US Civil War Roll of Honor 1861–1865 Published Online by Familyrelatives.com

The following announcement was written by Familyrelatives.com:

One of the largest and most complete Rolls of Honor for the US Civil War has been released by Familyrelatives.com. It is the first time that all 27 volumes have been made available online.

Familyrelatives.com continues with more data additions this month with over 276,000 Roll of Honor records for those soldiers who died in the defence of the Union during the American Civil War.

The “Names of the Soldiers Who Died in the Defence of the American Union – interred in the National Cemeteries” were recorded by the Quartermaster General’s Office in 1866. In each case the original place of interment, the soldiers’ name, rank, company, regiment, date of death, section of cemetery and the number of the grave are all detailed. In some instances the creed is provided together with a list simply referred to as “Unknowns”.

Additional volumes refer to soldiers who died in prison pens – termed “Names of the Soldiers Who Died in the Defence of the American Union – Suffered martyrdom in the Prison Pens throughout the south”. Again the soldiers name, rank, company, regiment, date and cause of death are provided.

The Roll reminds us that the Civil War was a bitter conflict and one of the bloodiest and costliest in terms of the toll it took on both sides with an estimated 620,000 military deaths, two thirds of whom died by disease as well as an undetermined number of civilian casualties.

The Union Army consisted of a large number of immigrants including many ethnic groups. A million soldiers were native born Americans of British ancestry, half a million were of German ancestry. 210,000 African Americans of whom half were freed men living in the north the remainder were slaves or had escaped slavery. A similar number were of Irish descent. Canadian, English, French, Dutch, Scandinavian as well as Italian, Jewish, Mexican, Polish, Native Americans and other nationalities numbering 2.2 million fought for the Union.

The legacy of the war meant the ending of slavery, restoring the Union and the role of federal government. The many social and political issues following the war shaped the reconstruction era which lasted many years. It was the defining event that shaped the future of the United States as we know it today.

The collection includes the Final Disposition, four additional volumes listing the original places of burial from which some of the bodies of Deceased Union Soldiers and Prisoners of War have been removed and the various National Cemeteries in which they were finally interred.

The collection together with 650 million historic records is available to search online to all members and visitors by way of an annual subscription of only US$50.00 or £30.00 at www.familyrelatives.com.

Comments

[Cari Thomas]

This is wonderful news for those whose Civil War soldiers were buried and the locations known.

However, I've a great-great-grandfather, 44-yr-old Private Cornelius Richmond, Co F 119th PA Vols, who gave his life for the Union, on 3 May 1863 at Morrison's Farm "in the pine woods" by the Orange Plank Road near Salem Church in the Battle of Chancellorsville. At least, according to Sam^l Breck [?], an Assistant Adjutant General in his affidavit to the Commissioner of Pensions on September 15, 1863, "On the Muster Roll of Co. F of that regiment, for the months of May and June 1863, [Cornelius Richmond] is reported 'Missing in action, May 3^d 1863, Morrison's Farm near Fredericksburg, Va.' "

Cornelius Richmond and many others - who were not buried in a national cemetery nor were noted as died in a "Prison Pen" - or, like Cornelius, may not have been buried at all - never seem to make it into a published Roll of Honor. But my great-grandmother Phebe Jane Richmond, who was two when Cornelius was M.I.A., and her mother, Cornelius' wife Ellen R. Crispin Richmond, kept him in a special Roll of Honor in their hearts.....and so do I.

[GMF]

I find the website misleading or deceptive, however one wishes to describe it. Looking for a WWII enlistee it says is free. Not so, if you happen to access a name it wants money for anything else. Plus one cannot be certain the name accessed is the correct one since there is no other confirming data.

[Robert Woods]

GMF is incorrect - the WWII Enlistment Records are completely free. In order to view the 200 Million + Free records like the enlistment records, all you have to do is register (FREE) and log in to view all the fields. No payment is necessary and no CC details are taken as its Free data.

You may be searching in pre-login which means that only limited fields are viewable. Therefore Register and Login and you will be able to view all the Free data and all the fields. We hope this helps