Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865

Over six million records in this collection represent nearly every documented soldier in the U.S. Civil War. While the information about each soldier will vary, entries typically provide:

• Soldier’s first and last name
• Affiliation (Union or Confederate)
• Regiment
• Company
• Rank in
• Rank out

Millions of Americans served in the Civil War, sending many soldiers far from home, across the United States. Explore these records and learn essential information about your ancestor and their service during the bloodiest war in American history. The facts you uncover can help you to continue your family history research in other our record collections.

The American Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865, and began after a number of Southern states seceded from the country and formed the Confederate States of America. The ensuing conflict involved millions of Americans being recruited on both sides and became the bloodiest war in American history. The war was brought to a close in April of 1865 after the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, close to the Union-Confederate border on the east coast of the United States.

Created by the National Park Service, in cooperation with the Genealogical Society of Utah and the Federation of Genealogical Societies, information in this collection is from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors index, which collects entries for 6.3 million individuals from 44 states and territories. Compiled from original records held by the National Archives and Records Administration.

• Widen your search by clicking the “name variants” box in the search bar. This will return a larger number of records with similar names, including possible alternate spellings or the use of initials or middle names.

• If you know the state where your ancestor was born, try adding this to the "Optional keywords" search bar. This should narrow down the search results significantly.