The Roll of Honor is the only official memorial to the Union dead ever published. In spite of its omissions and discrepancies, it remains the most comprehensive source of information on Civil War fatalities. Nevertheless, it is not an easy series to work with. Its exhaustive lists of burials in over 300 national cemeteries spread out over 27 volumes has daunted and intimidated generations of researchers, for no index to the work was ever published.
Until now! In this massive compilation by Martha and William Reamy we at last have a key to the contents of the Roll of Honor. The twelve hundred pages of this incredible new index contain the names, in alphabetical order, of the 228,639 Union soldiers listed in the 27 volumes of the Roll. Indexed by volume and page number, all names mentioned in this famous series of burial registers are now immediately accessible, and the Roll of Honor is at once transformed from an interesting miscellany of fringe history to a reference work of major importance.
But neither was a comprehensive place index to the Roll of Honor ever published. And now even that omission has been rectified, because Mark Hughes, who has written a Foreword to the work, has also supplied a comprehensive index to burial sites. State-by-state, this index provides an alphabetical list of cemeteries linked to the corresponding volume and page number of the Roll of Honor. By this means, the researcher can move straight to any cemetery of interest. The two indexes together are an awesome research tool, and their publication represents a milestone in Civil War history and genealogy. (See also Items 5951, 5952, 5953, 5954, 5955, 5956, 5957, 5958, 5959, and 5966.)
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
"The Reamys' Index to the Roll of Honor is a recommended volume for genealogical societies to purchase for their local libraries, along with GPC's reprint of the original Roll of Honor."--THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST, Vol. 27, No. 1.
"Martha and William Reamy give organization to the helter-skelter approach taken by the earlier compilers...this massive undertaking was well worth the effort. All libraries that possess the original or the reprint of the Roll of Honor will want to add this volume. Additionally, any library with an interest in genealogy or the Civil War should consider purchasing at least the index, if not the entire set, of this valuable work."--AMERICAN REFERENCE BOOKS ANNUAL, Vol. 27 (1996), pp. 174-175.
"At last, both an every-name and place index to burial sites is available...If your society or your local library is serious about its genealogical collection, this is one of the few references that is a MUST!"--FEDERATION OF GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES FORUM, Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 31.
"This volume immediately becomes a required research aid for 19th century genealogy."--THE NEW YORK GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, Vol. 127, No. 1, p. 57.