Rhode Island in the Civil War

United States     U.S. Military      Rhode Island      Rhode Island Military      Rhode Island in the Civil War



Introduction
Rhode Island furnished 25,236 soldiers to the Union Army. The men were organized into about 10 infantry regiments, 4 cavalry units, and 6 artillery units (including one Colored Troop).

The Wikipedia article, Rhode Island in the American Civil War, has additional information.

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

The information in the lists of Rhode Island Military Units comes from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors web site. That web site can also be searched by the name of a soldier.

Rhode Island Military Units by Number or Type of Unit Union Units 1st-20th and A-Z Infantry Cavalry Artillery Colored Troops Unassign- ed Units

Records and Resources

 * Indexes to service (Family History Library films 821940-46) and pension records of Union army soldiers are on film at the Family History Library. The service and pension records are available only at the National Archives.


 * A published roster of soldiers is in Rhode Island Adjutant General, Annual Report of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations For the Year 1865, 1866, Revised, Two Volumes. (Providence: E. L. Freeman, 1893-95); Family History Library ; 1866 ed. on . This includes each soldier's residence, his date of enlistment, his dates of muster-in and muster-out, and regimental sketches.


 * Civil War Pension Index Cards - 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.

1890 Census Veterans Schedules - The 1890 Census Veterans Schedules, the "Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War" (NARA M123) are available online for the state of Rhode Island. The schedules list Union veterans and their widows living in Rhode Island in 1890. For more information on the 1890 Veterans Schedules see Union Census Records.

Other Sources
Civil War Battle summaries- Summaries of battles that were fought in the Civil War in alphabetical order

Civil War Index - Primary Source Material on the Soldiers and the Battles

Civil War Links- Soldiers &amp; Generals, and Unit Indexes

Civil War Reenacting Unites - Union Companies

The Cartes de Visit Album &amp; History of the First Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry R.I.D.M. - Thumb Nail Civil War Biographies.

Accessgenealogy.com- Civil War Regiments, Rosters, and Muster Rolls Researchonline.net

Frederickscurg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial, National Military Park, Virginia - The Bloodiest Landscape in North America

Rhode Island Civil War Regiments at genealogybooklinks.com. This site has links to many books on line.

Geocities.ws - Roster of all Union Civil War Officers of Rhode Island.

Genealogy.com GenForum

Sila's Reenacting links

MilitaryHistoryOnline

Mosocco.com

375th Essays Providence and Civil War - Providence and Civil War by Frank J. Williams, the chair of the Rhode Island Sesquicentennial Commemoration Commission.

Community College of Rhode Island- CCRI professors share history of the Civil War, April 25, 2011

The Civil War Zouave Database

The Civil War Archives Regimental History Research Room

Union Army Regimental History Index 

Browns in the Civil War Lists people with the surname of Brown who served in the Civil War from Rhode Island. The Civil War Omnibus

Tewksburys in the Civil War - Lists people with the surname of Tewksbury who served in the Civil War

Memoirs of Rhode Island Officers who were engaged in the service of their country during the Great Rebellion of the South.- by John Russell Bartlett, the Secretary of State of the State of Rhode Island available on Google Books.com

Official Army register for September 1869 - by United States. Adjutant-General's Office. available on Google Books.com

Uniforms of the Civil War: An Illustrated Guide for Historians, Collectors, and Reenactors - Ron Field, Robin Smith available on Google Books.com