Connecticut in the Civil War



During the Civil War, Connecticut raised 53,721 men for the Union. Their records can be found in state records shown on this page, unit records which may be found on the military unit pages (see below for links), or federal records. For ideas on how to begin searching for your Civil War ancestor, see Beginning United States Civil War Research.

Introduction
Connecticut provided 53,721 men to the Union army, organized into 1 regiment of cavalry, 2 regiments of heavy artillery, 3 batteries of light artillery, and 30 regiments of infantry. This number does not include the men from Connecticut who served in the regiments of other States. The United States War Department credited Connecticut with supplying 51,937 white men and 1,764 men of color in the Union Army plus 2,163 Union sailors and marines.

For more information see, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Connecticut in the American Civil War, (accessed 25 Feb 2011).

Connecticut Military Units
Most units were numbered, however, some were named. See the table below for lists of the regiments, battalions, and batteries.

The information in the lists of Connecticut Military Units comes from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors web site. This web site can also be searched by the name of a soldier. Connecticut Military Units by Number or Type of Unit  Union Units By Unit Number Infantry Cavalry Artillery Colored Troops

Service Records

 * United States, Adjutant General's Office, Index to compiled service records of volunteer Union soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Connecticut, (Washington [District of Columbia]: National Archives. Central Plains Region, 1964).   Microfilm of original recods in the National Archives, Washington, District of Columbia.  Family History Library  (17 films)


 * The compiled service records of soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Connecticut have not been microfilmed and are only available from the National Archives. For more information see Union Service Records.


 * Compiled by the General Assembly under the direction of the Adutant-General, Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion (Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood &amp; Brainard Co., 1889); Photcopy of original, includes index. Family History Library    or FHL US/CAN Film 982124 Item 1.  A database for this record can be found at ancestry.com, (accessed 25 Feb 2011).  To find other libraries having this book, see worldcat.org, (accessed 25 Feb 2011).

Muster Rolls

 * GeoCities, Civil War Rosters, (accessed 25 Feb 2011.) - This is a directory of Civil War Rosters/Muster Rolls that have been found on the internet.  It is a work in progress, updated by Chuck Ewing.
 * Compiled by authority of the General Assembly under the direction of the Adutant-General, Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion (Hartford, Connecticut: Case, Lockwood &amp; Brainard Co., 1889); Photocopy of original, includes index. Family History Library  or FHL US/CAN Film 982124. A suplement can be read on film:
 * Connecticut. Adjutant General's Office, Catalogue of Connecticut volunteer organizations, with additional enlistments and casualties to July 1, 1864. (Hartford: Press of Case, Lockwood and Company, 1864).  Compiled form records and published by order of the legislature.  Online Book at Internet Archives, (accessed 25 Feb 2011), or Google books, (accessed 25 Feb 2011).  Family History Library  (9 fiche) or.
 * Connecticut, Adjutant General, C.M. Ingersoll,Catalogue of Connecticut volunteer organizations : (infantry, cavalry, and artillery,) in the service of the United States, 1861-1865, with additional enlistments, casualties, &amp;c., &amp;c., and brief summaries, showing the operations and service of the several regiments and batteries, (Hartford: Brown &amp; Cross, 1869), Includes index.  Online Book, Internet Archives, (accessed 25 Feb 2011), or  10 fiche) or  Item 1.
 * United States. War Department.  Record and Pension Office, Compiled records showing service of military units in volunteer Union organizations.  (Washington, DC: The National Archives, 1964).   The compiled records are card abstracts containing information relating to the stations, movements, or activities of each unit or a part of it, and frequently to its organization or composition, strength and losses, and disbandment. Sometimes the names of commanding officers, the dates the unit was called into service and mustered out, the terms of service, and similar information are included.
 * United States, Adjutant General's Office, Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Connecticut, (Washington DC: National Archives. Central Plains Region, 1964). (17 films)
 * Adjutant General's Office, Official army register of the volunteer force of the United States army for the years 1861, '62, '63, '64, '65. Part One (New England States), (Published by order of the Secretary of War, in compliance with the joint resolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives, 1865).  Part One lists State Troops from Connecticut.  Online Book, Internet Archives, (accessed 25 Feb 2011).
 * Compiled by authority of the General Assembly under the direction of the Adjutant-General, Record of service of Connecticut men in the Army and Navy of the United States during the War of the Rebellion, (Hartford, Conn. Press of The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. 1889). Catalogue of Connecticut Volunteers, includes index - Online book at FamilySearch Digital Library, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). Database available at ancestry.com, (accessed 25 Feb 2011).

