United States Military Biographies

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Military Records

Biographies

You can find biographical sketches of prominent military figures in published biographical dictionaries.

Biographies

The Family History Library has the following:

• Bell, William Gardner. Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff 1775–1987: Portraits and Biographical Sketches of the United States Army’s Senior Officer. Washington, D.C. Center of Military History, United States Army, 1987. (FHL book 973 D3bw.) Contains biographical sketches and portraits of men who led the U.S. Army in peace and war. Includes leaders in early wars through the present.
• Brown, Russel K. Fallen in Battle: American General Officer Combat Fatalities from 1775. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. (FHL book 973 M2brk.) Contains brief biographies of generals who were combat fatalities as well as non-combat fatalities. Includes officers wounded in action and captured by hostile forces.
• Cullum, George W. Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. 3rd ed. 9 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1891–1950. (FHL book 974.731/W1 M2cu, vols. 1–7, 9; films 1697285–88.) Includes state of birth and date and place of death of each graduate from 1802 to 1950.
• Spiller, Roger J., ed. Dictionary of American Military Biography. 3 vols. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984. (FHL book 973 D36da.) Contains brief alphabetically arranged biographies, with birth and death information. Also arranged by military units, persons by birthplace, and entries by conflict and service. Each volume has a bibliography, and there is a short bibliography found at the end of each sketch, as well.
• Webster’s American Military Biographies. Springfield, Mass.: G & C Merriam Company, 1978. (FHL book 973 D3wb.) Contains sketches of over 1,000 individuals who have contributed to the military history of the United States, including frontier scouts, nurses, explorers, astronauts, and others.

West Point Military Academy

• George Washington Cullum. Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. : from its establishment March 16, 1802 to the Army re-organization of 1866-67. 2 v. New York, New York : D. Van Nostrand, 1868
• George W. Cullum. Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. : from its establishment, in 1802 to 1890, with the early history of the United States Military Academy. Boston, Massachusetts : Houghton Mifflin, c1891-1950
• Bvt. Major-General George W. Cullum. Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military academy, from 1802 to 1867 : Rev. ed., with a supplement continuing the register of graduates to January 1, 1879.New York : J. Miller, 1879.
• United States Military Academy. cadet applications, 1805-1866, NARA publication M688

Biographies by Conflict

Civil War, 1861 to 1865

Union Biographies

• Dornbusch, Charles E., compiler. Military Bibliography of the Civil War . Three Volumes. New York, New York Public Library, 1975. Reprint, Volume 4. Dayton, Ohio: The Press of Morningside Bookshop, 1987. (FHL book 973 H2dn; film 1036612 items 1–3.) A bibliography of 8,241 regimental and unit histories, narratives, and biographies for both the North and the South.
• Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War . New York, New York: Facts on File, 1988. (FHL book 973 H2sif.) This biographical compendium has histories of 2,500 civilian and military notables of the North and South, including 1,008 generals.
• Holland, Mary A. Gardner. Our Army Nurses. Boston: Press of Lounsbery, Nichols, and Worth, 1896, 1897. (FHL book 973 M2ho; film 1698287 item 9.) Provides brief biographical sketches of women and their service as nurses.
• Hubbell, John T., and James W. Geary, editors. Biographical Dictionary of the Union. Northern Leaders of the Civil War . Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1995. (FHL book 973 D36bh.) Contains short biographical sketches with birth and death information on 872 political, military, and other leaders. It also includes a bibliography.
• Powell, William H, ed., Officers of the army and navy (volunteer) who served in the Civil War. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : L.R. Hamersly, c1893. FHL 973 M2pow

Confederate Biographies

• Dornbusch, Charles E., compiler. Military Bibliography of the Civil War . Three Volumes. New York, New York Public Library, 1975. Reprint, Volume 4. Dayton, Ohio: The Press of Morningside Bookshop, 1987. (FHL book 973 H2dn; film 1036612 items 1–3.) A bibliography of 8,241 regimental and unit histories, narratives, and biographies for both the North and the South.
• Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War . New York, New York: Facts on File, 1988. (FHL book 973 H2sif.) This biographical compendium has histories of 2,500 civilian and military notables of the North and South, including 1,008 generals.
• Hoar, Jay S. The South’s Last Boys in Gray. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Press, 1986. (FHL book 973 D3ho.) Contains biographical sketches of the last surviving Confederate veterans.
• Wakelyn, John L. Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1977. (FHL book 973 D3wj.) The sketches contain birth, marriage, and death information. Some identify the parents and discuss the professional and military careers.
• Current, Richard N., editor. Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. Four Volumes. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993. (FHL book 973 M2ec.) Contains historical sketches on campaigns and battles, social and cultural aspects of the Confederacy as well as biographical sketches of both political and military leaders. A bibliography is included at the end of each sketch.
• Wright, Marcus J., comp and prepared; with a new introduction by John M. Carroll. General officers of the Confederate Army : officers of the executive departments of the Confederate States, members of the Confederate Congress by states. Mattituck, New York : J.M. Carroll & Co., c1983. FHL 973 M2wm
• Richard Owen & James Owen. Generals at rest : the grave sites of the 425 official Confederate generals. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania : White Mane, c1997. FHL 973 M2or

World War II, 1941 to 1945

• Mark W. Boatner. The Biographical dictionary of World War II. Novato, California : Presidio Press, c1996, 1999. FHL 940.5309203 B63b

Naval History and Heritage Command

• Modern Biographical Files in the Navy Department Library.

Young American Patriots

• A series of books entitled "Young American Patriots" published shortly after the war, documented how the war affected different states and also documented the service of some of the individuals from those states. The books often include a picture and a short biography of the individuals. The books are online through Ancestry.com, World War II Young American Patriots, 1941-1945 (Ancestry) ($), and at libraries through Worldcat.The database contains books covering the states of:

• Kentucky
• Maryland and Delaware
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Virginia
• West Virginia
  

• R. Manning Ancell and Christine Marie Miller. The biographical dictionary of World War II generals and flag officers : the U.S. armed forces. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1996. FHL 973 D36anc
• John Keegan, ed. Who was who in World War II.New York, New York: T.Y. Crrowell, 1978. FHL 940.53092 K243w
• David Mason. Who's who in World War II. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Co., 1978. FHL 940. 53092 M38w

Family History Library

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