Civil War GravesBy Connie Lenzen, CGAn article published in the 5 May 2005 issue of the Vancouver Columbian. |
Matthew, my 8th grade grandson, is studying the Civil War. He asked if he
had any ancestors who fought in the Civil War. He has at least two, Daniel
Hale Taylor and Dugald Leitch. Taylor was a Union soldier, and Leitch was
a Confederate soldier. It is not unusual for genealogists to discover they
have ancestors who fought on both sides. The war was one that pit brother
against brother, neighbor against neighbor, and state against state.
The first place that genealogists should look for information on their Civil
War soldier is the “Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System,” online
at www.itd.nps.gov/cwss. The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System is a National
Parks System database that contains names of soldiers, both Union and Confederate.
The database shows that Taylor was a Private in the 27th Regiment, New York
Infantry. Leitch was a Private in Company G of the 28th Mississippi Cavalry.
Another section of the website has unit histories. It is here that we find
the 27th Regiment was organized at Elmira, New York on May 21, 1861. The soldiers
saw their first service at the advance on Manassas, Virginia from July 16-21,
1861. They were at the Battle of Bull Run, Virginia on July 21. From that
time on, they saw continual service until they were mustered out on May 31,
1863. Seventy-four men were killed in battle, and 72 died by disease.
There wasn’t as much information for the Confederate ancestor’s
unit. The 28th Regiment of the Mississippi Cavalry was formed during the spring
of 1862, but there was no information about the battles where they served.
Two organizations, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the Sons
of Confederate Veterans, are developing a database that shows where veterans
are buried.
The Union website is at http://suvcw.org. Follow the website index link and
then browse through the special projects to the Graves Registration Project.
Searches can be made for first or last name, date of birth, date of death,
Union or Confederate, regimental unit, rank, cemetery name, and cemetery location.
The Graves Registration Project is new, and it contains only a fraction of
the Union graves. Genealogists are invited to identify Union graves and to
submit the information to the website.
The Confederate website is at www.scv.org. The graves registration project
is not currently online, but they will search names for you. There is a form
that you can fill out if you want to submit information about a Confederate
gravesite.
Memorial Day is coming up. If you go to cemeteries to decorate graves, you may want to look around to see if you can find a Civil War veteran’s grave. Then, send in the information for the next generation of genealogists.
© 2006
Connie Lenzen, CG
CG, Certified Genealogist is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.
| Home | Fees | Columns and Articles | How to do Oregon Research | Speech List |