The Civil War Research Information is from Ancestry.com's Ancestry Day at Ft Wayne, Indiana. The pictures of Grant and Lee are the results of a Yahoo search. They were taken by an unnamed Washington D. C. photographer.
Get Organized
Start with a plan.
Identify the families in your tree that lived in the 1860s'
Do you have a specific person in mind or is their a family legend.
Make educated guesses about who might have served in the war.
a. Your direct line b. Brothers c. Cosuins and neighbors
Look for men born between 1816-1846, (this includes ages between 15-45 in 1861).
Start Collecting Records
Start with the U.S. Census for 1860 and 1870.
Civil War records for your possible soldiers.
a. Enlistment and Service Records b. Regiment Records c. Prisoner of War Records Union and Confederate d. Pension Records e. Death records
Local Histories and Family Histories .
Newspapers (illness,injury, p.o.w., death)
Assemble the Story
Create a Timeline
How did the family change between 1860 and 1870
Map your soldier's journey through the war
Additional Tips
Organize your data
Examine your Family Tree
Gather likely suspects
Check brothers and cousins
Union or Confederate, which side did they serve
Check out the border states Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia
Check enlistment records thoroughly for the information you can find
Summarize and update the information you have and know
