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Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database

The Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls database is a transcription of each soldier's entry in the record series, Muster and Descriptive Rolls (RS 301.020). The database contains information about over 285,000 soldiers from Illinois who served in the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion. Each entry includes all of the information that was recorded by the Illinois Adjutant General in the original Muster and Descriptive Rolls. Entries for each roll include soldier's name; rank; age; height; colors of eyes, hair, and complexion; occupation; marital status; birthplace; residence; date, place, and term of enrollment; name		Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Civil War Veterans' Memorial at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield
of individual who enrolled soldier; date and place of muster into service; name of mustering officer; date and place of muster out; name of mustering-out officer; and remarks concerning transfers, promotions, injuries, or special duty.

Fred Delap of Kansas, Illinois, a volunteer with the Edgar County Genealogical Society, entered the information found in this database from microfilm of the 89 volumes of original Muster and Descriptive Rolls provided by the Illinois State Archives. Delap discovered that the published Adjutant General's Reports included soldiers that were not included in the original Muster and Descriptive Rolls. To make the database as comprehensive as possible, he also extracted the information from the first eight volumes of the nine volume publication, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois. (The ninth volume lists veterans of Black Hawk, Mexican, and Spanish-American Wars.)

The original Muster and Descriptive Rolls (RS 301.020) compiled by the Illinois Adjutant General's Office and the published Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois are the only sources used to compile this database. We realize that there may be omissions, misspellings and inaccuracies found in both sources. However, it was our goal to provide users with an accurate transcription of records as they appear in these sources. See the Illinois State Archives Database Transcription Policy.
 

The Civil War Soldiers' and Sailors' System (CWSS)  is a computerized database compiled by the National Park Service containing very basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War. The initial focus of the CWSS was the Names Index Project, an effort to enter names and other basic information from 6.3 million soldier records maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Other information found on the CWSS Web site includes: histories of regiments in both the Union and Confederate Armies, links to descriptions of 384 significant battles of the war, and other historical information. Additional information about soldiers, sailors, regiments, and battles, as well as prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records, will be added over time.

The histories of Illinois Civil War regiments and units are included in the first eight volumes of the nine volume publication, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois (1900-1902). (The ninth volume lists units of the Black Hawk, Mexican and Spanish-American Wars as well as the War of 1812.) The histories, some written shortly after the war's end, are the work of numerous authors throughout the intervening years. The 1886 version of the Adjutant General's Report included regimental histories compiled by that office which had not previously been published.

The final 1900-1902 republication of the report incorporated revisions and corrections to the histories. Researchers may also wish to consult images and histories of flags of Illinois regiments at John Schmale's Web site. In recognition of the service of Illinois' six regiments during the Mexican War, the assignment of regimental numbers for infantry began with seven.

The histories of Illinois Civil War regiments and units are provided in a PDF (Portable Document Format) file, which can be viewed or printed using your Web browser and Adobe's Acrobat Reader software. Macintosh and Windows versions of Acrobat Reader may be downloaded free of charge from Adobe.
 

	Click here to find out how to obtain the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
	Download the Illinois Civil War Regiment and Unit Histories in PDF format (1.4 megabytes). Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 or later.

All of the information found in the original Muster and Descriptive Rolls (RS 301.020) is included in this database. However, if you would like an unofficial and uncertified photocopy of the soldier's entry in the Muster and Descriptive Rolls, please include your postal mailing address. As a result of limitations on research time, Archives staff can photocopy no more than 2 entries per request.

To request photocopies or further information, contact:

Illinois State Archives Reference Unit Margaret Cross Norton Building Capitol Complex Springfield, Illinois 62756

Telephone: (217) 782-3556 Fax: (217) 524-3930 Submit a Request Via the Internet

The abbreviation N/A means NOT AVAILABLE. This abbreviation is used in fields where data was not given in the original record.

• Click here for Regimental Unit abbreviations.
• Click here for abbreviations of Rank.

Abbreviations found in the Unit field of the Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls database are:
 

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