me by simply going on the Internet as described in the “Quick Start” in Chapter 2 of this book. One surprising bit of information that turned up in his service records was that George Bailey was twice charged with desertion! First, when he was captured at the Battle of The Wilderness, his officers thought he had deserted. However, when they later discovered he had been taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville Prison, the records show that he was reinstated and his status changed to "captured in battle." Later, when he was released from Andersonville Prison in 1865 too sick to serve, he was sent home on furlough to rest, yet somehow his papers were mixed up and they thought he had deserted from furlough. Copies of letters obtained from the National Archives show that Bailey wrote from his home in Michigan to Washington asking why he had not received orders to appear for discharge. Somehow the matter was cleared up and he was given an honorable discharge from service on April 14, 1865. “The pension records obtained from the National Archives revealed a possible scandal in the family tree! When George Bailey died in 1905, his widow and the mother of his ten children filed for a widow's pension. When the clerk in Washington tried to verify the marriage of Mary and George Bailey with the clerk at the Allegan County Court House, no record of the marriage could be found. This must have been a great shock to Mary and her ten children! However, it is good news to his descendant’s because it created a flurry of correspondence as Mary's friends and family wrote letters to Washington testifying that she and George were indeed married. All these letters are in the National Archives pension files and they reveal much about the Bailey family and life in the 1800's that had been lost to their descendants. (Yes, they were able to prove the marriage and Mary received her widow's pension.) “The National Archives was also a source of information on the history of George Bailey's unit, The 3rd Michigan Infantry. A free summary of the regimental history and a list of the men in the unit were available online. For example, the records show that the 3rd Infantry fought in 49 separate engagements from First Bull Run in July 1861 to the Battle of Cold Harbor in June 1864. In July 1863, the 3rd fought in the Peach Orchard in Gettysburg and the following day they were on the receiving end of Pickett's Charge. “The above summary is just an example of the information available. It makes fascinating reading, especially when you know that your own ancestor was involved. The message of this book is that if you have a Confederate or Union ancestor who served in the Civil War, it is likely that there is a wealth of information just waiting for you. Happy hunting and I hope you will be as lucky as I was.”