Your Editor has been reading a lot lately about Civil War genealogical research and having done some herself, she felt it might help others who must do the same to mention some excellent sources. One article mentioned the National Archives but I found much of the Confederate records are not there. First thing you must know is the full name of your serviceman, branch of service (infantry, cavalry, Navy or Marines), military unit (state and number of regiment or name of artillery battery or ship). With that you can request a search in the National Archives. Ask for National Archives form NATF-80. Write to them at Eighth and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington DC 20408. You obtain much more information from his pension records, so ask for both his military and his pension records, and ask for two NATF-80's. The pension records, however, are only available for Union soldiers.

Many state records also are available if you want to search further. "Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor" by Bertram H. Groene, ($6.95) a paperback by Ballantine is an excellent source.

Many personal histories and individual accounts were published soon after the war, but are quite rare now. The Morningside Bookshop, P.O.Box 1087, Dayton, OH 454011 and Butternut & Blue Publications, 3411 Northwind Rd., Baltimore, MD. 21234, both offer extensive lists of these books. Histories of many Union and Confederate units have been published. To find out if publications for your ancestor's unit consult Charles E. Dornbusch's "Military Bibliography of the Civil War", a four-volume work available at most major libraries. My favorite is "Civil War Genealogy", a 74-page book of 316 sources for tracing your Civil War Ancestors. It's by George K. Schweitzer, $10.00 last time I heard, and tells of Archives, national & local publications, military unit histories, etc. Write him at 407 Regent Ct., Knoxville, TN 37923.