A simple listing of soldiers in the 43rd Georgia is in the rosters section of this site. If your ancestor is listed, you will probably be able to find additional information from various "official" sources described below.

Successfully documenting your ancestor's service record depends on when he joined, how long he served, your skill as a researcher, and sometimes, a fair amount of luck. The process can be as simple as finding his name in a published roster list or it can be a lifetime quest. You are most likely to find information on those who joined early and served for some period of time. Later arrivals, or those discharged after brief service, may not show up in the complied rosters.

The Federal government captured various Confederate documents including unit muster rolls, pay records, etc. Information on these records was copied on cards which have been microfilmed and are referred to as the combined service records. Information from these records is now available on line at the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System developed by the National Park Service.

National Park Service Soldiers & Sailors System Web Site

Once at this site, click on "Soldiers" and enter your ancestor's name, if there is a match you will see the name and regiment. Click on the name and you will see a file card which shows the microfilm reel number on which his records are located. The full records are not on line, but this index can confirm his membership in the 43rd Georgia and saves time if you are going to the National Archives or other locations which have the full records on microfilm.

If the name doesn't turn up under "Soldiers", click on "Regiments", enter 43 for the regiment, select "Confederate" and enter "Georgia" and you will get an alphabetical list of soldiers in the 43rd. You may discover a difference in spelling or use of initials which caused your search by name to fail.

You can also check other published rosters of Civil War soldiers. There are several. I use the Roster of Confederate soldiers of Georgia 1861-1865 compiled by Lillian Henderson (volume iv contains the 43rd Georgia). This is also available in a CD-ROM. Many libraries, particularly in Georgia, have a copy. Check with your local reference librarian to learn where a copy of is available.

A couple of words of warning. There are differences in some of the published rosters. One of my ancestors is listed in Henderson's compilation but not in some other rosters yet I am sure he did indeed enlist with his brother.

As another example, I received an e-mail about a case where the person's ancestor didn't appear in any roster but the State of Georgia Archives in Atlanta was able to find a medical record which shows the soldier was wounded at Vicksburg while serving in the 43rd. So just because you don't find him in a roster, don't give up! My experience with the commercial genealogical sites on the Internet that list civil war soldiers has been poor with major omissions - caution advised!

Even if you determine immediately that your ancestor served, you will probably want to learn as much about him and his service as possible and guides to the process are helpful. A couple of good books are:

	Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor by Bertram Hawthorne Groene Published by John F. Blair, 1995 ISBN 0-89587-123-8
In Search of Confederate Ancestors: The Guide by J.H. Segars Published by Southern Heritage Press 1993 ISBN 0-9631963-4-0

The Georgia Archives Department , mentioned above, is at 330 Capitol Avenue, Atlanta, 30334, 404-656-2393. They are planning a move to Morrow, Georgia so check their Web site or call if you are planning a visit. As the example above illustrates, they can be quite helpful.

The microfilmed combined service records are available either by visiting the National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington DC or the regional office in East Point, Georgia. Check with a research librarian for other locations with copies.

An easy alternative to a trip and time spent hunched over a microfilm reader is to mail in NATF Form 86 (previously Form 80) with the name of your ancestor, his unit, a credit card number, and they will send you a copy of the service records they have. Current cost is $17.00 and it takes about 2 months to get a result. This may produce a single page or many if the person was an officer. Groene's book describes the process (Form 80) in detail. Currently, these forms are not available on line but can be obtained at the various US regional archives or from Washington directly.

There is also a guide to Federal holdings entitled The Confederacy, A Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America by Henry Putney Beers, published by the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 1986, ISBN 0-911333-18-5. This includes more obscure information available only in Washington.

Finally, heritage organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy have, among their members, people who will do look ups of rosters and are willing to help those seeking to join their organizations. Also, Cindi's List has several sites with good content about searching for Confederate ancestors.

This just scratches the surface but can get you started.

Good Luck!