TSLA Launches Federal Civil War Burial Sheets Project

Following years of effort, and through the support of TSLAFriends and the vision and drive of one of TSLA's most passionate supporters, the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) is pleased to offer online access to its Federal Civil War Burial Sheets.

This online portal provides access to information contained in the burial sheets for the Federal soldiers disinterred shortly after the war at gravesites in Tennessee and Kentucky and then reburied at Nashville National Cemetery.



Sample Burial Sheet
This is one of many pages of the record of reinterment of United States soldiers in Tennessee.

Of special interest to researchers and genealogists was the identification of 3,021 soldiers disinterred from the Nashville City Cemetery as well as of 8,593 soldiers disinterred from U.S. Burial Grounds Due West City Cemetery, Nashville, and U.S. Burials Grounds Southwest City Cemetery, Nashville.

A researcher combing files in the National Archives discovered these long-lost Tennessee records, and the TSLA contracted with the National Archives to create a copy on microfilm. The next step was a transcription and database project for the “burial sheets.” TSLAFriends offered to seek funds. The first donation came from Nashville City Cemetery Association and later other individual donors to underwrite the project.

Transcription work was conducted under the auspices of TSLAFriends, employing transcriptionists who used digital images created from the microfilm. This position was funded by donations from individuals and the Nashville City Cemetery Association as well as through grant funding from the Tennessee Wars Commission.

Entries were transcribed as accurately and thoroughly as possible, including handwritten changes to names and other information. Crossed-out text is noted as such. All columns in the original ledger books were included in the transcriptions. Names were cross-checked with those listed in the Roll of Honor to help verify identity and names were also checked by a supervisor to ensure accuracy. Capitalization, punctuation and spelling were kept as found in the original ledgers.

We gratefully acknowledge the leadership of Fletch Coke, who first suggested this project and assisted in many ways to bring it to completion.

We encourage you to explore this unique collection. Visit the Federal Civil War Burial Sheets Project website at http://www.tnsos.net/TSLA/BurialSheetsProject/index.php for more information.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.