Dear Bonnie,

I'm as sure as one can be that the "Bernard Tiernan" listed in the National Archives Compiled Service Records of Civil War Soldiers is your inquirers ancestor. From many years of researching these records, I've found that a misspell, such as this, is extremely common. The records were transcribed during the "depression" as a part of a WPA project and are taken from handwritten (longhand/cursive) muster rolls, reports and other documents. Based on the legibility of the original writer's handwriting it would be very easy for a transcriber to confuse "m" for "rn". In addition, many of the soldiers were illiterate and could only sound out their names with the writer attempting to do the best job possible of determining the proper spelling. Actually, this transcription error is much closer than many I've seen. Also, the 1st Texas State Troops (DeWalt's) was recruited in Galveston which further lines up with the story of this man's participation in the battle of Galveston.

As far as possible sources for additional information, there is always the National Archives, the Texas State Library and Archives and Broadfoot Publishing Company's "Soldier Search Service".

I'm including below additional names from the National Archives records who may be family relations and give some additional clues as to the service of this man.

Tielman, W. Waul's Legion Co.A
Tieman, Fritz Waul's Legion Co.E
Tieman, Louis 8th Inf. Co.K Sgt.
Tienmans, R. 24th & 25th Cav. (Cons.) Co.H
Tiernan, Bernard 1st Regt.St.Troops Co.A
Tiernan, James 11th (Spaight's) Bn.Vol. Co.E
Tiernan James 26th Cav. Co.C

With best regards,

Jim Martin