As you may know, we provide a service through the message boards to provide Military and Historical Records to our visitors and contributors. Our man at the National Archives has procured the "originals" for the Confederate service records on a couple of occasions in the last five years. Normally, the staff at the NARA will not look for or provide the original files. On the occasions where they did so, the records were entirely unreadable from the microfilm. They normally will not respond to requests for pulling the original Confederate records for claims of incompleteness or just to look. Remember, as well, that the military service records are compilations of cards that refer to muster rolls, POW lists, enlistment rolls, casualty lists, etc. Even when you ask for the "original records" you are actually getting the cards, which were filled out by government staff.

We have never asked for or received the original muster rolls and other lists, which the cards reference.

Jim Martin