Listers, A special federal census was done in 1890 of Civil War Union veterans and their widows. Unfortunately, it was destroyed for approximately half this country, specifically states beginning with the letter A through the state of Kentucky (about half the Kentucky special census was not destroyed). Illinois, unfortunately, was one of the states destroyed. Several states did post-war lists of military veterans living in the state, including Iowa and Nebraska. These lists were printed in book form, and can be found at various large libraries. All states did not do post-war Civil War veteran questionaires. Illinois did not do one. Questionaires when done were filled out only by pension recipients, not by all Civil War veterans, and the federal government paid Union pensions, not state governments. Sometimes a Union veteran's federal pension file will contain fairly extensive information about his service, including supporting statements by men he served with. The states I am aware of that did pension recipient questionaires are all Southern states, which paid Confederate pensions: Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana come right to mind. When available, the state archives in that state is where they are kept. Check the books on U.S. military records by James Neagles for more information on what is available at each state archives (he has one book on Confederate sources, one on northern sources). Illinois did do an 1862 census of men liable for military service. The Illinois State Archives in Springfield has this census. For some regiments, they also have descriptive rosters, which can provide quite a bit of information, including place of birth. Check their website for details. Tom Pearson