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My great-great grandfather was born in Pennsylvania in 1845, and served in the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the Civil War. I need to do more research on earlier ancestors.
I've never done any formal research, but I don't think any of my ancestors came here after the Civil War. My grandmother traced her family and I know she found a few who fought in it. I used to have some of the information she found but I've long since lost it. I think she knew her great grandfather who fought in the war.
A thing to keep in mind is that a fair number of people fought for the side opposite that of their state. As an example Mark Twain was from Missouri which was a northern state, but for the short time he served in war it was a part of a Confederate home guard in Missouri. Similarly most of the elder members of the Hatfield and McCoy clans of feud fame who served in the wat did so as Confederate regulars or as members of a Confederate guerilla group (called the Logan Wildcats if I remember correctly) even though they were from the northern states of Kentucky and West Virginia. Meanwhile Gen. Winfield Scott who commanded the US Army at the start of the war was from Virginia which hurt him politically as people thought his prediction that the war would take years and subsequent plan to slowly strangle the Confederacy was a veiled effort to sabotage the war effort (as it turned out the US would more or less replicate his strategy by the end of the war).
what youve just described are "border states", not northern states, as in southern slave states that did not secede from the union. its important to make this distinction. kentucky and missouri had both confederate and union governments and were both admitted as states to the confederacy while never having officially left the union. thus residents of both states fought for both sides. quite a different story than states like illinois, or new york. maryland also had soldiers fighting for both sides, while it never had any confederate representation.
another interesting thing to keep in mind is that eastern tennessee (part of a confederate state) was largely union and thus many tenesseeans have union background. in fact by the end of the war so much of tennessee was union controlled that the entire state was exempt from the emancipation proclamtion, along with the slave states that didnt secede (KY, MO, MD). because of this tennessee was not militarily controlled during reconstruction.
but to answer the original question. no, most americans cant trace their ancestry to the civil war era.
but to answer the original question. no, most americans cant trace their ancestry to the civil war era.
That's certainly not been my experience in what I've seen from other people's trees. Even just from the responses in this topic, it's clear most of us have. In my experience, those who attempt genealogy are indeed usually able to trace back to 1860 in at least one branch of their tree, if they are willing to put the effort into it. ALL of my branches, excluding two who were still in Italy during the Civil War, have indeed been traced back to pre-1861. Even my two other Italian branches who were still in Italy at the time I have traced back to 1846 and 1863 in Italy.
Information on our ancestors (both mom and pops) has been passed down for generations, including the Civil War era. It's amazing that we had cousins fighting each other during that war.They came from several states, ie Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Kentucky. I have copies of enlistment, letters, and news articles of my ancestors during that era.
Most of my ancestors came here as indentured servants offering the trade of masons and carpenters. We've traced some ancestors back to the American Revolution, one being a Major during that war. My mother is in fact a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
Back to the Civil War era, it is intersting to note that from some of the notes and letters I have copies of the soldiers had to provide many items that the army could not provide. Some of the items noted are: rifles, ammunition, footware, eating utinsels and many other personnel items.
My ancestors were all founders here from the early 1600's in Mass, NH, RI, and CT. Some were ministers, some farmers, some military, some politicians. They obviously fought on the Union side.
I have a history from my mother about one male ancestor from New England who was the adjutant of the Mobile, Ala 24th as he had married a southern girl. He was killed at the battle of Chickamagua and that was my Ggrandmother's middle name. She was brought as a child to relatives in Chicago at the time of the great fire and then later to upstate NY to be raised by other relatives, the Stewarts I believe. I have several marked and unmarked photos of the family from Chicago at that time (WmMiller U Chicago). Not sure if those who raised her were on same side of the family and don't know what happened to her mother or her mother's maiden name as records were not very good then.
On the paternal side, we go back to prior to the Rev War. Actually, to the 1600's. Two of my great uncles were killed in the war, southern, of course.
Numerous cousins were killed during the war in one line alone. They were from Georgia. One was at Gettyburg, one @ Hatchers Run, one @ the Wilderness. Where my great grandfather was born and raised and, where family still lived, they were directly in the path of Shermans army and the plantation was decimated by the army. Many interesting stories.
My maternal side came a little later and I havent spent as much time on them.
eta: I have been watching Ken Burns Civil War again so this is fresh.
Excluding those whose ancestors immigrated since then, of course. Many Yankees with Confederate ancestors or vice versa?
Yes. In fact, enclosed below is a letter we found a few years back. It was sent to a civil war museum. Hope you enjoy it, I put ??? in a few places where it was illegible on the original. The writer of this letter died a few months later while wintering, typhoid.
Quote:
Oct 10, 1862 (Dear Sister)
On battle field of Cave Spring KY
Dear Sister day before yesterday at dawn our regiment moved to the awful field of battle. We all was in splendid spirit and went into the field on double quick and in the “hales and far” of the battle. It is impossible for human tongue to describe the scene that followed. Suffice it to say that the 75th Ill Regiment was in the battle field for over two hours and suffered dreadful.
I cannot tell you much about it there was “???” six shot right by my side and I did not get a scratch. First there was John Brubaker. He was about two feet from me when he was shot. And 3 or four others that I did not know. Little Frank Brown was killed by a ball falling right though his head. There was six shot dead in our company and in killed and wounded there were 20 in our company. Just think of that and thank god that I was spared. Why frank, I believe that this was 50 balls passed within 2 feet of my head when we retreated for retreat we did. Such a volley as followed us can never be described.
Oh he “???” you know him Capt. Barber was wounded and died this morning of his wounds. He was with me about 1 minute before he was ????? ??????? and when he was wounded he said boys take my sword for I am gone. Our former Captain Slager is wounded and we think mortally. Our Leutinant Colonel had his horse shot from under him.
The boys have just come In some of them with mess of seven succesh prisoners was just brought to me. I forgot to tell you that the enemy have fled this part of the country. We have had a hard march we thought we marched 26 miles in one day. I don’t know what else to write I suppose Jane don’t care about knowing how the battle field looks after the fight. Enough to say that there is one dead “reb” sitting 40 rods from here and if there is one there is 50. Within 3 miles they lay on the ground naked or nearly so in every direction. We went in the field with about one thousand men in our regiment and in two hours there was only about 240 men. But the most of them were missing and a good many of them have returned.
I wish I could send you some of the latest tools that we find on the field but it is impossible and so let it drop. Finally I don’t know how I shall send you this letter for I dont have postage stamps and that is the fix with the boys.
I have seen all the fighting I ever want to see not that I was afraid for positively I was not. But to hear the groans and dying and the “screaming” it is horrible. I have no more room
Mom's side here in early 1600s; dad's side late 1600s. Both sides fought in the Revolutionary War against the British. Both sides were in Tennessee and Alabama during the Civil War and all but one fought for the South...whoops all but 2. One fought for the North, another ran and hid in a cave for nearly 2 years to keep from fighting at all. From letters we have, most of the rest of the family didn't have much to do with him after that.
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