Military records are able to help in family research by giving clues to where a soldier or sailor resided, what they did while in the service and when in combat whether they survived or not. There are military records that can tell if the ancestor was discharged from the military and when, this can lead to other clues about where they lived and what they might have done.

Unlike today’s military the soldier might have been a wagoneer, which means they drove wagons with supplies, they might have been a drummer, which means they marched with the troops while playing a drum that was worn on a strap. There were soldier’s that were blacksmiths, shoeing the troop’s horses, and most of all the regiments were from certain areas.

Many books have been written about the regiments of the Revolutionary War and about the Civil War, by men that were with the troops or those that have done extensive research. One such book was the History of the One Hundred Forty-First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers by Rev. David Craft. This book like others that were written was published in 1885 and gave detailed accounts of the battles the regiment was involved in, the soldiers who were enlisted, whether they were killed in battle or survived and returned home.

Researching the military person can lead to other clues, in the event the soldier was killed in battle, the wife or parents may have filed a paper to receive a monthly benefit. For the United States soldier the records are kept in Washington D.C. at the National Archives. Locally there might be records found at the Historical Society, even searching local histories of an area can have clues about the soldier and it is possible to find some military records from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War online. The proper way to document a military record in family genealogy is to order a copy of the record from the National Archives, however if it is not a direct descendant then a copy of what is found on line or in a book will do for most researchers.

The important thing about this type of research is that the movements of the ancestor during their time in the military can be learned and their fate. This can lead to learning what might have happened to someone that disappears from a census during the years of 1861 through 1864, even if they lived in a small backwoods community.

What occurred was that they recruited farm boys and men from the small backwoods towns; usually a tent was set up for the men to come and enlist to protect their country. The problem with the Civil War is that this war for the men was personal. Some brothers fought against brother, there were men from the north that had no idea about owning slaves or the other reasons for the war, and yet they joined the regiments that recruited in their towns.

Tags:  Civil War Genealogy Revolutionary War