How to get Confederate records

Federal service record, state pension

• Search the service record on Fold3The compiled service records of Confederate soldiers are organized by state and unit and digitized on Fold3 (free at most libraries). FamilySearch and Ancestry index them as well. Expect a jacket of card abstracts; late-war rolls are often missing, and that's the records, not the man.
• Note capture, oath, and parole records insideThe Union's prison and parole records are filed in the same jacket, and they often carry the physical description and residence a thin jacket otherwise lacks.
• For a pension, go to the stateConfederate pensions were granted by the individual Southern and border states, generally the state where the veteran or widow lived AFTER the war, not where he served. Most state archives have free searchable indexes; many have scanned files. Start with the archive of the postwar state of residence.

Where the pension files live: many are free downloads

Several states have digitized their Confederate pension files completely. If your veteran's postwar state is below, you may be able to download his file tonight, free.

• TexasTexas Digital Archive: 48,500+ names indexed, images linked, free.
• FloridaFlorida Memory: every application 1885–1954, approved and denied, free.
• OklahomaOklahoma Digital Prairie: each veteran's file combined into one record, free.
• TennesseeTSLA index gives the application number; the scanned file itself is on FamilySearch (free account). Includes soldiers from 1891, widows from 1905, and the state's pensions for Black servants and cooks who went to war with the units.
• FamilySearchFamilySearch hosts scanned Confederate pension collections for several states free with an account — their state-by-state guide says which. One honest note: pages usually download one at a time there, so budget a few extra minutes per file. Your soldier is worth it.
• MississippiMDAH Digital Archives: applications 1889–1932.
• South CarolinaSC Department of Archives and History: 10,000+ applications, 1919–1938.
• Everyone elseThe National Archives' state-by-state directory lists every former Confederate and border state's pension law history and archive contact: Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri.

Then the reading starts

A slim jacket is normal; the report's job is to read what survives honestly and point you to the state records that continue the story. Here is what our report does with this record, and the waitlist below holds today's price for you.

What the trip costs, start to finish

Often the cheapest journey on this site. The service record is on Fold3 (free at most public libraries), and the state pension files are free downloads from many state archives, so the trip can cost only the report: $35 for the service record, $99 for the state pension, $149 for both read together as one life, delivered in days once the pages are in hand.