There are several reasons the Union records are more "expensive" than the Confederate records, through our service here at History-Sites.Com.

1) Most of the Unions service records and all of the pension application files are NOT on microfilm. This means when our service provides these records, our researchers have to order and then photograph all of the documents included in the files. The Confederate service records and many of the pension application files (from Southern state resources) are microfilmed and therefore easier to access and copy.

2) The Union files generally are significantly larger (i.e., more documents) than the Confederate service records and pension files. We have attempted to establish pricing for Union records according to an "average" length. Sometimes files are smaller than our estimate and sometimes they are larger. We cannot pull each file to count the pages, or if we did it would make the records cost substantially more to do so, so some of our Union file clients get a little less than expected, some get more.

3) Finally, the only resource we have for most of the Union service records and all of the pension application files is the National Archives in Washington, DC. The researchers at these facilities, generally are higher paid for their time and expertise. The Confederate records are available in many cases through online subscription services or from state archives, which tend to charge must less than the federal resources.

I hope this answers your question regarding the differences in costs for service records and pension application files provide through these message boards.

Finally, your purchase of these records, helps to pay the costs for these privately-owned message boards. If you do not choose to donate to help support our efforts here, your purchases of books and military records through these message boards, is a good way to help us to offer this website.

Regards,

Jim Martin
Webmaster