Overview

Welcome to the American Civil War Research Database. You may begin your use of the Database through any of the products listed on the Product page. You will find hyperlinks that will move you from one part of the Database to another. A hyperlink is indicated by blue colored font. By clicking your mouse on the hyperlink you will jump to that part of the Database.

After processing a query, information from the Database is presented back to you in tables. The top row of the table contains column headings. Clicking on a column heading will sort and re-list the table from highest to lowest value for that column.

Above the top row of the table (above the column headings) is a 'navigation bar'. For large tables you can jump forward or back by 1, 5, 10, or 20 screens. You can also jump to the last or first screen of the table. Click on the appropriate jump factor and the Database will move accordingly.

The tables consist of fields or 'cells'. Most cells of a table are hyperlinks to detail information about the content of the cell. For example, if you are viewing a Regimental Dynamics table and you wish to get the names of the soldiers who transferred into a particular regiment - simply click on the cell showing the number of soldiers for that regiment who entered by 'Transfer In'.

Searching in the Database is done on a pattern matching basis. The Database will return all data that contains the information you entered into the search. For example, if you enter 'John' as the last name for a personnel query the system will return soldiers with the last name that contains 'John' such as 'Johns', 'Johnny', 'Johnson', etc.

To help you narrow your search to a particular state or region you need to set the 'State Selector'. See that section for more detail.

NOTE: JAVA SCRIPTING AND COOKIES ARE USED WITHIN THIS SITE.    YOU MUST HAVE THESE FEATURES ENABLED WITHIN YOUR INTERNET BROWSER SOFTWARE.    FAILURE TO DO SO WILL CAUSE THE SYSTEM TO NOT RESPOND TO YOUR QUERY.
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Setting the 'State Selector'

The State Selector is used to narrow your search of the Database to a particular state, Union or Confederate group, or all states query. The State Selector icon is found in the top left corner of your screen and will show which state(s) has been selected for Database searching.

Click on the State Selector icon to change its setting and proceed to the map of the United States. Click on the state or the symbol for Union or Confederate regions. ( Use the enlarged map for selecting MA, RI, or CT.) Once you make your selection the State Selector icon on the top left corner of your screen will change. The system will then return you to the area of the Database you left before changing the Selector. Re-run your query and the appropriate information will be returned.

NOTE: Set your browser to accept 'cookies' if the State Selector does not appear to function .
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How to use 'Regimental Dynamics'

With the Regimental Dynamics screen you can compare regiments by type of unit, by length of service, by state, or by region for the 'In Method' and 'Out Method' categories listed. You can view the table data as percentages per category per regiment or by actual count within a regiment. You can also list the detail that comprises the numbers in each cell by clicking on that cell. The table is initially presented in 'KILLED/MORTAL WOUNDED' sequence from high to low. Click on any column heading that is active and the table will be re-sorted by that category from high to low. Click on the name of the regiment and you will get more information about the regiment.

To conduct a regimental dynamics search you must first set the State Selector. Following this, pick the unit type and the length of service grouping. You can select multiple categories by pressing (for PC's) or (for Mac's) while making the selection for your query. Select 'percentages' or 'numbers'.
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How to use 'Regimental Look-up'

The Regimental Look-up screen is a 'shortcut' screen for locating a particular regiment. Set the State Selector to the appropriate state. Enter the unit number -- ONLY ENTER THE NUMBER -- do not use any suffix such as ...rd, ...nd, ...st. Select unit type from pull down table.
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Search Tips

NOTE: IF YOUR COMPUTER DOES NOT RESPOND AND APPEARS 'FROZEN' WHEN YOU ARE DOING A SEARCH THEN YOU HAVE NOT ENABLED THE JAVA SCRIPTING AND/OR COOKIE FEATURES OF YOUR BROWSER.    THIS IS A PROBLEM WITH YOUR COMPUTER AND YOUR BROWSER SOFTWARE.   THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM WITH THE DATABASE OR WITH THE HDS SITE.    CONTACT YOUR BROWSER VENDOR FOR ASSISTANCE.

Looking for a certain soldier can be a challenging and often times frustrating experience. The leading cause of search failure is entering a soldier's name into the Database query with a different spelling than his military record is under.

