Photo by Travis Pratt A Civil War re-enactor and war memorabilia collector, Jason Grabill’s relative participated in the Battle of Gettysburg.

So, if you had family in the United States in the mid 1800s, you may have at least one distant relation who served in the war, according to Katie Lawhon, public affairs specialist at the Gettysburg National Military Park.

Gettysburg park rangers receive phone calls every day from people trying to find information about ancestors who fought in the war.

Depending on the information the person has, the park can help, Lawhon said.

"If you have a name and a state it's easier," she said. "Also if the soldier is from Pennsylvania, it's easier to help because of documentation."

With a name, the National Archives can provide more records, Lawhon said.

Don't have a name? Turn to the Internet. With websites such as ancestry.com or soldiersearch.com, performing genealogical research has become easier, said Terry Latschar, who has spent more than a decade researching her family history.

Mike Sponseller used ancestry.com and discovered he had a great-great-grandfather, George F. Sponseller, who served as an infantry soldier for Union in the Potomac Home Brigade.

Before using ancestry.com, Sponseller had no knowledge of his family's involvement in the war.

Another source of information is the National Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database, which can be found at www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/

Beyond the internet, finding primary documentation is still the ultimate source of information, according to Benjamin Neely, collections manager at Adams County Historical Society.

Neely found detailed information about his great-great-uncle, John McNutt, who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, as a result of a photograph. The image had McNutt's name written on the back.

With the name, Neely obtained records from the National Archives and the U.S. Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, Pa.

"It is a wonderful depository of records," Neely said, because they have primary sources -- letters and journals, for example.

George Wunderlich is the executive director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick . He holds numerous primary records about his great-great-grandfather, William Wallace Pederick. He has pension and service records as well as letters discovered by his grandparents in the 1950s during a raid of Wunderlich's great-grandmother's desk.

Pederick fought for the Union. Finding records on Union soldiers is typically easier than finding information on Confederate soldiers.

"At the end of the war, the Union continued to have a government to take care of the people's records, but in the South, it depends on how good of records your state kept," Wunderlich said.

Finding information about Confederate soldiers is not impossible.

Dave Hammett from Mount Airy and Jason Grabill from Johnsville have ancestors who fought as Confederates from Maryland.

Grabill and Hammett come from families that settled in Maryland during the 1700s, which has made each of their searches less difficult.

"When you stay put, official records aren't hard to find," Hammett said.