Civil War Records

The Pennsylvania State Archives holds many records relating to the American Civil War, 1861-1865. These materials document the commonwealth's activities during the war.

Resources with Detailed Information about Civil War Records

Guides

• Teachers should refer to A Guide for Classroom Teachers Researching the Civil War at the Pennsylvania State Archives (PDF).
• Guide to Civil War Records (PDF) by Douglas L. Royer. This guide presents its information according to topic - regiments, pensions, border damage claims, hospitals, maps, photographs, prisons, monuments, etc.
• Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Guide to Civil War Holdings (PDF) by Dr. James P. Weekes and Linda A. Ries. This guide presents its information collection by collection rather than by topic. It covers a wider variety of collections, though, including those of the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Bureau for Historic Preservation and various historic sites in addition to the State Archives holdings.

Books

• History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865 is a five-volume series by Samuel P. Bates. These books contain a wealth of information about Pennsylvania Civil War soldiers and units, including short regimental histories and lists of soldiers' names. The volumes are arranged by military unit, and are name-indexed by the PA State Archives' Civil War Veterans' Card File,1861-1866.
• Register of Civil War Volunteers, 1861-1865 is another index of basic information about each soldier, arranged by regiment and company.

Please note: the information in the Bates series is incomplete, having been taken from our muster-out rolls but not necessarily the muster-in rolls or other related documents. If you do not find a soldier's name here, you should continue your research in other secondary sources, as well as the original records held by the State Archives.

Websites

• Pennsylvania Volunteers of the Civil War: collection of helpful links for genealogical research of Civil War soldiers.
• Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System: a database of information compiled by the National Park Service.
• Pennsylvanians in the Civil War: search for individual soldiers serving in Pennsylvania units, by unit designation and other categories on this Penn State University sponsored site.

Veterans from Other States

Generally, only Pennsylvania veterans are referenced in the original Civil War records held by the Pennsylvania State Archives. Even though the momentous battle of Gettysburg was fought on Pennsylvania soil, the State Archives does not have the records of non-Pennsylvanians who saw action in that battle. The State Archives does not compile individual service files or unit histories.

Civil War Pension files for soldiers from all states, including Pennsylvania, are located at the National Archives.

Searching for an Individual Pennsylvania Veteran

What you should know first

• Veteran's full name
• Veteran's exact or approximate birthdate
• Veteran's county or residence or enlistment
• (Optional) Veteran's unit of service

Records to Search for Individual Veterans

• Civil War Veteran's Card File, 1861-1866 (Record Group 19, microfilm rolls #3176-3251)
  • View scanned images of these cards can be viewed at Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866 Indexes
• Civil War Pension File, 1861-1864 (part of Civil War Service and Pension Accounts, 1861-1873. {#2.47}
• Register of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1864. {#19.65}
• List of Sick and Wounded Soldiers, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1864 (Record Group 19)
• Civil War Muster Rolls (Record Group 19)
• Military Claims File (Record Group 2, microfilm rolls #63-130)
• Records of the Pennsylvania Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, 1864-1893 (RG 19) (microfilm rolls #492, 6143-6151, 6153-6154)
• Alphabetical List of Names on Pennsylvania Monuments (RG 19) 3870
• Conscientious Objector Depositions, 1862 (see also Roll 4187 for 1862 Register of C.O.s at the National Archives) (RG 19) (microfilm rolls #505-507)
• Register of Aliens and Persons Having Conscientious Scruples Against Bearing Arms (National Archives) (microfilm roll #4187)
• Lists of Deserters and Substitutes, 1861-1866 (RG 19) (microfilm roll #493)
• List of Sick and Wounded Soldiers, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1864 (RG 19) (microfilm rolls #493-494)
• Miscellaneous Discharge Certificates, 1861-66 (RG 19) (microfilm roll #493)
• Negroes in Military Service in the United States (National Archives) (microfilm roll #2040)
• Record Books of Claims for Arrears of Pay and Bounty, 1864-1869 (RG 19) (microfilm rolls #494-495)
• Records of Drafted Men and Substitutes, 1862, 1864-1865 (RG 19) (microfilm rolls #498-501)
• Register of Sick and Wounded Soldiers, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65 (RG 19) (microfilm rolls #493-494)
• Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865 (RG 19) (microfilm rolls #508-522)
• Substitutes' Depositions, 1862 (RG 19) (microfilm rolls #502-504)

Searching the Records of a Civil War Unit

The State Archives holds Civil War regimental records only for Pennsylvania units, including those regiments of U.S. Colored Troops formed in the Commonwealth. Muster rolls, descriptive rolls, deserter lists, orders and correspondence are available for most units.

