Seeking great grandfather's Civil War medals

Dear Mr. Anderson,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

The Medal of Honor was the only federally sponsored and issued medal given to Civil War soldiers and sailors during the war. The National Park Service’s Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database contains a searchable database of Medal of Honor winners.  The Congressional Medal of Honor Society also makes available a searchable listing of recipients.

The Civil War Campaign Medal, established in 1907, recognized living Civil War veterans who had served in the U.S. Army or Volunteer units between April 15, 1861, and April 9, 1865. Soldiers serving in Texas until August 20, 1866, were allowed to apply for the medal, as well. We searched these National Archives Catalog and located Serial Lists of Badges and Medals Issued for Various Campaigns, 1907 - 1925 in the Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General (Record Group 92) that includes lists of Civil War Campaign Medal recipients. For access to and/or copies of these records, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) via email archives1reference@nara.gov.

Some states also issued medals or other forms of recognition to Civil War veterans. Please contact the appropriate state archives for information about state issued medals. Medals were also issued by veteran associations such as the Grand Army of the Republic and the Society of the Army of the Potomac.  Many of these associations are now defunct and any extant records of theirs may be deposited with other organizations. For example, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War has a project to document repositories of records of the Grand Army of the Republic.

We hope this information is helpful.  Best of luck with your family research!