Uncovering 1870 Ancestors : Using Free Military Research Tools

The Franco-German War of 1870–71 left behind thousands of untold stories, and many families today are unaware their ancestors took part in this forgotten conflict. In this 20-minute session, we’ll introduce the key types of records available to identify soldiers: conscription rolls, personal service files, hospital records, and death registries—including those for prisoners and wounded men. We’ll highlight ongoing research by our Black Périgord genealogy association and demonstrate how to access our free, online indexing tools developed to help identify French soldiers who died during the war. These resources open up lesser-known archival data and are designed to be accessible to researchers of all levels. Whether you’re just starting out or deepening your military genealogy research, you’ll leave with practical tools to help revive the memory of ancestors who served in 1870.