Ultimately, in selling these ornaments and raising money, we hope to make statement/message, and we have an excellent opportunity to do so through a relatively inexpensive Virginia Department of Historic Resources sign (about $1,300). The sign will remember the two reunions that took place in July and September 1881 between Union veterans of Carlisle, Pa. and Confederate veterans of Luray, Va. The first reunion took place in Luray in July 1881 (on the day of the 20th anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas), and the second reunion took place in Carlisle, Pa. in September 1881.

The statement/message we want to make? It's to leave a subtle reminder on the landscape that Union and Confederate veterans, as early as 20 years after First Bull Run and 16 years after Appomattox were able to come together and shake hands and exchange good feelings in the name of reconciliation and reunion. As the Sesquicentennial approaches, it is our opinion that this marker will help remind folks that through the efforts of many veterans, sectional animosities were laid aside in the interest of moving forward, together again as a nation of Americans under one flag.

However, we can't do this without the help of you - our Brothers. Again, if we don't raise 90% of our invoice by the end of April, we have to send the rest of the ornaments (the original order was for 250) back to the company by the end of April, and the project will be nothing more than an unrealized dream. Obviously, this is something we don't want to see happen.

So again, we appeal to you all to lend a helping hand in making this possible, and hopefully, within the year, we can all stand together at the dedication of this marker that will stand as a reminder to all that the veterans - blue and gray - moved forward in the name of reunion, reconciliation and peace and, because of their efforts, we can stand together today as one people with nearly 145 years of history as one nation, again, since that day at Appomattox.

The ornaments sell for $20 each and checks or money orders may be made out to the "Luray-Carlisle Reunion Camp." Please send orders to me directly at:

Robert Moore
1519 Parkersburg Turnpike
Swoope, Virginia 24479-2225

Also, considering the time constraints necessary to get the job done to sell approximately 100 ornaments by the end of April, I am offering another incentive - no shipping!

We thank everyone in advance for all the help that can be mustered for the support of this project!

In Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty,

Robert Moore
Camp Commander
Luray-Carlisle Reunion Camp #1881

Under the main directory of the site, in the "Aftermath" section, there is a subsection (or sub-pathway) titled "Memory of the War." I accessed this pathway again last night and, having written a book about Augusta County in the Civil War (and having included a chapter about the remembrance years), I'm very interested in what this subsection has to offer. The different nodes offered in this subsection include

• Augusta County Newspapers, 1865-1870

• Memoirs, Essays and Articles, 1860s-1940s

• Popular Culture in Augusta, 1860s-2006

• Southern Claims Commission Papers, 1871-1879

• Search the 1890 Veterans Census

• The Augusta Archive: The First Version of the Valley Project

Apart from the last node, I think all offer different features that are worth examining when considering memory of the Civil War in Augusta County. I was a bit disappointed however that the newspapers were not scanned for articles through the beginning of the twentieth century. There were, after all, two Grand Camp Confederate Veterans of Virginia Reunions in Staunton, as well as a major UDC and SCV reunion.

Likewise, the "Popular Culture" segment, I think, deserves greater attention. For example, there is no mention of Buckley's History of the Great Reunion (of course, I didn't find it myself until after I had published Gibraltar in the Shenandoah). This book provides a very detailed account of the reunion that took place between the veterans of the 5th Virginia Infantry and the 28th New York Infantry (including the Confederate Veterans placing a wreath at the Staunton National Cemetery (according to the book, the wreath later became part of the collection at the Smithsonian Institution) and subsequent return of the flag of the 28th New York Infantry - taken at the Battle of Cedar Mountain - at the reunion that took place in Niagara Falls.

Incidentally, the node about the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton leads to some interesting information about the hotel, but curiously, there is no mention of the large UDC reunion held there in the late 1930s, when some of the last surviving local Confederate veterans were in attendance.

Please don't get me wrong. This project is a tremendous (and groundbreaking) contribution to the field of Digital History and the Civil War as a whole. The amount of work that has gone into it is amazing. However, before the Virginia Center for Digital History wraps-up work on the project (this coming year, from what I understand), it would be great to see a few more things covered.

My search began out of innocent curiosity. I had been interested in joining SUVCW for some time and figured that I would end up being an Associate member (member with no descendant serving the Union cause in the Civil War). I had an possible ancestor on my dad's side, Private Philip Eglehoff (spelling sometimes varies between records), who was killed at the Battle of Parker's Crossroads in Tennessee (the battle occurred on Dec. 31, 1862 and he died of wounds on Jan. 01, 1863). The problem with trying to use Philip as my ancestor for membership was that I can prove his service to the Union, but can not prove his relation to myself. I am still searching out how I am related to Philip Eglehoff and will someday explore Sauerwein connections to the war.

