
                               From the Internet

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       The following is reprinted by permission of the author.

                         ----------------------------

       Date: Sun Dec 26 17:03:16 EDT 1993
       Subject: CIVIL WAR ANCESTORS
       To: internet!VM1.NoDak.EDU!ROOTS-L (Multiple  recipients  of list
       ROOTS-L)


                  Civil War Ancestors & the National Archives
             An ongoing compilation by wmm@hopper.itc.virginia.edu

       The  National  Archives hold one million cubic feet of records of
       every conceivable type,  all  of  which are accessible to anyone.
       They contain: Compiled military service records for each soldier,
       whether  volunteer  or regular, Union or Confederate; Most of the
       compiled  Union and Confederate  Naval  &  Marine  Corps  service
       records;  Union  pension  records for all  state  volunteers  and
       regulars,  Army,  Navy  and Marines; Court-martial records (Union
       only); Medical records  on  individual  soldiers; Prisoner-of-war
       records; Draft records; Burial records.

       To begin your search at the Archive, send for free copies of NATF
       Form  80  from  the  Military Service Branch, National Archives &
       Records Service, 8th  &  Pennsylvania  Ave.  NW,  Washington,  DC
       20408. Be  certain  to  completely  fill  in this  form,  or  the
       Archives will return it to you, unanswered.

       For  Union  veterans,  use  separate  forms  to  request military
       service records and  pension  records.  Then,  in  red ink, write
       after veteran's name, "Please send complete  contents  of  file."
       Mail  the  completed  form and $10 check made out to the National
       Archives Trust Fund to  the  address  above. Allow 2-3 months for
       delivery. You will get a refund if nothing is found.

       Send a separate form for a Confederate veteran.   Check  only the
       box  for  military service records. Add, in red ink, "Please send
       complete contents of file." Send the form and a $10 check.

       Send a separate form and check for each name you wish researched.
       If your ancestor served in more than one regiment,  you must send
       a form  and check for each regiment. Records for enlisted men are
       scarce,  in  some  cases  non-existent.   Officers'  records  are
       usually extensive.


        If you think your ancestor was brought before a court martial

       After you receive the above records, send  another  NATF  Form 80
       and  a  $10 check with an attached note reading: "Please send all
       court-martial records".   Do  this  for  Federal  soldiers  only,
       Confederate court-martial records are very scarce.


        If you suspect he was sick, wounded, or disabled

       Send another NATF Form 80 and $10 check with  an  attached  note:
       "Please send complete medical records".


        If you receive a reply stating records cannot be found

       Send the whole thing again -- you will get a different researcher
       the second time, who might find something.


        If your ancestor was drafted

       (US only - draft records  were  compiled for men 20-35, unmarried
       men  35-45,  married  men 35-45, and those  who  volunteered  for
       service. The  lists  are arranged by state, then by county.) Give
       name of veteran, state,  county,  city  (including  the ward), or
       town.  Write to Navy & Old Army Branch, National Archives  (GSA),
       Washington, DC 20408


         If your ancestor took an amnesty oath

       Amnesty  oaths  taken  by  Confederate soldiers and citizens, and
       amnesty papers for high  Confederate  officials  & persons owning
       more  than  $20,000  in  property, are arranged  by  state,  then
       alphabetically by surname. They show the date the oath was taken,
       the  place,  signature,   and   sometimes   the   age,   personal
       description, and/or Confederate military  unit.  Write  to Navy &
       Old Army Branch, National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408.


        If your ancestor was ever a prisoner

       File  M347  contains  names  of Confederates in Union prisons and
       Federals  in  Confederate  prisons,  arranged  alphabetically  by
       surname. File  M346  contains records of payments to  Confederate
       citizens  or  firms  for  materials purchased by the U.S. Army or
       Navy. Send inquiries regarding  these files to Reference Services
       Branch (NNIR), National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408.

        If your ancestor was buried in a National or Military Cemetery

       Reference Services Branch will search cemetery  listings of Union
       soldiers  buried  in  National  cemeteries.  They are arranged by
       state, then alphabetically  by  cemetery. Send veteran's name and
       the name of the cemetery you think he is  buried  in.  Also write
       Memorial  Division,  Quartermaster  General's Office, Washington,
       D.C. 20025 to search their  similar  file on military cemeteries,
       arranged same way, titled "Roll of Honor."

        If your ancestor was buried in a non-military cemetery

       Under an 1897 law, the U.S. government supplied,  on  request,  a
       headstone  for  any  veteran  buried  in a non-military cemetery.
       Applications for these  stones  made  between  1879  and 1903 are
       indexed. Write   Reference   Services  Branch  (NNIR),   National
       Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408, giving name, military unit,
       date of death, and place of burial (if known).



       Microfilm rolls of records  can be obtained by your library as an
       inter-library  loan. Check "List of National  Archives  Microfilm
       Publications"  for  available  titles. If you request information
       about a regiment's history,  a  specific  battle,  ship, etc. the
       Archives will tell you which records it can  duplicate or provide
       on microfilm.

       - Dec.26, Maury of Albemarle County, Va.

       Email  replies  should  have  the  following on the first line of
       message text:    TO: Maury.
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