At 04:07 PM 12/30/98 -0800, you wrote: >Hello Judy & all - >Somehow I missed getting a copy of the original e-mail message on >this. Glad I spotted the replies though because I wanted to let >everyone know that I have an article online regarding this specific >topic: > How To Order Military & Pension Records > for Union Civil War Veterans from the National Archives > http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/pensions.htm By all means this is the place to start. Once you get to the NARA pages, you'll have the ability to order forms to request the records. Ordering via the web page is much faster than writing for them. Tips: You must know the name and unit of the soldier. If you don't know the unit, don't waste your time requesting records. If your name is common, you might want to provide his wife's name. The people pulling the file and sending you the copies have their brain in gear; meaning that they "edit" the file to pick out pages of genealogical interest. They do this (I presume) to keep the cost to you down. They're generally good at picking out the best stuff. Pension files can be quite large; I've spent as much as $150 for a complete copy. Other files can be even larger. They don't seem to send you more than about $50 worth of stuff no matter what you say on the request form. They'll stop at around $50 and send you a form to fill out if you want more. Some soldiers didn't apply for a pension.. That's life. General comment: The propensity for government paperwork in this country was obviously created before the Civil War, as the pension files will show. Lawyers needed to be hired to submit statements, doctors needed to go to lengthy descriptions of injuries, relatives needed to be contacted and asked to submit testimony, congressmen needed to intervene now and then to keep the process going. Family Bibles needed to be sent for verification of birth dates, then returned. One clerk needed to write a note to another clerk. All of this communication concerning the applicant might be in the pension files. When I finally got the entire file (for $150), there was a slip of paper in it, about 3" by 3". On it was written "Applicant's father is on the pension board". As always, start with Cindislist.com, then have fun!! Marty Marty Cassidy cassidym@accessone.com (2 c's and 2 s's in accessone) Seattle, WA USA