How to locate our Civil War ancestor

You can now find the name and military unit for every union Civil War veteran. The U.S. National Archives has posted the official index prepared by the War Department following the civil war from regimental and other unit rosters. If your Civil War ancestor served in the 17th Missouri his name and company together with other information contained on official muster rolls is available on the 17th Missouri Descriptive roll. If you can't find the name on first try check likely variance in spelling of the name. The 17th Missouri descriptive roll lists home towns and original place of origin for each member of the 17th Missouri. If you wish to obtain more information you may order a complete copy of your ancestors military file and if wounded or injured a copy of any pension file from the U.S. National Archives. Finally, if you have access to a library that has old city directories from the 19th century check the directory for the city where your ancestor enlisted to find out more information.

Three easy steps to locate your ancestor who fought in the Civil War:

  1. Confirm the spelling of your ancestor's name and military unit in the Official Civil War Soldiers Index.
  2. Search for you ancestor in the 17th Missouri Descriptive Roll
  3. Order service and pension files for your ancestor from the U.S. National Archives