Hereditary Membership is open to males and females of good moral character and reputation, at least eighteen years of age, who are lineally or collaterally descended from any person who rendered civil or military service on either side in the Civil War, including service in battle under Confederate and Federal authority; in military or naval units of the two governments, in a political role (statewide or higher), or as a physician, surgeon, chaplain, or nurse in wartime service.
There is a special path to membership that is lineal or collateral descent from an ancestor who in their lifetime had military or civil service at the state level or higher in both the Federal and Confederate governments during their lifetime. The qualifying ancestor for this special membership category must have served both the Confederate States of America and the United States of America at some time during his or her lifetime. The Federal service can be before, after, or during the Civil War.