• Photo of cannon at Antietam National Battlefield

    The Civil War

Soldiers and Sailors Database

Photo of Confederate soldiers
The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) is a database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Other information on the site includes histories of Union and Confederate regiments, links to descriptions of significant battles, and selected lists of prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records, which will be amended over time. The CWSS is a cooperative effort between the National Park Service and several public and private partners whose goal is to increase Americans' understanding of this decisive era in American history by making information about it widely accessible.
Read more about the CWSS

 

Browse Soldiers and Sailors Database

  • Photo of Confederate Private Edwin Jemison.

    Soldiers

    Search the service records of over 6 million men, blue and gray, who served in the Civil War.

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  • Photo of unidentified African American sailor in Union uniform.

    Sailors

    See a list of 18,000 African American sailors that served in the Civil War.

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  • Wartime photo of Union regiment of African American soldiers.

    Regiments

    Search unit histories of over 4,000 Union and Confederate regiments, including lists of their battles and rosters of their soldiers.

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  • Image of Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg.

    Cemeteries

    The National Park Service manages 14 National Cemeteries, all but one of which is linked to a Civil War battlefield park.

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  • Painting of Confederate troops at Fort Darling firing on Union gunboats in the James River.

    Battles

    Of the 10,500 armed conflicts that occurred during the Civil War, nearly 400 were identified as the principal battles; learn about them here.

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  • Painting of prisoners and guards at Andersonville prison camp.

    Prisoners

    Check the lists of the Confederate prisoners held at Fort McHenry and the Union troops kept at Andersonville prison camp.

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  • Close up image of a Civil War Medal of Honor.

    Medals of Honor

    Created during the Civil War, over 1,500 Medals of Honor were awarded to soldiers and sailors who “distinguish[ed] themselves by their gallantry.”

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  • Modern photo of a monument at Antietam National Battlefield

    Monuments

    Larger-than-life soldiers made of granite and bronze are hard to ignore, which is, of course, what their makers intended.

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