Maryland Civil War Research

Where to Begin

The best way to begin your search is to play 20 questions with your elderly relatives about what they know of the last several generations. Search the house for images, documents, anything that might give you clues to the past.

If you are not familiar with how to research Civil War regiments, I suggest that you find a copy of Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor by Bertram Hawthorne Groene, ISBN:0-345-36192-X. This book is readable and includes much useful information. The National Archive's Civil War Records Tutorial includes a thorough explanation of the kinds of information in their collections. These sources will give you an idea of what information is available and what types of clues to look for.

At a minimum there are several pieces of information that you need to begin your search: a name, unit number, place of residence, dates, and date/place of death. You need not have all of these. But the more information you have the easier you search will be. Each of these items can help you locate clues to your ancestor's service.

Research Plan

  1. Gather as much information as you can from documents, photos, relics, and relatives.

  2. Visit my [Maryland Union Units Page] or my [Maryland Confederate Units Page] for a list of sources on these regiments. Be sure to check the U.S. Army Military History Institutes searchable unit bibliography link from these pages-it can save you much time/energy looking for unit histories.

  3. Locate/Copy all of the general sources on Union or Confederate Units. If you check all of the sources I have given you will have: several short unit histories, a roster, and citations for any existing published histories, and more. {Be warned that detailed unit histories (book length) are available for only a few Maryland Union units. Confederate Maryland sources are much more plentiful}

  4. Find the History and Life Index at a library and search for your unit/topic. This is a detailed index to all historical articles published each year.

  5. If your ancestor was a Union soldier, use the information from the items located above to order your ancestors pension, military, medical, medical, and court martial files. See the National Archives web page for more information.

  6. If you get to this point and you have found only short sketches of your unit's history and perhaps a roster or other mentions, there is a good chance that more detailed information may not exist, or has yet to be brought forth. By this point, the curiosity of most people is satisfied, but if not you can take your search to the next level- archival research. Check your unit/topic in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections to see if papers/collections exist. Then continue your search at the following organizations.

    Key Archival Sources

    National Archives and Records Administration

    The National Archives (a.k.a. N.A.R.A.) will have the most information on any given Maryland Union Unit: muster rolls, company order books, military and pension files, record of movement cards, and more. They also have Confederate material as well. The types of records mentioned above are located at Archives 1 (on The Mall in Washington, D.C.) Civil War photographs are located at Archives 2 (College Park, Maryland.) See the web page for more info.

    Maryland Historical Society
    201 W. Monument Street
    Baltimore, Maryland 21201
    Phone: 410-685-3750

    The society houses a museum and an extensive library of Maryland history. Museum highlights include: a Civil War room, furniture, silver, and more. The libraries collection's include extensive manuscript holdings, a historical structures index, clipping files, and more. Maintained seperately is a major collection of historical images, from all periods of Maryland history.

    Maryland Hall of Records
    350 Rowe Boulevard
    Annapolis, MD 21401
    Phone: 410-974-3914

    The official repository for Maryland State Records, the Hall of Records features a large (decently lighted) reading room, library of key reference books pertaining to Maryland, microfilm readers, and very helpful staff.

    If you reach this point, and you still haven't found more then passing mentions of your unit, and you wish to continue, your last great hope is the unexplored country:

    Maryland newspapers from 1861 through the 1920s+. After looking through eight (!) scrap books filled with clippings on the 2nd Maryland Infantry alone, it became crystal clear that there is a mass of Maryland unit info that has not been utilized. The Baltimore Sun, and other Maryland newspapers of the time are filled with everything from first hand battle accounts, casualty reports, memorial dedications, reunion announcements, etc. The problem is the looking through 60 years or so of newspapers on microfilm for that choice bit of info.

Other Links of Interest to Maryland Researchers

  • Maryland Genweb Links to Md. Genealogical resources.
  • Maryland Genealogical Society
  • The Civil War Archive Union Army Corps Histories



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