We’ve talked about how to find out whether or not your ancestor fought in the Civil War. We’ve also talked about how to discover their military unit, and even how to find their card in a pension index. We’ve even talked a bit about what pensions are and what you might expect to find in them. By now, then, you should be armed and ready to order your ancestor’s Civil War pension file. (If you haven’t found your ancestor’s unit or pension card yet, you may want to go back and follow the tips outlined in our previous posts in this series).
Ordering your ancestor’s Civil War pension file is easy to do. You can order it online, by mail, or in person at the National Archives in Washington, DC. If you order online, the process will go faster than if you order by mail. For records this old, you do not need to prove that you are a relative of the person named in the pension file.
(The cheapest way to get a Civil War pension is to get them in person at Washington DC, or to hire someone to do so at a reasonable price. In this post, we will discuss only how to order the pension through the National Archives’ online system. If you wish to hire someone in the DC area, simply compare the prices we outline here to what you are offered to see if you are getting a good deal.)
Ordering Online
Step 1:
Go to the National Archives webpage for “Requesting Copies of Older Military Service Records”
Step 2:
Scroll down to “Military Pension/Bounty Land Warrant Applications” and click “Order Online.”
Step 3:
On the page that pops up, click “Federal Military Pension Application – Civil War and Later Complete File (NATF 85D)”
Step 4:
Choose how you want the pension delivered to you. You can order a paper copy, a CD or DVD copy, or an electronic copy that you can download.
Step 5:
Click “Add to Cart” Civil War pension files cost $80 for the first 100 pages. If the file is longer than 100 pages, they will send you the first 100 pages and then inform you how much it will cost to get the rest. My great-great-grandfather’s pension file, which was 350 pages long, cost an additional $157.50 for the last 250 pages, on top of the $80 charged for the first 100 pages.
Step 6:
Register for a free account with archives.gov and login. This is required. It is also free, and will help you track the status of your order.
Step 7:
Enter the information you have about the soldier in the pension file you are ordering.
The following information is required:
- Veteran’s first and last name
- Branch of service (Army, Navy, or Marines)
- Kind of service (Volunteer, Regular, or Not Sure)
- War in which they served (Civil War, of course!)
- State from which they served
You can help the process by also providing birthplace, birth date, death place, and death date information, as well as places of residence after the war. I recommend putting in as much information as you can.
Additionally, you can indicate whether your ancestor served in the Infantry, Artillery or Cavalry, and what Regiment they were in. You can also provide the name of their widow (if applicable), and your ancestor’s pension file number. Again, put in as much information as you can. The pension file number should be on their pension index card, if you have located that.
Lastly, in the notes section, take some time to tell the archivist anything unusual about the soldier. Did he go by a nickname? Are there any aliases or alternate spellings of his name? Are you unsure of the state or unit he served in, or did he serve in multiple units? Are his birth and/or death dates uncertain? Let them know.
Step 8:
Click “Continue to Pay and Ship” and follow the remaining prompts to enter payment and shipping information and complete your order.
In my experience, it takes about six weeks for your pension to arrive, though it may take longer. Civil War pension files often reveal a wealth of information about your ancestor and what they went through during the war. Future posts will discuss how to interpret, analyze, and understand the documents you may find in your ancestor’s file.
See also the other posts in our Civil War series: