[Research Guidance: United States - Research Outline] Research Guidance Version Of Data : 6/9/2001

MILITARY RECORDS

The U.S. Military Records Research Outline (34118) provides extensive information about federal and other military records and search strategies. It is an important resource for genealogists who are seeking ancestors who served their coutnry. The state research outline for each state also mentions important military records for that state.

Military records identify millions of individuals who served in the military or who were eligible for service. Evidence that an ancestor actually served may be found in family traditions, census records, naturalization records, biographies, cemetery records, and records of veterans' organizations Look this term up in the glossary. . The Family History Library has an extensive collection of military records, particularly for 1775 to 1918.

You can most effectively search military records if you know at least the state where the individual was living when he was of age to serve in the military. It is also helpful to know the branch of service (army, navy, etc.) he may have served in. Your ancestor may have served in a local unit Look this term up in the glossary. , state unit, or a federal force.

Types of Military Service

Local and State Military Forces

During the colonial period most able-bodied men aged 16 to 60 were expected to participate in a local militia Look this term up in the glossary. . These militias were organized by towns, counties, or colonies. After the Revolutionary War, each state retained a militia organization. These units evolved into the National Guard after the Civil War. Records of militia and national guard units were kept by local and state governments.

Federal Military Forces

Your ancestor may be found in a federal military record if he:

Served in a volunteer unit raised by a state during wartime that was mustered into federal service. Most of those who served during pre-twentieth century wars were enlisted in these state volunteer units.

Enrolled in the draft for the Civil War, World War I, or a subsequent war.

Enlisted in the regular U.S. military forces during wartime or peacetime.

Served in a local militia or national guard unit that was mustered for federal service during an emergency.

Selected Family History Library Holdings from the National Archives

Some of the key military records at the Family History Library are listed briefly below. For full citations, more details, records and strategies see the U.S. Military Records Research Outline (34118).

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

General Index to Compiled Military Service Records of Revolutionary War Soldiers. (Computer number 280117.)

Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War. (Computer number 432762.)

Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900. (Computer number 178932.)

War of 1812 (1812-1815)

Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served during the War of 1812. (Computer number 375084.)

Index to War of 1812 Pension Application Files. (Computer number 113898.)

Mexican War (1846-1848)

Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served during the Mexican War. (Computer number 328750.)

Index to Mexican War Pension files, 1887-1926. (Computer number 345826.)

Civil War (1861-1865)

Union Records

General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. (Computer number 245945.) Includes the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and Philippine Insurrection but not World War I.

Indexes to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of . . . Every state except South Carolina had units that served in the Union Army. Separate indexes of the compiled service records Look this term up in the glossary. for each state and territory are on microfilm at the National Archives and the Family History Library.

The service records of some states (primarily southern states) are at the Family History Library. See the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the [STATE] - MILITARY RECORDS - CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865 - INDEXES.

Confederate Records

Pension Files and Indexes. After the war most Southern states and some border states granted pensions to veterans living within their borders. These are state rather than federal records. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of the pension files or indexes for:

Alabama computer number 482000

Arkansas computer number 588054

Florida computer number 377657

Georgia computer number 374852

Kentucky computer number 569186

Louisiana computer numbers 380709; 354488; 248616

Mississippi computer number 277157

Missouri computer number 195357

North Carolina computer number 494409

Oklahoma computer number 197031

Tennessee computer number 250899

Texas computer number 318535

Virginia computer number 534241

Consolidated Index to Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers. (Computer number 323922.)

Indexes to Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of . . .

Indexes and service records for each available state available at the National Archives and the Family History Library. See the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the [STATE] - MILITARY RECORDS - CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865 - INDEXES.

Spanish-American War (1898)

General Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers who Served During the War with Spain. (Computer number 288680.)

Pensions are indexed in the:

General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. (Computer number 245945.)

Philippines Insurrection (1899-1902)

Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served during the Philippine Insurrection. (Computer number 290106.)

Pensions are indexed in the:

General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. (Computer number 245945.)

World War I (1917-1918)

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. (Computer number 504818.) See the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under [STATE] - MILITARY RECORDS.

Indian Wars (1784-1926)

Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served from 1784 to 1811. (Computer number 555931.)

Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served from 1784 to 1811. (Computer number 325325.)

Index to Indian War Pension Files, 1892-1926. (Computer number 326152.)

Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served during Indian Wars and Disturbances, 1815-1858. (Computer number 325963.)

U.S. Army

Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914. (Computer number 210761.)

Old War Index to Pension Files, 1815-1926. (Computer number 326186.)

Guidebooks

Neagles, James C. and Lila L. Neagles. Locating Your Revolutionary War Ancestor: A Guide to the Military Records. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 1983. (FHL Ref book 973 D27ne; computer number 299351.)

Groene, Bertram Hawthorne. Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor. Revised. Winston-Salem, N.C.: John F. Blair, 1995. (FHL book 973 D27gb; 1987 ed. computer number 475457.)

Johnson, Richard S. How to Locate Anyone Who Is or Has Been in the Military. 7th ed. Spartanburg, S.C.: MIE Publishing, 1996. (FHL book 973 M27j 1996; computer number 799337.)

Neagles, James C. U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to the Present. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1994. (FHL book 973 M23nu; computer number 732893.)

U.S. Military Records Research Outline (see the "For Further Reading" section near the end of this outline).

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