how do you get mother and fathers names for civil war soldiers?

Answer 1

This is a lot trickier than the other answerer made it seem. First, I'd suggest checking the National Park Service link I've included below. If your soldier is listed you can get rank in (and out if the soldier survived) and regiment as shown on original documents in the National Archives. Once you have that data, then you go to the state to see if you can get more data on that unit. Some states, like Illinois (see the url pasted below), have really wonderful and detailed on-line databases to help you flesh out your soldier. Ultimately, only county birth, death, or marriage records may show you the name of the parents. I hope the links I've provided help answer your question.

Answer 2

I did this when I researched our family back to our arrival in 1608. Assuming that you have the soldiers name then you can go the the enlistment registration records or the state the soldier enlisted. Typically the family resided in the state and county where the soldier lived...people didn't move very often in the mid 1800's. Then check the birth records for that county and their names may be listed.

Two other research areas are the archives of the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mormons have extensive records. Their websites can be found by Google...DAR and LDS.org.