Federal research sequence
- Search the National Park Service Soldiers and Sailors database for likely unit and name matches.
- Consult the National Archives compiled military service record. NARA identifies this as the first source for a volunteer soldier’s basic military career.
- Review pension records where applicable for family, disability, residence, affidavits, and postwar information.
- Use census, directories, newspapers, cemeteries, county histories, obituaries, and family papers to separate people with the same name.
- Return to the object and test whether handwriting, date, place, photographer, postal route, company, and provenance agree.
Important: A service record proves a person served. It does not prove that an unconnected object belonged to that person.