Many websites have excellent information about Civil War Veterans, regiments, battles, maps, and more. These websites focus on soldiers and sailors in the Union Army, also known as the Grand Army of the Republic. The American Civil War was also known as the War of the Rebellion.
Ancestry Databases
Access to Ancestry.com is sometimes available from local libraries and other research facilities at no cost. The databases contain several excellent sources for Civil War Information are available at Ancestry.com.
- Civil War Soldiers Records and Profiles, 1861-1865
- Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934
- Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, 1861-1865
Government Sources
A number of US Govenment websites contain information about individuals, regiments, battles, and maps.
- Civil War at the National Archives: Includes general information on a variety of general topics, as well as service records, pension records, maps, photos and more.
- Library of Congress – U.S. Civil War: A research guide including Digital Collections, Electronic Resources, Lists of Books, and external websites. Maps, manuscripts, photographs and more.
- Soldiers and Sailors Database from the National Parks Service: Stories, people, places, maps and more including several battlefield monuments honoring Connecticut Volunteers.
Gravesite Information
Memorial stones for many Connecticut veterans will contain information about the regiment and the phrase “Conn. Vol.” which signifies that individual was a Connecticut Volunteer in the War of the Rebellion. Some memorial stones do not contain this information, this doesn’t mean the individual was not a Veteran of that conflict.
- Billion Graves: A searchable database with a phone app that automatically includes exact GPS locations of gravesites. Free signup to add graves in your community to this database. Connected to the Family Search Genealogy site.
- FindAGrave: Largest collection of online grave markers. Connected to Ancestry.
- Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War: Enter Name and State to find cemetery locations. Users can add additional names/locations.
- Veteran Gravesites at the US Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs: A nationwide gravesite location.
Online Books
Several websites offer a full-text version of many books published before 1900. The following list includes specific titles related to Connecticut veterans.
- History of Litchfield County, Connecticut: Published in 1881, this resource contains information about each township in the County and their Civil War veterans.
- Record of Service of CT Men during the War of the Rebellion: List of soldiers and sailors with service records.
- Third Series of the Historical Sketch of Watertown: This book published in 1871, contains information about the veterans from Watertown, CT. Similar books may be available on Archive.org for other Connecticut communities.
Online Obituaries
There are several online sources for newspapers that may contain obituaries or other information about veterans.
- Chronicling America at the Library of Congress: Pages from historic newspapers from 1777-1963 available for free. Limited Connecticut publications.
- Newspapers.com: Searchable database of many newspapers from around the US. Some records are available for free, recent records are sometimes only available through a subscription.
Service Records
- Fold3: A database of military records, available by subscription.
- See also: Civil War at the National Archives.
If you discover other online sources, contact us to expand our list of resources for Civil War research.