A Guide to Civil War Research.
With all the many hundreds of books on the Civil War coming out every year and thousands now available on line, the challenge for the non-professional Civil War researcher is to zero in on the relevant material that will aid in your research.
This set of OnLine lessons is excerpted from our "Guide to Civil War Research" books. We have specific volumes for some states and a general volume which will help you research other states.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Getting Started
Finding a Name - How to find the name of your ancestor who fought in the war.
A Word About Troop Organization - What does regiment, company, battalion, squadron, army, corps, and battery mean and why should I care?
A Mini Course on How To Do Research
Off Line Resources for Research - General reference material for researching both the war and troops who fought in Virginia and in the west.
Military Service Records - An introduction to the holdings in the National and State archives and how to access the finding aids on line.
Veteran Records - Pension records, the United Confederate Veterans, the 1890 Veterans Census, Confederate Veteran Magazine and other resources.
Library Research Tools - Bibliograpies, how to effectively utilize the Library of Congress classifications and numbers to browse a library shelf virtually. How to use Inter Library Loan.
On Line Research Tools - An introduction and overview of the on line resources.
Research Volumes - The most comprehensive bibliography ever compiled by regiment of histories, diaries and journals of Civil War troops. This section lists each of the artillery, cavalry, and infantry units formed with cross references to the first hand accounts, diaries, journals, and regimental histories written on the unit.
Formation of Counties in each state
County Cross Reference - Showing what units were formed in each county.
EXAMPLE:
JACKSON COUNTY:
Alabama 4th Cavalry Regiment (Russell's)
Alabama 12th Cavalry Regiment
Alabama 18th Cavalry Battalion
3rd Confederate Cavalry Regiment: DeKalb - Jackson - Wilcox
Alabama 2nd Infantry Regiment
Alabama 4th Infantry Regiment
Alabama 6th Infantry Regiment
Alabama 7th Infantry Regiment
Alabama 9th Infantry Regiment
Alabama 12th Infantry Regiment
Alabama 49th Infantry Regiment
Alabama 55th Infantry Regiment
1st Confederate Infantry Battalion: some men from old 2nd Alabama Infantry Regiment: Calhoun - Jackson - Mobile
Waddell's Alabama Battery
Local Designations of Troops - Cross referencing local names to the unit and company in which they served.
EXAMPLE:
Alabama Invincibles (AL 38th Infantry Regiment, Co. D)
Confederate Bricks (AL 54th Infantry Regiment, Co, B
Emmett Guards (AL 24th Infantry Regiment, Co, B
Battles Fought by state - The major battles identified by campaign with links to on-line resources.
