South Carolina Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This Collection includes records from 1861 to 1865.

This is an index to the compiled Civil War service records for approximately 50,000 soldiers who served in organizations from South Carolina. The records indexed are from the National Archives and Records Administration, publication M267.

Most Civil War service records were created by the state as the Confederacy had no provision for a unified military force.

Record Content
Most Confederate service record index entries contain the following information:


 * Name of soldier
 * Soldier's rank, company and regiment in which served
 * Date and place of enlistment
 * Time period of enlistment
 * Reason for detachment
 * NARA publication number, title, and roll number
 * Sometimes, an estimated year of birth

How to Use the Record
To begin your search, it is helpful to know:


 * The name of your ancestor
 * Other identifying information such as the birth place or birth date

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors. The following examples show ways you can use the information:


 * Use the estimated age to calculate a birth date.
 * Use the age and location of the military unit to find the soldier’s family in census, church and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Continue to search the index and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have served in the same unit or a nearby unit.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the records of nearby military units.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Web Sites

 * National Archives Collection Description
 * South Carolina Department of Archives and History Confederate Military Records
 * Civil War Soldier Search

Related Wiki Articles

 * Confederate Service Records
 * South Carolina Military Records
 * United States Civil War 1861 to 1865, Part 1
 * United States Civil War 1861 to 1865, Part 2

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection Citation: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):