United States, Records of Confederate Prisoners of War - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in This Collection?
This collection consists of an explanation of the records (which is listed as an index) and 429 volumes of Confederate Prisoners of War records. Most of the records are from the War Department's Office of the Commissary General of Prisoners. Others are from the Surgeon General's Office, a few Army commands, and individual prison camps. These records are for the years 1861 to 1865. National Archives microfilm publication M598, Selected Records of the War Department Relating to Confederate Prisoners of War,1861-1865.

This collection consists of the following lists and registers: • 2 The collection is divided into the following levels of search: These lists may be have any of the following:
 * 1) AIDE: Index to Volumes - This search is not a name index. It lists the full description given by the National Archives and Records Administration of the individual lists.
 * 2) The lists arranged by locality. Many of these localities are further divided by individual lists.
 * Alphabetical arrangement
 * Chronological arrangement
 * Name index (at the beginning or end of the list)

This collection includes prisoner lists from the following locations:

"The War Department appointed Lt. Col. William Hoffman to be Commissary General of Prisoners in October 1861. Col. Hoffman was responsible for overseeing the handling and treatment of Confederate prisoners of war. In July 1862, the War Department established the Office of the Commissary General of Prisoners, an independent agency within the Department, which was responsible for the supervision of Confederate prisoners of war and political prisoners confined in Union prisons. The Office of the Commissary General of Prisoners was abolished and the Confederate records eventually became part of the Collection of Confederate Records in the War Department. That collection now comprises National Archives Record Group 109, War Department Collection of Confederate Records."

Opposing armies kept an account of war prisoners so as to effectively trade them for their own soldiers. Prisoners were exchanged on the following basis:


 * 1 general = 46 privates
 * 1 major general = 40 privates
 * 1 brigadier general = 20 privates
 * 1 colonel = 15 privates
 * 1 lieutenant colonel = 10 privates
 * 1 major = 8 privates
 * 1 captain = 6 privates
 * 1 lieutenant = 4 privates
 * 1 noncommissioned officer = 2 privates

More information on this can be found at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine's cached page of the American Wars 101 article, Union and Confederate Prisoner of War Camps.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Information in these records generally include the following: Depending on the list, the following information may also be included: • 2
 * Name of prisoner
 * Name of prison
 * Date of entry in the report, list, or ledger
 * Reason for entry in the repost, list, or ledger

How Do I Search This Collection?
To begin your search you will need to know:
 * The full name of the soldier
 * The location of the prison
 * The states where the soldier's regiment served

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date
 * Use the birth date or age along with the prior residence, enlistment place, or place of birth to locate census, church, and land records
 * Death dates may lead to death certificates, mortuary, or burial records
 * Place of enlistment or previous residence may lead to other military or pension records. Be aware that Confederate pensions were awarded by the individual states
 * Prisoners who enlisted in the United States military may have service records or pensions from the United States
 * Compile a list of other prisoners with the same surname. If the surname is uncommon, they may be relatives
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Look for an index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the United States.
 * United States Guided Research
 * United States Record Finder
 * United States Research Tips and Strategies
 * US Military Basic Search Strategies
 * Beginning Research in United States Military Records
 * Beginning United States Civil War Research
 * Locating a Confederate Civil War Soldier (1861–1865)

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

Family History Library Holdings

 * Selected records of the War Department relating to Confederate prisoners of war, 1861-1865
 * Roll of Confederate prisoners of war, paroled at Meridian, Mississippi, May 1865
 * Lists of Confederates captured at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 4, 1863, NARA pub M2072
 * Ohio. AGO. Burials and Civil War prisoners' records, 1861-1896
 * Jocelyn P. Jamison, comp. They died at Fort Delaware, 1861-1865; Confederate, Union and civilian.[Delaware City, Delaware : Fort Delaware Society, 1997 FHL 975.11 M28j]
 * Dale Fetzer and Bruce Mowday, Unlikely allies : Fort Delaware's prison community in the Civil War. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania : Stackpole Books, c2000 FHL 975.11 M2f

Related FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

 * United States Register of Confederates and Civilians Who Died in the North,1861-1865

Related Digital Books

 * Elliott. List showing inscriptions on headstones for the Confederate soldiers and sailors who, while prisoners of war, died at Columbus and Camp Dennison, Ohio, and were buried in Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery, those dying at Camp Dennison having been thence removed. Washington : Gov't Print. Off., 1907
 * The story of Camp Chase; a history of the prison and its cemetery, together with other cemeteries where Confederate prisoners are buried, etc. Nashville, Tenn. and Dallas, Tex. : Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, c1906

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Estados Unidos, Registros de Prisioneiros Confederados de Guerra (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch)