ExNavyPilot
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2010
- Location
- Chesapeake, VA
Yeah that's defintely a worthy expense. I'd just hate to spend the $25 and get everything I already knew from Fold3. I'll call the archives first and get some more information. Eventually I'd like to get all 8 +1 (last night I discovered another Connell in Company I) for a small publication to go with our family album, but dedicated to our ancestors of the Civil War. It'll be a long project but from dates of muster rolls, etc... I'd like to pinpoint dates and where they were and what battles they were in.
Yeah, it's a bit of an expense, and a project like your publication would take lots of time and effort, but it's a labor of love and well worth the investment.
Like you, I've been learning what I can about my ancestors' service, then tying their dates of service (minus detachments, furloughs, sick periods, etc.) to their unit histories to determine what actions they saw. Now I'm reading books on those actions and noting those portions of the battles in which the ancestors participated. This gives me a clearer idea of what my ancestors might have experienced on the field. Throw in any diaries from company- or regiment-mates and you get an even better idea of what the battles were like, as well as camp life, marches, etc. Campaign/Operational level books provide reasons why things happen the way they did, and the books on strategy and policy help provide overall meaning. Then you start to have an understanding of the whole deal.
I guess the big trick is to, as you're planning to do, capture the information for your descendants so they can benefit from your time and efforts. Good luck, and enjoy the journey.