The statement "Genealogical information is actually irrelevant" in the
search for the service of an individual in the Civil War is incorrect from
my genealogical perspective. The greatest difficulty in military research is
making sure the person that you are researching is actually the person that
you want to research. All too often a researcher spends time on a soldier
only to learn later that it is not possible for that soldier to be the
"right" one. It is genealogical information that makes the difference.

In order to search for service where none is know it is helpful to know:

The name of the individual.

The place of residence before, during and after the war.

The approximate age of the individual or date of birth.

The name of the soldiers wife.


All of these things are genealogical by their nature. The name is important
for obvious reasons. Place of residence will allow you to narrow the field
in your initial search to units that were raised in the neighborhood. Age
will help you to narrow the field where there are more than one soldier of
that name in the neighborhood. The wife may have received a pension and the
pension will mention the specific service. Always look for a pension before
a compiled military service record. The pension being full of genealogical
material will allow you to know to a greater degree that you have the right
soldier.

In other words, in the event that you don't have a clue to service,
genealogical information is the most important information that you can have
to track a soldier and his unit. There is more to genealogical information
than the name of a soldier's parents.

C.

Craig R. Scott
CEO & President
Heritage Books, Inc.
Willow Bend Books (the Bookstore division of Heritage Books, Inc.)
65 East Main Street
Westminster, MD 21157-5062
800 876-6103

Visit our websites at www.HeritageBooks.com and www.WillowBendBooks.com



----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Cross" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 12:05 PM
Subject: Re: Thomas Harvey Stewart/Civil War


> Am searching for information on a Thomas Harvey Stewart who, I'm told,
served
in the Civil War.

Well, at last count several hundred thousand possibilities come to mind. ;-)

When searching for ancestors who served in the Civil War, it's important to
know what unit they might have served in. Genealogical information is
actually irrelevant unless you happen to find someone who is related. There
are many web sites devoted to specific Virginia units, your best bet is to
do a Google search with things like "1st Virginia infantry, 2nd VA cavalry,
etc." and see if you can find him that way.

Bill Cross

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