Help searching CMSR

[rgtaylor61]

While I've been lucky to locate several family members cards and also fortunate to have several shared I'm still having issues searching the National Archives. What is the best way to format a search if you know the soldiers name regiment company state.?

 

[John Hartwell]

Where you searching? What states? The CSR files are being digitized at fold3.com (a pay site), but not all states are completed yet (it will likely be years before all are digitized). Ordering files directly from the National Archives is the next alternative. I would highly recommend a service like GopherRecords:

National Archives Digitizing, Civil War Ancestors, Civil War Records - GopherRecords.com

We specialize in the retrieval and duplication of Civil War and other 19th-century military records from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), including service records, pension files, medical records, Court Martial records, Bounty Land records, and others.

gopherrecords.com

which is not only considerably less expensive, but MUCH quicker (by months!) than ordering direct from the NA.

There are also state-level sources, just how useful depends on what state.

 

[Fairfield]

It depends on the state, I suppose--that is, on the way it keeps its records. Maine has a pretty good collection which is by name (in fact, the CMSR is often the way I found out about service in other regiments). If the family members aren't from Maine, I'd go the FamilySearch WikiResearch, enter something like "South Carolina CMSR" and up will pop sources to check (some online).

BTW, I did exactly that and got three answers: Confederate, Union and early miltia. Then I clicked on CONFEDERATE and found an explanation of what is where (along with several links).

 

[John Hartwell]

Gopherrecords offers a very useful guide to online Confederate records:

Online Confederate Records, Confederate Service and Pension Records - GopherRecords.com

Records about Confederate soldiers are certainly less prevalent than those for their Union counterparts. But many more Confederate records exist than are widely known and many of those records are online.

gopherrecords.com

 

[rgtaylor61]

Gopherrecords offers a very useful guide to online Confederate records:

Online Confederate Records, Confederate Service and Pension Records - GopherRecords.com

Records about Confederate soldiers are certainly less prevalent than those for their Union counterparts. But many more Confederate records exist than are widely known and many of those records are online.

gopherrecords.com

Thank you