Indiana Military Records

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. Military records can give birth dates, marriage dates, death dates, spouse’s and children’s names, and localities of residence throughout the life of the family.

Many military records are available at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and the Indiana State Archives in Indianapolis. The Family History Library’sU.S. Military Records Research Outline provides more information on the federal records and search strategies.

A helpful source for pre-1850 military records is:

WPA Card File, explained in the "Land and Property" and "Genealogy" sections of this outline.

Revolutionary War (1775–1783)
The Revolutionary War was fought before Indiana became a territory in 1800. Many veterans of the war came to Indiana. There are many nationwide indexes of Revolutionary War soldiers. For information about these indexes, see the U.S. Military Records Research Outline, "Revolutionary War" section.

For a master index of Indiana Revolutionary War soldiers see:

Wolfe, Barbara Schull. Index to Revolutionary Soldiers of Indiana and Other Patriots. Indianapolis, Indiana: Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe, 1983. (FHL book 977.2 M22w) This indexes most of the volumes listed below as well as many other sources.

For lists of soldiers see:

O’Byrne, Estella C. Roster of Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution Buried in Indiana. 1938. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1968. (FHL book 977.2 M2o 1968; film 873911 item1). Shows birth, marriage, and death information for 1,394 soldiers and patriots. The spouse and children are usually listed. For a soldier index including wives and children see:

Waters, Margaret R. Index to Roster of Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution Buried in Indiana, Indiana D.A.R., 1938. N.p.: M. R. Waters, 1958. (FHL book 977.2 M2o Index)

O’Byrne, Estella C. Roster of Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution Buried in Indiana. Brookville, Indiana: Indiana D.A.R., 1966. (FHL book 977.2 M2o vol.2; film 1035773 item7). This is a supplement to O’Byrne’s book mentioned above and includes information concerning 350 soldiers whose names are not given in volume one. It also provides additional information on about 130 soldiers who are listed in volume one.

Miller, Marion H. ''Source Book for Patriots Buried in Indiana. Indianapolis: Indiana Society D.A.R., 1990''. (FHL book 977.2 M2m) This lists about 400 additional soldiers not listed in the two books above and gives the name of the soldier, his spouse and children, with birth, marriage, death, and service information.

Waters, Margaret Ruth. Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in Indiana (1949), With Supplement (1954). Reprint, Two volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1970. (FHL book 977.2 M2w; film 1428707 item4; fiche 6046585.) This book lists about 300 soldiers who are not mentioned in O’Byrne’s two books above. It contains the soldier’s birth and death date and place, proof of his service, and the names of his children, if known.

War of 1812 (1812–1815)
There are helpful nationwide indexes of service and pension records for soldiers of the War of 1812. For more information, see the U.S. Military Records Research Outline, "War of 1812" section.

A useful source that lists the Indiana soldiers is:

Franklin, Charles M. ''Indiana, War of 1812 Soldiers: Militia. Indianapolis: Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe, 1984''. (FHL book 977.2 M2fr) This contains transcriptions of muster rolls and payrolls of various companies as they are preserved in the National Archives. There is a surname index.

In 1886, 1890, and 1894, records were made that list some soldiers from the War of 1812 (and later wars), and their widows and orphans:

Indiana Adjutant General. Enrollment of the Late Soldiers, Their Widows, and Orphans of the Late Armies of the United States, Residing in the State of Indiana for the Years 1886–1894. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (On 89 FHL films beginning with 1605057). These lists of veterans and their widows and orphans were made by county assessors, starting in 1886. They include veterans of the War of 1812, Indian Wars, and the Civil War. The lists were made in 1886, 1890, and 1894. They list name, rank, company, regiment, state to which the regiment belonged, race, war, present post office address, and number of children under 16. The index to these records is:

Index to Indiana Enrollments of Soldiers, Their Widows and Orphans, 1886, 1890, and 1894.Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (On 13 FHL films beginning with 1556996). This index provides the name of the person, the county and township of residence, and the year of enrollment. The records are in order by county, township, then alphabetical by surname. This index is a partial substitute for the 1890 census. The original records are at the Indiana State Archives, and the card index is in the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library. The index is to the 1886 Enumeration; if it was missing for a township or town, then the 1890 Enumeration was used; if both were missing, the 1894 Enumeration was used. The original enumerations are a second set, with the first set deposited in the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office. Whenever an enumeration was missing at the Indiana State Archives, the clerk’s copy, if found, was microfilmed and is in the Family History Library.

