Civil War Marine on board USS Mississippi records; how to obtain

gdoyle 

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The Navy Department did not maintain individual service records for enlisted personnel prior to 1885. Therefore we do not have a comprehensive service record, detailing enlistments, training, assignment, awards, and personnel actions, for enlisted individuals who served prior to this date. There are several series of records in our holdings used to document service for enlisted personnel during the Civil War.

Enlistment Returns, Rendezvous Reports, and ships’ Muster Rolls, which are in our custody, usually show the date and place of enlistment, age at enlistment, civilian occupation, and the state and country of birth. They do not give information on the enlistee's family or name all of the vessels on which he served. To search the returns, you need to know the approximate date of enlistment, and to search the muster rolls you need to know the name(s) of the ship(s) or station(s) on which an individual served or was stationed.

These series have been digitized and are available online. The Enlistment Returns are available on the Fold3.com website at:

Naval Enlistment Weekly Returns, 1855-1891 https://www.fold3.com/publication/777/us-naval-enlistment-weekly-returns-1855-1891 

US, Rendezvous Reports Index - Civil War, 1861-1865 https://www.fold3.com/publication/887/us-rendezvous-reports-index-civil-war-1861-1865 

Please note that the Fold3 website is a fee-based website, but free from all NARA research facilities.

The Civil War Era Muster Rolls, 1860-1900 (Entry 132) in Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, have been digitized and are available for free on the National Archives catalog at:

Civil War Muster Rolls https://catalog.archives.gov/id/563603 

More specifically, the Muster Rolls for the USS MISSISSIPPI have been digitized and are available online on the National Archives Catalog at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/134432180 

For more specific information about the Civil War Navy records, please feel free to reach out to our office directly via email at archives1reference@nara.gov 

We hope this assists you with your research!

Sincerely,

Archives 1 Reference Branch (RR1R)
[RR1R-24-36337-AA]