For many names the spelling has changed since the Civil War; letters have been added, dropped or simply changed. A simple example, Lytle may have become Little, Hulberts maybe Hulbert, etc. Also, many records identify soldiers only by an initial(s) for a first name or first and middle names. Evidence of this naming convention is that there are over 18,000 unique first names in the Civil War Research Database!

Another reason for failing to locate a soldier in the Database is listing a state served as state of residence. Often times when a state fulfilled their quota of recruits unassigned volunteers would join a neighboring state's military units. The military records are excellent for identifying units and states served for each soldier but extremely poor in identifying state of residence. Likewise, you may know what town a soldier resided in yet his military record did not list it, and therefore, the Database is empty for that bit of information. DO NOT ENTER RESIDENCE information unless indicated on the Database Status page that residence information for the state in question is available.

The Database search engine conducts a 'pattern match' search. This means that all names containing your query will be returned. For example, if you enter a last name of Rea the Database will return all soldiers with the last name Rea as well as anybody whose last name begins with Rea such as Read.

Two wildcard characters ( * and ? )are available when conducting searches. Wildcards will help expedite your searches of the Database when you are uncertain about spelling.

Single character wildcard. Use the '?' character in the middle of a name and the Database will return only a single character in its place. The character could be any letter or number or character from the keyboard. For example, if you enter the last name 'J?nes' into the personnel directory query, the Database will return a list of soldiers whose last name begins with J, ends in nes, and has one letter or character between the 'J' and 'nes' such as 'Janes', or 'Jones'.

Multiple character wildcard. Use the '*' character in the middle of a name and the Database will return unlimited number of characters in its place. The characters could be any letter or number or characters from the keyboard. Continuing the example above, if you enter the last name 'J*nes' into the query, the Database will return a list of soldiers whose last name begins with J, ends in nes, and has unlimited number of characters between the 'J' and 'nes'. In this type of query not only will 'Janes' and 'Jones' be listed, but 'Jaines', 'Jaynes', 'Joynes', etc. will be listed. A word of warning, searches using the '*' character can take a long time to complete and Database timeout errors are possible.

NOTE: DO NOT use apostrophes in a name search.      Substitute '?' in place of the apostrophe.

Below are a few tips to help you search the Database in order to improve the odds of success:

1) Set state served and state of residence to "ALL"; leave residence and occupation blank; set 'Survived War' to "Don't Know" and repeat the search. This will return soldiers from all states with the name you entered. REMEMBER state served is NOT always the state of residence and state of residence was not always part of the military records.

2) NEVER enter the middle name with the first name.

3) Enter only the last name and first initial of the first name. Repeat this step using the first initial of the middle name as the first initial of the first name -- many records have the first and middle names reversed. Leave the other fields as in point 1. This will return all soldiers with the last name you entered as well as any with the first name beginning with the initial you entered.

4) Use the wildcard characters (as described above) in the last name. This will produce variations of spelling of the last name. Do not use any first name or initials. Hopefully, between the pattern matching and wildcard search capabilities of the Datbase you will find who you are looking for. If you are still having a problem locating a soldier drop us an email with the particulars and perhaps we can help.
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About the Medal of Honor query

The Medal of Honor query page allows you to search the Database by name and/or state served for soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor. This list will include both Union and CSA soldiers. CSA records list many Medal of Honor soldiers as 'Roll of Honor' soldiers. It appears that the reason for this designation was the Confederate's short supply of metal. Over time, the Confederacy needed to conserve their supply of metal for the war effort and therefore created the 'Roll of Honor' to recognize deeds of bravery and courage.

When doing a query you will see information presented as follows:

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About the Roll of Honor query

We have begun to enter names of Union soldiers listed on the Roll of Honor. This query page allows you to search the Database by name and/or state served for Union soldiers that died while in the service. The information is taken from the U.S. Quartermaster's Department Roll of Honor. NOTE: A very large percentage of the soldiers in this publication are only listed by initials for first/middle names. Also, there are many soldiers in this publication where the last name is spelled differently than in the official state records.

When doing a query you will see information presented as follows:

Back to Roll of Honor Directory

 

As always, we hope you will share with us any information you have about a soldier or regiment so we can update the Database. Please email us the information or call 781.934.1353. Our U.S. postal address is Historical Data Systems, Inc., PO Box 35, Duxbury, MA 02331

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