Black Hawk War (1832)
Loftus, Carrie. Indiana Militia in the Black Hawk War. [San Antonio, Texas: Frances T. Ingmire, 1986?] (FHL book 977.2 A1 no.196) This provides an alphabetical list of soldiers who served in the militia, including the soldier’s name, rank, and regiment.

Indiana Black Hawk War Militia Index, 1832. This index is found only at the Indiana State Archives. It is not at the Family History Library. It gives the soldier’s name, rank, unit, term of enlistment, and by whom he was enlisted. Several microfilmed indexes are available:

Index to Volunteer Soldiers in Indian Wars and Disturbances, 1815–1858. (FHL) See the U.S. Military RecordsResearch Outline for the full citation.

Index to Indian Wars Pension Files, 1892–1926. See the U.S. Military RecordsResearch Outline for the full citation.

Mexican War (1846–1848)
The Indiana State Archives and the Family History Library have the following card index:

Index to Indiana Volunteers in the Mexican War. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (FHL film 1556874). The cards include the soldier’s name, regiment, length of service, when and where he was enrolled and mustered, his age, physical description, and when and where he was discharged and mustered out.

A published list with company rosters is found in:

Perry, Oran. Indiana in the Mexican War. Washington, DC: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1977. (FHL film 1550627) This provides the soldier’s name, rank, mustering into and out of service (when, where, and by whom), death date, list of desertions, discharge date, and transfers. The soldiers are listed by regiment, company, and then sometimes alphabetically by name. At the end there is an index of events relating to the companies, but it does not include the names of soldiers.

A nationwide pension index is available on microfilm from the National Archives and the Family History Library:

Index to Mexican War Pension Files, 1887–1926. See the U.S. Military Records Research Outline for a full citation.

Civil War (1861–1865)
There are many Civil War records at the Indiana State Archives, and many are available at the Family History Library. For example:

Indiana Civil War Records. Salt Lake City,Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (On 44 FHL films beginning with 1543599). The cards are in alphabetical order. The originals are located at the Indiana State Archives at Indianapolis. The cards often provide the man’s age at enlistment (birth year is sometimes given), physical description (color of eyes and hair, and height), nativity (place of birth), occupation, his company and rank, when he enlisted, length of service, date and place mustered in, date and place mustered out, or death date if he died in the service.

United States Adjutant General’s Office. Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Indiana. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1964. (FHL films 881722–807). This provides the name of the soldier, his rank, and unit. This information can be used to obtain copies of the federal service and pension records, which are available only at the National Archives.

The compiled Civil War service and pension records for Indiana have not been filmed, but are available at the National Archives. There is an index to Civil War soldiers’ and widows’ pensions:

General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934 This is cited fully in the U.S. Military Records Research Outline.

Indiana Substitutes Hired for Civil War. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (FHL film 1556875). This alphabetical index has cards containing the name of the man who did the hiring, the name of the person he hired, and the company and regiment of the hired man. The original records are at the Indiana State Archives.

Indiana Adjutant General. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana. Eight volumes. Washington, DC: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1989. (FHL films 1703855–857; fiche 6334461–67). These volumes contain detailed information on the Indiana volunteer units. Volumes 2–8 contain rosters of officers and men by regiment and give the soldier’s name, with date, place, and cause of death in the war. Use the indexes listed above to find the person’s regiment.

Funk, Arville L. Hoosiers in the Civil War. Chicago, Illinois: Adams Press, 1967. (FHL book 977.2 M2f). This contains Civil War historical information, maps of Civil War battles, and a list of the men from Indiana units who died in the Andersonville prison.

A book containing brief regimental histories for all Indiana regiments, together with a listing of diaries, letters, certificates, and other manuscripts pertaining to each regiment is:

Turner, Ann. Guide to Indiana Civil War Manuscripts. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Civil War Centennial Commission, 1965. (FHL book 977.2 M23). This book lists regiments (6–152) and batteries (3–26). There is no index.

