Tracking Your Ancestor's Military Service.

Joined
Jun 24, 2019
Question. For those of you that have family members that fought in the confederacy (or union).

My great-great grandfather fought in the confederacy. I know his unit and everything. I know this for a fact based on a military record showing he had signed up. What I'm trying to figure out is - how do you know when they got out? I can't find anything showing when he LEFT service at all.

Just trying to pinpoint when he was in and out so I can figure out which battles he was at. I know for certain he was at Gettysburg, but I simply have nothing in any records to place his service in context; a fence to around it if you will to give me a bird's-eye-view of his service. I've found all this stuff through ancestry. But, any other suggestions?
 
Question. For those of you that have family members that fought in the confederacy (or union).

My great-great grandfather fought in the confederacy. I know his unit and everything. I know this for a fact based on a military record showing he had signed up. What I'm trying to figure out is - how do you know when they got out? I can't find anything showing when he LEFT service at all.

Just trying to pinpoint when he was in and out so I can figure out which battles he was at. I know for certain he was at Gettysburg, but I simply have nothing in any records to place his service in context; a fence to around it if you will to give me a bird's-eye-view of his service. I've found all this stuff through ancestry. But, any other suggestions?

Welcome. If you don't mind sharing his name and regiment, maybe I can help.
 
Question. For those of you that have family members that fought in the confederacy (or union).

My great-great grandfather fought in the confederacy. I know his unit and everything. I know this for a fact based on a military record showing he had signed up. What I'm trying to figure out is - how do you know when they got out? I can't find anything showing when he LEFT service at all.

Just trying to pinpoint when he was in and out so I can figure out which battles he was at. I know for certain he was at Gettysburg, but I simply have nothing in any records to place his service in context; a fence to around it if you will to give me a bird's-eye-view of his service. I've found all this stuff through ancestry. But, any other suggestions?

Ok, I went back and found your ancestor's unit in a previous post. Brooke's Battery A Company, 12th Virginia Light Artillery. Unfortunately, the source I usually go to has practically nothing on this unit. They served through Appomattox. Do you know if he applied for a pension ? That would be a great source. As far as a photo, with all the photos out there, it's easy to get the idea every rebel or yank got his photo made. That's far from true. To find a photo of a Civil War direct ancestor or near relative is akin to winning the lottery. Don't give up ! Best of luck ! It appears his file at Fold 3 only has 2 cards.

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/12th_Battalion,_Virginia_Light_Artillery_(Confederate)

https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=CVAUTTECAL
 
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It appears his file at Fold 3 only has 2 cards.
In addition to the cards filed under 12th Battn Lt Arty., there are a few other carded records in the Virginia index cards:
1562967698842.png
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1562967766723.png

And a whole file in Capt Utterback's VA Lt Arty - 11 pages.
1562967844925.png
 
Question. For those of you that have family members that fought in the confederacy (or union).

My great-great grandfather fought in the confederacy. I know his unit and everything. I know this for a fact based on a military record showing he had signed up. What I'm trying to figure out is - how do you know when they got out? I can't find anything showing when he LEFT service at all.

Just trying to pinpoint when he was in and out so I can figure out which battles he was at. I know for certain he was at Gettysburg, but I simply have nothing in any records to place his service in context; a fence to around it if you will to give me a bird's-eye-view of his service. I've found all this stuff through ancestry. But, any other suggestions?
Yes heres my suggestion go to www.findagrave.com and put in his name and sometimes if your lucky a distant relative of yours or somebody will leave real good info like I found one of my confederate veterans today in fact and found when he got out as well and his unit all of it but some others not so lucky but give it a shot , you will needa make an account but it's free and simple. Let me know how it goes
 
I'm going to second @redbob - if you can't find specifics about your own ancestor, try looking at the overall unit. You can't be sure he was there for every skirmish and/or battle but you will have a much better view as to how the war went for that group of men. Unfortunately, that is sometimes all you can get. Another possible source is diaries and letters from men in the same unit or men from the same town.
 
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