If you would like to see what is on file in the National Archives regarding your Civil War ancestor(s), here is what to do:

Write to:

General Reference Branch (NNRGP)
National Archives and Records Administration
7th & Pennsylvania Avenue N. W. Washington, D.C. 20408

Ask for:

NATF Form 80,
Order for copies of Veterans Records

When the form arrives, fill in the blanks as the directions tell you and send it back. The National Archivist can provide information on your ancestor from his Pension Application File and from his Military Service Records.

Special medical records may also be on file for the veteran you're interested in. To obtain this information, make a special "Send medical records" note in the margin of the form. Some files are very large and so the National Archives will copy only what its staff member believes to be the most pertinent information for the $10.00 minimum fee. If you are willing to pay extra for everything that's on file, write "Copy entire file" in the margin and indicate that you are willing to pay more. The charges will be figured accordingly. The National Archives prefers that you ask for one file at a time and recommends that you start with pension records.

What if your relative didn't live to collect a pension? Well, his survivors -- wife and children -- were eligible and there will be a lot of genealogical information about them as well as the records of the military service that your relative saw.

You may pay by credit card (VISA or MasterCard) and have copies shipped immediately, provided the file you requested is found, or you may be billed. If you choose to be billed, a preliminary search will be made for the file you choose on a particular veteran, and you will receive a reply that states whether or not any information was found.

If the file you requested was located, copies will be made and you will be told the amount due. (There is a $10.00 minimum charge). The copies will be held for you for only forty-five days from the date they were prepared. This date will be stamped on the "Invoice/Reply Copy." If your first inquiry comes back negative, experts suggest that you resubmit the same request again at a later date. Chances are a different file researcher may be assigned to your request and may find something unnoticed in the first attempt.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
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