Unit histories of many Indiana regiments are on microfilm at the Family History Library. They often contain biographical information about soldiers of the unit. These are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under:

INDIANA- MILITARY HISTORY- CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865

INDIANA- MILITARY RECORDS- CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865

Indiana Commission on Public Records (Indianapolis, Indiana). Indiana Legion, 1861–1865, Index of Soldiers. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (On 5 FHL films beginning with 1571078). This card index was prepared by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) and is at the Indiana State Archives. The Indiana Legion was a Civil War state militia. The index cards provide the soldier’s name, regiment, duration of enlistment, dates of enrollment and mustering in, county, age, physical description, and date and location of discharge.

The following records are at the Indiana State Archives:

Veteran Enrollments (1913–1922). An act passed in 1913 required township trustees to enumerate all persons living within the township who served in the army or navy during the Mexican, Civil, or Spanish-American wars, or who served in one or more enlistments in the U.S. Army or state national guard units. Later, this included World War I veterans. The law was repealed in 1922. The Indiana State Archives has seven 16–mm rolls, arranged alphabetically by county, thereafter by township, then by year. These begin with Indiana State Archives reel #3625. The records show name company regiment residence physical condition and for deceased veterans the names of widows and orphans. These microfilms are not at the Family History Library.

Veterans’ Grave Registrations. The Work Projects Administration (WPA) prepared indexes, by county, for 51 of Indiana’s 92 counties. The records are alphabetical by county and are at the Indiana State Archives. These are for Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War I veterans. They are on cards, and have not been microfilmed. Cards are still being added to the file. There are over 100,000 cards showing name and cemetery.

Enrollment Lists of Draft of 1862. These records list all white men between ages 18 and 45. One set has the names of those men already enlisted, and the other mentions men who were eligible to enlist. The two sets of lists are arranged alphabetically by county, then township. They provide name, age, occupation, and deferment information. A few of these records are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under the county of residence.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Records of Civil War Veterans. By 1890 about 40 percent of the Union’s Civil War veterans were members of the Grand Army of the Republic. The descriptive books of each GAR post usually indicate each member’s name, age, rank, birthplace, residence, occupation, and enlistment and discharge information. The Indiana State Archives has the GAR records and a reference guide that can help you find the name of the post that may have been established in a particular town. The Family History Library has some of these records. The following book lists the posts alphabetically by town:

Carnahan, J. Worth. ''History of the Easel-Shaped Monument and a Key to the Principles and Objects of the Grand Army of the Republic and Its Co-workers. . . Together With a List of All the G.A.R. Posts in the United States, Alphabetically Arranged by Towns, With Time of Meeting, etc...'' Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1992. (FHL film 1760243) This is a microfilm of the original book published in Chicago by Dux Publishing in 1893.

Soldiers’ Home Records. There is a federal National Home for disabled volunteer soldiers at Marion, Grant County, Indiana. The home is for veterans of various wars. The historical registers for 1890 to 1931 and an index for the same years are on the following microfilms:

United States. Veterans Administration. Registers of Veterans at National Homes of Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866–1937. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (On 282 FHL films; the Marion County, Indiana, home is on 14 FHL films beginning with 1571237.) The index is on FHL film 1571582. The historical registers usually list birthplace, age, height, religion, occupation, residence, marital status, name and address of nearest relative, service history, pension, and date of admission information.

There is also a state-operated Indiana Veterans’ Home, located at Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, since about 1878. It cares for veterans and their spouses. The records are at the Indiana State Archives, and you can write to them for information.

Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s Home Records. See the "Orphans and Orphanages" section of this outline.

Indiana Militia Records (1872–1896)
For the period between the Civil War and the Spanish-American War, the Indiana State Militia was active. Records for 1872 to 1896 are available from the Indiana State Archives. The "Archives and Libraries" section of this outline has the address. These records are not available at the Family History Library.

Spanish-American War (1898)
See the U.S. Military Records Research Outline for nationwide indexes.