• Civil War Muster Rolls and Related records, 1862-1864 (Record Group 19)
  • First Defenders, 1st-25th Regiments, Erie Regiment (3 months service) (microfilm rolls #3648-3652)
  • 11th, 23rd, 26th-44th Regiments P.V. (3 years service) (microfilm rolls #3652-3700)
  • 47th Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #4217-4219)
  • 53rd Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #4220-4222)
  • 62nd Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #4042-4043)
  • 71st Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #3940-3941)
  • 80th Regiment P.V. (microfilm roll #497)
  • 96th Regiment P.V. (microfilm roll #4029)
  • 109th Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #4032-4033)
  • 114th Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #4078-4079)
  • 139th Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #4226-4227)
  • 147th Regiment P.V. (microfilm roll #4223)
  • 148th Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #4224-4225)
  • 151st Regiment P.V. (microfilm roll #496)
  • 153rd Regiment P.V. (microfilm roll #4034)
  • 155th Regiment P.V. (microfilm rolls #4227-4228)
• Descriptive Books (Regimental and Company), 1861-1864 (Record Group 19, microfilm rolls #492-493)
• Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers (Record Group 19)
• Diaries and Journals Collection, 1763-1938 (Manuscript Group 6)
• Military Manuscripts Collection, 1758-1931 (Manuscript Group 7)
• Samuel Penniman Bates Papers, 1853-95 (Manuscript Group 17)
• Battery B, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery papers, 1861 (1861-65)-1924 (Manuscript Group 18)
  
• Ruben S. Gardner Papers, 1861-66 (Manuscript Group 55)
• Wilmer C. Hall Papers, 1860-79 (Manuscript Group 65)
• McCormick Family Papers, 1818 (1861-1864)- 1881 (Manuscript Group 83)
• Hugh W. McNeil Collection, 1866 (1861-62)-1916 (Manuscript Group 87)
• Richard A. Oakford Papers, 1861-62 (Manuscript Group 97)
• Weiser Family Collection, 1742-1927 (Manuscript Group 132)
• John F. Hartranft Papers, 1853-97 (Manuscript Group 144)
• John Anderson Papers, 1684-1904 (Manuscript Group 147)
• Samuel P. Glass Collection, 1861-1865 (Manuscript Group 221)
• Francis W. Reed Collection, 1861-65 (Manuscript Group 223)
• L.M. Anderson Collection, 1860-65 (Manuscript Group 225)
• Christian Geisel Collection, 1862-68 (Manuscript Group 226)
• Forty-Second Regiment ("Bucktails"), Pennsylvania Volunteers, Records, 1861-64 (Manuscript Group 234)
• Records of the First City Zouaves; Company A, 127th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; Harrisburg City Grays; and Company D, 8th Regiment, N.G.P., 1862-1917 (Manuscript Group 246)

Searching for Civil War Draft Records

The Pennsylvania State Archives has Civil War draft records only for 1862. Beginning in May 1863, the Provost Marshal's General Bureau administered the draft from Washington, DC, and pertinent records will be found in Record Group 110 at the National Archives. The following records are available at the State Archives:

• Conscientious Objector Depositions, 1862 (Record Group 19)
• Discharge Orders and Letters of Notice of Alien Status of Individuals serving in the Military, 1862-1863 (Record Group 19)
• Substitute Depositions (Record Group 19)

Other Civil War Records

• Minutes of the Board of Appraisers to Examine Damage to Property on the Southern Border, 1863-1864 (RG-2) (microfilm roll #4433)
• Minutes of the Board of Appraisers of Chambersburg War Damages, 1866 (RG 2) (microfilm roll #4433)
• Chambersburg War Damage Claim Applications, 1866-1868 (RG 2) (microfilm rolls #4434-4439)
• Record of Chambersburg War Damage Claim Final Awards Issued Under Act of Feb. 15, 1866 (RG 2) (microfilm roll #4439)
• Damage Claim Applications, 1871-1879 (RG 2) (microfilm rolls #131-141)
• Index to Damage Claim Applications, [ca. 1871-1879] (RG 2) 131 Civil War Diary, March 23, 1864 to August 8, 1865 (microfilm roll #1144)
• William Henry Egle Civil War Journal, July 14, 1863 to July 15, 1865 (MG 6) (microfilm roll #2231)
• General John F. Hartranft, April 30, 1865 to July 31, 1865 - Trial and Execution of the Assassins of President Lincoln (National Archives) (microfilm roll #4429)
• Colonel Daniel Leasure, M.D., Organizer of 100th Regiment P.V., Letters, 1861-1864 (microfilm roll #4547)
• Barnhart Metzger, 1895, n.d. (Diaries, Civil War) (microfilm roll #1429)
• Samuel Murray Civil War Diary, 1861-1862 (MG 6) (microfilm roll #2231)
• D.P.R. Neely, Captain, 149th Regiment P.V.,Co. I, Diary, 1864 (MG 7) (microfilm roll #3879)
• William Jackson Palmer, 1822-1948 (Civil War) (microfilm rolls #1555-1575)
• G.L. Preston, Co. B, 100th Regiment, P.V., Diary, 1864 (microfilm roll #4552)
• Stephen A. Wallace Civil War Diary, Sept. 18, 1862 to July 13, 1863 (MG 6) (microfilm roll #4028)
• Wheler Family Papers, 1862-1865, undated. (microfilm roll #2231)
• Grand Army of the Republic Collection, 1865-1936 (MG 60) (microfilm rolls #4411-4420)
• G.A.R. Post #134, 1879-1921 (microfilm roll #1404)
• Military Order of the Loyal Legion, 1865-1935 (microfilm rolls #1437-1789)
• RG-19 Records of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs: more records relating to the Civil War (Commissary General, Quarter Master General, Surgeon General, and Transportation and Telegraph)