| TIPS FOR SEARCHING THE DATABASE |
The leading cause of search failure is entering a soldier's name into the Database query with a different spelling than his military record indicate his name to be.
For many names the spelling has changed since the Civil War; letters have been added, dropped or simply changed. For 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 caused by 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.
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. Below are a few search methods to help you search the Database in order to improve the odds of success:
Set state served to "ALL" 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.
NEVER enter the middle name with the first name.
Enter only the last name and first initial of the first name. 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.
Enter variations of spelling of the last name with NO first name or initials. Use spellings that sound like the name you are looking for (i.e. Smyth for Smith, Abel for Able). This should help you narrow the search.
If you believe the information about a soldier is incorrect, or if you have additional information about a soldier please e-mail us at civilwardata@sprynet.com so we can update the Database. Thanks, and good luck with your searches.