Pensions

 * An of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. The majority of the records are of Civil War veterans, but the collection also includes records for veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Indian Wars, and World War I. For more information see Union Pension Records.
 * Connecticut State Library, Noble Pension Database, (accessed 25 Feb 2011.) The collection includes correspondence and official papers that document their work with veterans of the Civil War and Spanish American War.
 * United States. Veterans Administration,Organization index to pension files of veterans who served between 1861 and 1917,  (Washington, DC: The National Archives, 1949).  "The information provided here is virtually the same as that in the General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, T288. Unlike the alphabetical General Index, however, this index groups the applicants according to the units in which they served. The cards are arranged alphabetically by state, thereunder by arm of service (infantry, cavalry, artillery), thereunder numerically by regiment, and there- under alphabetically by veteran's surname"--Military Service Records, p. 263   (Connecticut records are on 9 films.)
 * United States. Veterans Administration. General index to pension files, 1861-1934,  (Washington, D.C.: Veterans Administration, Publications Service, 1953).  Microfilm of original records.  Some retakes may be found at the beginning of some microfilms.     On 544 films beginning with 540757.

The actual service and pension records are available only at the National Archives. To order a copy of the original records, use NATF Form 80, which is available from the National Archives, at the nearest federal office building or online.

Military Cemeteries and Memorials

 * State of Connecticut, Dedication of the monument at Andersonville, Georgia, October 23, 1907 : in memory of the men of Connecticut who suffered in Southern military prisons, 1861-1865, (Hartford, Conn.: State of Connecticut, 1908) Our Military Heritage, Honoring Our Heroes. List of Connecticut soldiers buried in Andersonville Cemetery.  Online Book at Allen County Public Library, (accessed 25 Feb 2011).


 * Enfield War Graves, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). Photographic documentation of the Civil War graves in Enfield, Connecticut and more.


 * Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Records, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). Also available at the Family History Library  Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949-1950, 360 rolls, (Surname index, Death and Inscriptions AA – ALB).  Includes many records from the Civil War era, including vital records (newspaper notices and cemetery inscriptions) with surname index to cemetery inscriptions referring to places and newspapers; index to death notices from newspapers (not included above); index, marriages by newspapers; general index to marriage notices arranged alphabetically; cemeteries by localities; newspapers.


 * Joseph Anderson, Soldiers of Waterbury, New Haven, Connecticut in the War of the Union, (accessed 25 Feb 2011), (Waterbury, Connecticut, 1886). Transcribed by Coralynn Brown from:  History of the Soldier's Monument in Waterbury, Conn.:  to which is added a list of the soldiers and sailors who went from Waterbury to fight in the war for the Union.  Also available at the Family History Library  (2 fiche) or


 * Rev. E.B. Huntington, A.M., Stamford soldiers' memorial, (Stamford, Connecticut, 1869). Includes soldiers from other states.  Online Book at Internet Archives, (accessed 25 Feb 2011).


 * Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library. Connecticut's Civil War Monuments. The site has photos, descriptions, and historical significance for several Civil War monuments in Connecticut. (accessed 5 July 2012)

Other Sources

 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865, lists and explains Federal Civil War records.

Internet Sites

 * The Civil War Archive, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). information is from A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, by Frederick H. Dyer, histories, diaries, etc.  Union Regimental Index for Connecticut.


 * The Connecticut Historical Society, Civil War Manuscripts Project, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). This Project is an attempt to create detailed access to the rich Civil War manuscript holdings of the Connecticut Historical Society. The collections presented herein were examined over a period of more than four years beginning in the mid-1990s under the direction of Kelly Nolin. Includes index of names, index of regiments, index by residence.


 * National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). Can be searched by soldier's name or by regiment; includes regimental rosters and additional history of the regiment.


 * Footnote.com, (accessed 2 April 2011).(A subscription website, but is available for use at the Family History Library and some Family History Centers). It has digital Civil War soldier service records and brief regiment histories (located at the bottom of some of the muster rolls).


 * Connecticut Genealogy, Connecticut Military Records, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). Has links to county military records and statewide military records.


 * Civil War in the East, Connecticut Regiments and Batteries, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). A reference guide to America's Civil War. Includes service timelines of regiments and batteries.


 * Connecticut's Martyrs at Andersonville, (accessed 28 Feb 2011). From the lists kept by Dorence Atwater of Plymouth, Connecticut. Andersonville, the famous Confederate prison in Georgia, had a 29% mortality rate. In August of 1864, the prison held 33,000 prisoners of war. One hundred men died each day. There are 12,844 Union graves there.