I was looking at records on my mother's maternal side of the family one day and noticed the date of birth (1845) for Robert Montgomery and that he was born in Pennsylvania and when I saw that he was sixteen in 1861, I knew that there may be a possibility of him serving in the Union army during the war. I decided to go online and check available sources on Pennsylvania Civil War veterans and hit the jackpot. I found via the online Pennsylvania State Archives that Robert Montgomery enlisted in Company G, 103rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment at age 16.

With this online knowledge, I took the next step and sent in a request form to the National Archives for his service record and, once I paid the $18 (this fee has increased to my knowledge), I had his service record, which I promptly sent a copy of along with my application for membership in SUVCW. Unlike Philip Eglehoff, I had records proving my lineage, but needed to prove service. I found my ancestor and now want to help you find yours.

There are two ways to start: one for those with family tree records and another for those with neither record, but a name. For those with family records proving lineage, all you need to do is prove that a relative served in the war. First, go online and search for Civil War veteran databases for the state that your ancestor likely served from, in terms of units, or look the name up on the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System website. Many states have great online tools for searching for a veteran who served in that state. Pennsylvania State Archives has digitized their veterans' index cards, which allow for printing, Illinois provides listings through the Secretary of State's office, and independent sites provide digital copies of various state adjutant general reports, which are very helpful resources that provide demographic data on Civil War soldiers in a particular state.

Once you have information on your ancestor(s) via the online records (you can also search local historical archives if you desire, but distance may necessitate online searching, as it did for my case), you may want to obtain two sets of records from the National Archives (you may have to request through a state archive depending). The two sets of records provide different information and cost different amounts. The cheaper set of records is the service record, which will usually provide a discharge certificate, mustering records, and any other pertinent service information. The service record is the easier of the two to acquire as well, as some veterans do not have a pension record if they were killed during the war and left no survivors. A service record will run you $25.00.

The National Archives website states the following about pension records:

Pension Records

Most Union army soldiers or their widows or minor children later applied for a pension. In some cases, a dependent father or mother applied for a pension. The pension files are indexed by NARA microfilm publication T288, General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 (544 rolls) which is also available online at Ancestry.com (for a fee).

The pension file will often contain more information about what the soldier did during the war than the CMSR, and it may contain much medical information if he lived for a number of years afterwards. For example, in his pension file, Seth Combs of Company C, 2d Ohio Cavalry, reported: "...my left eye was injured while tearing down a building...and in pulling off a board a splinter or piece struck my eye and injured it badly...it was hurt while in the Shenandoah Valley near Winchester, Va. about Christmas 1864--a comrade who stood by me name Jim Beach is dead." In another affidavit, Seth said he "also got the Rheumatism while on duty as a dispatch bearer on detached duty."

To obtain a widow's pension, the widow had to provide proof of marriage, such as a copy of the record kept by county officials, or by affidavit from the minister or some other person. Applications on behalf of the soldier's minor children had to supply both proof of the soldier's marriage and proof of the children's birth.

A pension record will cost $75.00, but it may be worth the money if you are looking for more family record detail. Once you have either of these records, you are finished and can either keep searching further back, or for other Civil War ancestors, or, you can relax and take pride in your research.

For those of you that do not have a name or family records, your search will be a bit more difficult, as before you can begin the steps described above, you will need to find a name, unit information, and other relevant information to provide the Archive staff member that will research your request something to work with. That information will be placed on the request form available from the Archives (or you can order records online). To find this information, particularly name, birth year, and birthplace, you will either need to speak with older relatives (this is the best bet to find names and start your journey, as they may remember the ancestor in question from childhood), or visit your local archives, or archive of where your family resided for most of its history.

There, you will find, depending on the facility, a potential wealth of documents from ship's records, to marriage and birth records. The marriage and birth records are key, as they are going to be the base for your family tree. You may need to go online and request census records from the National Archives, as the census records will provide household information every ten years, including surname, spouse, and children (including name and ages). Once you have traced your lineage back to between 1800-1850 (you will need to go this far back to establish the possibility of Civil War service based on age, with a minimum age being 15 with an 1865 enlistment), start searching the online and other Civil War veteran databases with all possible names and then once you have found some, send in the requests to the appropriate archival sites to obtain records.

Now, you have the tools needed to research your Civil War ancestors. Go out and search, and include your kids or parents, as they will likely (especially the kids) have as much fun with this as you. Once you have the records proving lineage and service, you may then apply for membership in one of the hereditary organizations for descendants of Civil War veterans. The two more well-known groups are Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, which is for descendants of Union veterans, and Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), for those with Confederate ancestry. If you are descended from an officer, you are also entitled to membership in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) for Union officers, or Military Order of the Stars and Bars for Confederate officers. Good luck to everyone searching their lineage and I hope that you find a Civil War veteran in your family, and if they were Union, then please consider joining the SUVCW.