Look in the library
So you want to document your ancestor's part in Civil War history? Now is the time to begin getting friendly with your local library's microfilm machine.

The first thing you're going to look for is your Civil War relative's obituary. "The obit will usually mention his regiment," says Bill May, who has turned research about his great-grandfather, Christian Hinchberger, into a one-man show called A Visit from a Civil War Soldier. With the name of the regiment, you've found the key that will open the door to useful information. Regimental histories let you follow accounts of particular pertinence to your region. For instance, here's an account of a few days in the life of the 3rd Georgia during Burnside's 1862 North Carolina expedition.

"Learning that the Confederates were building ironclads at Norfolk, Burnside planned an expedition to destroy the Dismal Swamp Canal locks to prevent transfer of the ships to Albemarle Sound. He entrusted the operation to Brig. Gen. Jesse Lee Reno's command, which embarked on transports from Roanoke Island on April 18. By midnight, the convoy reached Elizabeth City and began disembarking troops. On the morning of April 19, Reno marched north on the road to South Mills. At the crossroads a few miles below South Mills, elements of Col. Ambrose Wright's command delayed the Federals until dark. Reno abandoned the expedition and withdrew during the night to the transports at Elizabeth City. The transports carried Reno's troops to New Berne where they arrived on April 22."

If you're searching for information on Union troops, Frederick H. Dyer's Compendium of the War of the Rebellion is the bible, with William F. Fox's Regimental Losses in the American Civil War a close second. The best Confederate tome is Stewart Sifakis' Compendium of the Confederate Armies. An extensive collection of Civil War unit bibliographies can be found at the US Army Military History Institute at the Carlisle Barracks in Carlisle, Penn. Many of the Institute's holdings are available for interlibrary loan, which can be arranged through your local library.

And the Internet offers you the opportunity to lose yourself in available resources. Start with a search engine like www.google.com. You can start narrow—type in the name of the regiment—or wide, such as "Civil War regimental history." You'll find enough to keep you busy for a long time.

But don't assume that just because your Civil War relative was a member of a certain regiment that he was present for all of the action. Was the soldier ever sick, on leave, or, heaven forbid, under court martial? Military and pension-application papers can provide a ton of useful information and are available through the National Archives and Records Administration www.nara.gov. In the muster rolls or enlistment papers, says Julie Fix, director of education and technology for the Civil War Preservation Trust www.civilwar.org, "you might find out that your great-grandfather had blue eyes. It personalizes it."

NARA recently proposed changes in ordering military records. NATF Form 85 for military service records ($17) and NATF Form 86 for full pension records ($40) would replace NATF Form 80, effective Sept. 1. The changes also mean you'd automatically be sent the complete file, rather than just selected pages. Contact NARA by e-mail at inquire@nara.gov or write National Archives and Records Administration, Attn: NWCTB, 700 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC, 20408.