On 5 Jun 98, at 20:53, RalphK@aol.com wrote: > My questions are, What did you request (exactly)? This is important > because they usually will not do research for you. Did you request the > information on one of their forms? Which one? I did send the request in on a form. I don't have a copy in front of me, but it is the one where you can choose either military records or pension application records. I chose the former. Sometime after the Civil War, he was killed "by Indians" while going out west. I have assumed, perhaps wrongly, that he never lived long enough to apply for a pension. > Secondly, military service records for the Civil War are contained in > several large categories. > > 1. Volenteers, troops raised by the states. > 2. Regulars, US military raised by the federal government. > 3. Some Navy records and some Marine records (these not often used). All I know is that he was in the Union Navy and, if memory serves correctly, was an Ass't Paymaster on a vessel that was involved in the Battle of Charleston[?]. > > I suspect that your previous researcher found your sailor in > "Indexes to Rendezvous Reports, Civil War, 1861-1865. T1099, 31 rolls." > This index is on film but the records to which they refer are not on > microfilm. These actual records are available at the National Archives in > Washington DC. So, if someone shows up in the index, it is likely that there *are* surviving records? > > I also suggest that you should also explore the possibility of a pension > application. These are indexed comprehensively. What kind of application? Pension? (see above) Maureen O'Brien