Is there a civil war database out there?
There are quite a few. The information varies on what is availiable from state to state. There are some Civil war records on Ancestry.com You can likely access Ancestry.com for free at your public library. Most libraries subscribe to it for their patrons use. Many libraries also have books with soldiers names and records as well. When you find your soldier, you can order the whole military file from the National archives (www.nara.gov)
There are numerous websites that may help as well
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Civil+War+database&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
You might want to refine the search with the state you are looking for.
