sketchdon

I went to NARA in DC last week, armed with Footnote printouts of pension index cards, and got some advice from the experts there that I thought I should post here. There apparently can be 3 different versions of each soldier's index card. The version that Footnote microfilmed, the version that Ancestry microfilmed and the official microfilm at NARA. The version that Footnote microfilmed is apparently the least reliable (sorry, Footnote). For about half of my requests, I had to either log on to Ancestry and pull other numbers off of their versions of the cards OR pull NARA's microfilm and find more info there. The primary problems are (1) numbers that are longer than 6 digits and (2) Civil War pensions that have been combined with other wars like the Mexican War or the Indian Wars. If you plan to request a pension and your soldier's app. or cert. number is that long or there are notations in the Other area at the bottom, then you should at least look at Ancestry's version to see if there is other info like an XC or C number at the bottom of the card (the C means Combined). The set of cards that Footnote microfilmed apparently was the least updated with all of the data that helps NARA find the records. ...more

Following up on my comment below... If you find a card that references a "manuscript" of some type, here's where it should be: At the National Archives in D.C., ask for Record Group (RG) 109, "War Department Collection of Confederate Records (Miscellaneous Records) Manuscripts 1861-1865", Entry 183, and then whatever number your manuscript is. Mine was 6198 and it was in Box 72... so there's a lot of these records that have not been microfilmed and are not easily located. ...more

I also see "Reference Cards" in this collection that appear to be placeholders or markers that refer you to a "Manuscript No. XXXX, Page XXXX" Does anyone know what those references mean and where I can find the manuscripts? One soldier I'm researching has a card that refers me to Manuscript 5198... and indicates it's a letter dated in February 1863, but I have no idea where to look for it??