 * Connecticut State Library, Research Guide to Civil War Materials, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). The Connecticut State Library contains a wealth of information useful to genealogists seeking Civil War ancestors as well as to historical researchers examining political, economic, social, and military aspects of the Civil War. For convenience this research guide is divided into categories that can be searched online.


 * Connecticut State Library, Fitch's Home for Soldiers, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). Also known as the Noroton Home, located in Darien, Connecticut, was first erected by Benjamin Fitch for soldiers and the children of soldiers and was dedicated July 4, 1864. Online database available.


 * Connecticut State Library, Colored Troop Enlistments from Connecticut during the Civil War, (accessed 23 March 2022).


 * New England Civil War Museum, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). This library is open to the public during our regular hours or by appointment. The ever-growing library collection includes primary and secondary source material about the Civil War and the people who lived through it. Patrons are welcome to take notes or request copies, but we do not offer any circulation as of yet. You can search their catalog online.


 * Connecticut and the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Commemoration,(2010 copyright by the Central Connecticut State University), has photos, list of events, etc.


 * Croffut, W. A. (William Augustus). The military and civil history of Connecticut during the war of 1861-65 : comprising a detailed account of the various regiments and batteries, through march, encampment, bivouac and battle : also instances of distinguished personal gallantry, and biographical sketches of many heroic soldiers : together with a record of the patriotic action of citizens at home, and of the liberal support furnished by the state in its executive and legislative departments.(Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1991)

Books

 * Blaikie Hines, Civil War:volunteer sons of Connecticut, (Thomaston, Maine: American Patriot Press, c2002).  "Notes:"p. 630-637.  Includes index.


 * Manuscript/with Film, Connecticut men in War of Rebellion, corrected, amended or additional records, Typescript (photocopy). Also on FHL US/CAN Film 982124 Item 2.  Includes "Connecticut men in the Spanish War, Philippine Insurrection and China Relief Expedition, April 1898 to July 1904; corrected, amended or additional records" p. 37-41.


 * Sherman Lee Pompey, Genealogical records on Connecticut in the Civil War, (Albany, Oregon: S.L. Pompey, c1984). Also on FHL US/CAN Fiche 6089035.


 * William Augustus Croffut and John M. Morris, The military and civil history of Connecticut during the war of 1861-65: comprising a detailed account of the various regiments and batteries, through march, encampment, bivouac, and battle, also instances of distinguished personal gallantry, and biographical sketches of many heroic soldiers, together with a record of the patriotic action of citizens at home, and of the liberal support furnished by the state in its executive and legislative departments (1868), (Bethesda, Maryland: University Publications of America, c1991). Online book at Internet Archives, (accessed 25 Feb 2011). Also available at  10 fiche or Publications:  Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994    Includes index.


 * Connecticut. State Comptroller of Accounts, Record of returns from towns and payment to the Civil War, v. 1-2, 1861-1866, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988). , microfilm of original records at the Connecticut State Archives, Hartford. CT. Includes index arranged alphabetically by name of town. Contains name of each soldier, name of wife, names and ages of children, regiment and company, rank, date of muster, term of enlistment, changes in service, and payments made.


 * B.B. Champlin, Reunions of Connecticut regiments for 1896 (including also reunion of 26th Regiment for 1895), (Bethesda, Maryland: University Publications of America, c1991).  Includes historical information of the following Connecticut (Union) regiments: 5th-7th, 9th-11th, 14th-16th, 18th, 23rd, 25th-27th and Connecticut Cavalry.


 * Janet B. Hewett, Supplement to the Official records of the Union and Confederate armies, (Wilmington, North Carolina: Boradfoot Pub. Co., c1994-2001).  Record of Events - Connecticut troops (Union, 1st-8th Regiments) -- v. 4. (serial no. 16) Connecticut troops (Union, 9th-28th Regiments).

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)
Grand Army of the Republic founded in 1866 - 1956, was the largest veteran’s organization in the country after the Civil War. It was a fraternal organization members were veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, Marines and Revenue Cutler Service who served in the American Civil War. The group supported voting rights for black veterans, and lobbied the U.S. Congress to establish veterans' pensions. In 1890 the membership was 490,000.

In 1888 there were 66 posts and 6,635 members in the state of Connecticut

GAR Posts in the State of Connecticut

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
With the death of the last member of the Grand Army of the Republic the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was formed.