Civil War and Later Navy Personnel Records at the National Archives, 1861-1924 By Lee D. Bacon8/27/2023 These cards, known collectively as the "Compiled Military Service Records," are located in the National Archives, as are the original muster roles from which the data were taken. The War Department clerks transposed the information by hand to an estimated 140 million, 3x8-inch cards. The Confederate Army muster rolls were sent to Washington for this purpose with the permission and assistance of the Governors of the eleven states formerly in the Confederate States of America (CSA). The Union Army muster roles were already in the possession of the War Department when General Ainsworth's staff began their work. The fundamental source for all the names entered into this phase of the CWSS is the General Index Cards of the Compiled Military Service Records, which were derived from muster rolls of the Union and Confederate Armies. SEQUENCE OF RECORDING SOLDIERS NAMES FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE CWSS Data from all 6.3 million cards is in the CWSS. A soldier serving in more than one regiment, serving under two names, or spelling variations resulted in the fact that there are 6.3 million General Index Cards for 3.5 million soldiers. Historians have determined that approximately 3.5 million soldiers actually fought in the War. When Ainsworth's staff completed the project, there were 6.3 million General Index Cards for the soldiers - both Union and Confederate - who had served during the American Civil War. These General Index cards form the basis for the Soldier names in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. One type of card, the General Index Card listed the soldier's name, the soldier's rank at the time of enlistment from the first card and the date the soldier left the service with the soldier's final rank from the last card. When Ainsworth's staff finished the Compiled Military Service records, each soldier's file usually had many cards representing each time the soldier's name appeared on a muster roll. His staff wrote a card for every time a soldier's name appeared on a muster roll. Beginning in the 1880s General Ainsworth's staff in the Department of the Army indexed these records originally to determine who was eligible for a pension. During the American Civil War, every few weeks to every few months depending on the unit, usually at the company level, soldiers' names were recorded on muster rolls.
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