Massachusetts St 1899, c 475 (June 3, 1899) authorized the formation of a commission, consisting of the Massachusetts adjutant general, secretary, and auditor, to direct the compilation and publication of the records of the men who served in the military and naval services in the Civil War. The commission was charged with appointing and directing a compiler of war records with appropriate staff to prepare a publication to serve as a much more accurate and detailed record than the earlier Records of the Massachusetts Volunteers (published 1868-70). St 1912 c 211 (Mar. 9, 1912) transferred all powers and duties of the commission to the adjutant general, as sole commissioner, who continued oversight of the project.
The compiler was tasked with procuring information from military and naval records, rolls, books, and reports at the Massachusetts Adjutant General's Office and from the war, navy, and other departments of the federal government at Washington, D.C., as well as from municipal officials and military and veteran organizations, to form a complete military service record for each soldier, sailor, and marine. Information regarding individual soldiers, sailors, and marines was recorded onto cards titled according to the source of the record, and arranged by unit, and within by last name. Resolves 1930, c 64 authorized the publication of the records in book form as: Massachusetts soldiers, sailors, and marines in the Civil War (1931-1937). --Records were compiled from casualty reports, company muster-in rolls, company muster-out rolls, descriptive rolls, deserters lists, discharge for disability by Surgeon General of Mass rolls, enlistment and descriptive rolls, field and staff muster-in rolls, final statements, hospital records, letters to and from the War Department, list of discharges, list of survivors of rebel prisons, miscellaneous reports, monthly reports, muster and descriptive rolls of detachments of recruits, orders from the Governor, original enlistment papers, special orders from War Department, and town reports. Corresponding original source records may be found in a variety of surviving series with similar titles. --Individual information may include name, residence at enlistment, date of enlistment, to what municipality assigned or on what quota service was rendered, date of muster-in, rank, promotion, wounds received, date of discharge, and muster-out. Only Massachusetts Volunteer Regiments are represented: cards pertaining to the U. S. Army, Navy Department, Colored Troops, and Veteran Reserve Corps are presumed to have been destroyed. During the 1990s the cards pertaining to the Massachusetts Volunteer Regiments were filmed onto microfilm reels and the originals presumably destroyed at that time.
Collated 1899-ca. 1927. Transferred to Archives from Massachusetts National Guard Museum and Archives, Concord, Mass., Apr. 2019.
Title:
Consolidated card index of Civil War soldiers, 1861-1865
Creator:
Massachusetts. Adjutant General's Office
Description:
Massachusetts St 1899, c 475 (June 3, 1899) authorized the formation of a commission, consisting of the Massachusetts adjutant general, secretary, and auditor, to direct the compilation and publication of the records of the men who served in the military and naval services in the Civil War. The commission was charged with appointing and directing a compiler of war records with appropriate staff to prepare a publication to serve as a much more accurate and detailed record than the earlier Records of the Massachusetts Volunteers (published 1868-70). St 1912 c 211 (Mar. 9, 1912) transferred all powers and duties of the commission to the adjutant general, as sole commissioner, who continued oversight of the project.The compiler was tasked with procuring information from military and naval records, rolls, books, and reports at the Massachusetts Adjutant General's Office and from the war, navy, and other departments of the federal government at Washington, D.C., as well as from municipal officials and military and veteran organizations, to form a complete military service record for each soldier, sailor, and marine. Information regarding individual soldiers, sailors, and marines was recorded onto cards titled according to the source of the record, and arranged by unit, and within by last name. Resolves 1930, c 64 authorized the publication of the records in book form as: Massachusetts soldiers, sailors, and marines in the Civil War (1931-1937). --Records were compiled from casualty reports, company muster-in rolls, company muster-out rolls, descriptive rolls, deserters lists, discharge for disability by Surgeon General of Mass rolls, enlistment and descriptive rolls, field and staff muster-in rolls, final statements, hospital records, letters to and from the War Department, list of discharges, list of survivors of rebel prisons, miscellaneous reports, monthly reports, muster and descriptive rolls of detachments of recruits, orders from the Governor, original enlistment papers, special orders from War Department, and town reports. Corresponding original source records may be found in a variety of surviving series with similar titles. --Individual information may include name, residence at enlistment, date of enlistment, to what municipality assigned or on what quota service was rendered, date of muster-in, rank, promotion, wounds received, date of discharge, and muster-out. Only Massachusetts Volunteer Regiments are represented: cards pertaining to the U. S. Army, Navy Department, Colored Troops, and Veteran Reserve Corps are presumed to have been destroyed. During the 1990s the cards pertaining to the Massachusetts Volunteer Regiments were filmed onto microfilm reels and the originals presumably destroyed at that time.Collated 1899-ca. 1927. Transferred to Archives from Massachusetts National Guard Museum and Archives, Concord, Mass., Apr. 2019.
Digital Origin:
Microfilm rolls 01 through 38 of Series 1850X, Consolidated card index of Civil War soldiers, 1861-1927, were digitized in 2020 by Eastern Micro-Graphics d/b/a New England Archives Center.
Date:
1861-1865
Type of Resource:
Text
Format:
card indexes
Subject:
Massachusetts--Politics and government--Civil War, 1861-1865
Subject:
United States--Army--Recruiting, enlistment, etc.--Civil War, 1861-1865
Subject:
United States--Army--Registers
Subject:
Massachusetts--Politics and government--1865-1950
Subject:
Massachusetts--History, Military
Collection Information:
Part of Collection: Record Group PS1 (Adjutant General's Office)
Language:
en
Preferred Citation:
Consolidated card index of Civil War soldiers, 1861-1927. (PS1 / Series 2850X) Massachusetts Archives. Boston, MA. Accessed [insert date accessed in format DD MM YYYY]. [insert URL of resource].
