Researching An Indiana Soldier

1. Telephone or visit the Indiana State Archives in Indianapolis. Ask to reference the soldier microfilm records to determine your soldier's regiment number and dates of muster in and muster out. The microfilm record will also give height, weight, hair and eye color and occupation at the time of enlistment. It will also give the place of residency.

2. With the above information you can now conduct an exhaustive study of your soldier using a multitude of resources. The following steps should be taken for an exhaustive search:

• Indiana State Library has a nice manuscript section with collections referenced by regiment. This includes diaries, letters and memoirs. Also ask to see the Governor’s Civil War photo albums.

• Indiana State Historical Society. The Smith Library contains a wealth of diaries, letters, manuscripts and photographs, all indexed by regiment.

• Indiana State Archives has collections of official correspondence and records for each regiment. Contains letters to the Governor, petitions, descriptive rosters and other important records.

• National Archives. You’ll need to fill out a short application for a research card, but it is worth the effort. File boxes contain key military letters, orders, disciplinary records, payroll logs and other important records from the regiment of your soldier. Be sure to call ahead and have your regiment pulled in advance of your visit. Good luck finding parking.

3. Visit the libraries and museums in the counties in the counties of origin for your soldier’s regiment. You may find copies of letters and diaries. Ask if the local newspapers of 1861-1865 are on microfilm. It was very popular at the time for soldiers to write letters home to the newspapers. These soldier letters are a superb resource.

4. Check the Official Records of the Civil War. Very few libraries have the complete 128 volume set. You can purchase a complete searchable copy of the Official Records on CD-ROM on this website in the new books section. The Official Records contain battle reports, citations, records, orders and casualty summaries. This is searchable by name or regiment.

5. United States Army Military History Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This U. S. Government operated archive has thousands of photographs and paper collections. It is worth a look to see what they have. You can find them on-line at http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/

6. Look for your soldier’s photograph on this website in our searchable photo database.

7. Suscribe to Civil War News and The Courier. They allow you to place free classified ads for information on your soldier or regiment. The URL for the Civil War News is http://www.civilwarnews.com

8. Use every search engine on the internet and look for your soldier’s regiment. There are a surprising number of regimental internet sites with lots of great information.

9. Print off the regimental history of your soldier’s regiment from this site and review the battles he participated in. Many battlefields have adjacent museums or park offices that may have information on your soldier or soldier’s regiment.

The most important thing to remember in all of your research is that the Civil War community is very helpful. We all love history and geneology. The best thing you can do is ask for advice and help. People will respond.