Civil War Service Records: follow-up

Yesterday's post detailed Aaron Crail's Civil War service file. Today, I will flesh it out and offer some research suggestions.

Service record highlights:
(1) Company descriptive book card: This is a gem.  In addition to rank, company and regiment, the card gives you the age, height, weight, hair and eye color and complexion of your ancestor. The date, place and term of enlistment is also given.

(2) Company muster, muster-in and muster-out rolls: The date and place of signing up, enlisting and mustering-out [discharge] is given.

(3) Company muster rolls: Every two months a card was added to the file with any or all of the following information: present or absent, stoppage of pay or amount due the government from the soldier, remarks [explains why soldier was absent or present], surname of person filing muster information.

(4) Hospital muster roll: Details on when, where soldier was hospitalized.

(5) Returns: Details on hospital stays.

Aaron Crail  enlisted on 9 March 1864 and was mustered in as a private in Co. I, 124th Indiana Infantry on 17 March 1864. [The same dates and unit as brother John.] Aaron was reported sick while on duty at Cleveland, TN on 5 April 1864. He was hospitalized at Atlanta on 18 August. By January 1865, Aaron had been transferred to Columbia, TN, where he was fit enough to serve on safe guard duty [possibly hospital guard or protecting local citizens]. Over the next two months, he was back in the hospital. By April, Crail had been removed to Camp Dennison near Cincinnati, OH. During May, Aaron was in Louisville, KY [on leave or seeking medical treatment?]. Crail was discharged and sent home on 6 June 1865.

The 124th saw action during the Atlanta Campaign [May - Sep 1864]. Torrential rains fell during the campaign. Aaron contracted, or exacerbated, a case of tuberculosis/consumption during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

Aaron would survive less than three years after the war. He died on 28 March 1868 on his farm near Castleton, IN.

Further research:
(1) Soldiers and Sailors System Database: If you have a name, you can probably find your soldier.
(2) Fold3 has the pension card index for Civil War soldiers [as do other sites]. Use the pension number to order the file.
(3) NARA: Order service and pension files from the Nat'l Archives. [Hiring a genealogist to copy the files may be cheaper than NARA copy fees.
(4) Look up regimental histories on-line.
(5) Check appropriate state archives for enlistment records of soldiers and unit histories.