Military Records

Records Related to the Confederate States Navy

The National Archives Building in Washington, DC (Archives 1), houses few records related to the Confederate States Navy. The majority of records that survived the Civil War are housed at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy.

However, researchers can find some Confederate States Navy records in the following record groups.

Record Group 45: Naval Records Collection and Library

Microfilm:

M625, Area File of the Naval Records Collection, 1775–1910
- See Rolls 410–414 for files related to the Confederate States Navy.
M1091, Subject File of the Confederate States Navy, 1861–1865
- This microfilm has been digitized and made available on Fold3.com.
T829, Miscellaneous Records of the Office of Naval Records and Library
- See Rolls 13–19 for Confederate muster and pay rolls.

Original Records:

Entry I-18 644, "Letters Sent by Lt. Joseph N. Barney" (NAID: 1848146)
Entry I-18 645, "Correspondence and Fiscal Records of Thomas R. Ware, Confederate States Navy Paymaster, Mobile, AL" (NAID: 1848930)
Entry I-18 650, "Shipping Articles of Naval Enlisted Personnel" (NAID: 1853205)
Entry I-18 652, "Payrolls of Civilian Employees at Confederate Shore Establishments" (NAID: 1853241)
Entry I-18 655, "Muster Rolls, Payrolls, and Related Records for Marine Detachments of the Confederate States Navy" (NAID: 1862072)
Entry I-18 656, "Register of Allotments of Officers and Enlisted Men of the Confederate States Navy" (NAID: 1871956)
Entry I-18 659, "Logs of Confederate Privateers" (NAID: 1871988)
Entry I-18 660, "Logs and Journals of Confederate States Navy Vessels and of Battery Brooke" (NAID: 1872023)
Entry I-18 661, "Diary of Midshipman John A. Wilson, Confederate States Navy" (NAID: 1872056)
Entry I-18 662, "Diary Kept by Rear Adm. Raphael Semmes During His Arrest and Confinement, Dec. 1865–Mar. 1866" (NAID: 1872086)
Entry I-18 663, "Certifications of Naval Accounts by the First Auditor, Confederate States Treasury Department" (NAID: 1872282)
Entry I-18 665, "Register of Money, Clothing, and Small Stores Issued by the Confederate Navy Paymaster" (NAID: 1872311)

Record Group 109: War Department Collection of Confederate Records

Microfilm:

M260, Records Relating to Confederate Naval and Marine Personnel
- Rolls 1–4 relate to hospital and prison records of naval and marine personnel.
- Rolls 5–7 relate to Confederate naval service records.
- This microfilm has been digitized and made available on FamilySearch.org.
M909, Papers Pertaining to Vessels of or Involved with the Confederate States of America: "Vessel Papers"

Original Records:

Entry PI-101 160, "Records of the Confederate States Navy" (NAID: 2124199)

Record Group 365: Treasury Department Collection of Confederate Records

Original Records:

Entry A1-55, "Confederate Army and Navy Bonds" (NAID: 7195421)
Entry A1-57, "Register of Confederate Civil, Military, and Naval Contracts" (NAID: 7196089)
Entry A1-59, "Confederate Civil, Military, and Naval Contracts" (NAID: 7196404)
Entry A1-65, "Records Relating to Confederate Naval Matters" (NAID: 7198185)
Entry A1-66, "Confederate Navy Rolls" (NAID: 7198461)
Entry A1-67, "Confederate Naval Yard Payrolls" (NAID: 7198751)
Entry A1-320, "Records Relating to Confederate Agents in Europe" (NAID: 7297301)
Entry A1-322, "Records Relating to the Construction of Ships in Europe for the Confederate States Navy" (NAID: 7297314)

Note: While records related to the Confederate States Navy date to the Civil War period (1861–1865), many were collected decades later by the Department of the Navy, the War Department, and other federal agencies. As such, the ending date for several series postdates the Civil War.

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