For Indiana, the following published record is available:

Record of Indiana Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, 1898–1899. Indianapolis, Indiana: W. B. Burford, 1900. (FHL film 1033588 item 3). This book contains the names of soldiers, with their rank, residence, date of enlistment in 1898, and remarks, such as date mustered out or date of death. Pages 363–64 list those who died in 1898 during or following the war. The book is not indexed, but is arranged by regiment, then company, and then sometimes alphabetically by name.

The Indiana State Archives has Spanish-American War volunteer records.

World War I (1917–1918)
World War I Indiana Enrollment Cards, 1919. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990. (On 35 FHL films beginning with 1674855). These enrollment cards were prepared in 1919, and are arranged alphabetically for the entire state. They were filmed at the Indiana State Archives. These records provide the soldier’s name, army serial number, race, residence, city of birth, birth date or age, city and date of induction, organizations served in, grades in service, engagements, wounds or other injuries received in action, dates of overseas service, discharge or demobilization date, and percent disabled on date of discharge.

World War I draft registration cards for men ages 18 to 45 may list address, birth date, birthplace, race, nationality, citizenship, and next of kin. Not all registrants served in the war. For Indiana’s cards, see:

United States. Selective Service System. Indiana, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1509. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1987-1988. (On 115 FHL films, beginning with 1439777.) To find an individual’s registration card, it helps to know his name and residence at the time of registration. The cards are arranged alphabetically by county, within the county by draft board, and then alphabetically by surname within each draft board.

Most counties had only one board; large cities had more. Finding an ancestor’s street address in a city directory will help you determine the board number if he lived in a large city. A map of Indianapolis has been prepared that shows the draft board registration district boundaries. The cities listed in the map are in alphabetical order. For a copy of this map, see:

United States. Selective Service System. List of World War One Draft Board Maps. Washington, DC: National Archives. (FHL film 1498803).

For a list of solders who died in World War I, see:

Gold Star Honor Roll: A Record of Indiana Men and Women Who Died in the Service of the United States and the Allied Nations in the World War, 1914–1918. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990. (FHL film 1673274 item 3.) This contains a photograph and brief biographical sketch of each person, giving name of parents, birthplace, occupation, service record, death date and place, and burial place. These records are at the Indiana State Archives. There is a full name index at the end of the film.

Many recruits for the Polish Army in France were enlisted during 1917 to 1918 in Indiana and other states with large Polish populations. A record of these enlistments is found in:

United States (With Some from Ontario, Canada) Recruits for the Polish Army in France, 1917–1919 : States Represented Most Frequently are New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Connecticut, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware, Nebraska, &amp; Kansas. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1995. (On 11 FHL films beginning with 1993525.) Before each group of records there is an alphabetical index which indicates the page number of the person’s form. Form A, the Application of Volunteer, gives the date, recruiting station, name of the volunteer, his street and city address, civil status, number of children, citizenship status, age, weight, height, when he will be ready to depart, signature, the date they were sent to the Recruiting Center, and name of the officer or recruiting sergeant. The records are in Polish. Form C contains more genealogical information, but does appear to have been microfilmed. The Polish Genealogical Society has created indexes to the above forms. The indexes are available on the Internet at: www.pgsa.org/haller.htm.

World War I Nurses Enrollment Cards, Indiana. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah. 1991. (FHL film 1683687.) This card file is arranged in alphabetical order by surname, given name, residence, birth date and place, appointment date to nurse, promotions, organizations and staff assignments, engagements, wounds received, overseas service, remarks, and date of discharge.

World War I Armed Forces Enrollment, U.S. Navy, Indiana, 1917–1918. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1992. (On five FHL films beginning with 1831961.) The file cards include name, service number, place enlisted, date enlisted, age at entrance, service history, rank, discharge date and place, and home address.

World War II (1941–1945) and Korean Conflict (1950–1953)
For information about these wars, see the U.S. Military Records Research Outline.

Vietnam War (1961 to 1973)
The State of Indiana, Vietnam Casualties List by County: List of Names Reported From January 1, 1961 through March 31, 1973. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1985. (FHL film 1428710 item3 ) This also includes a list of deaths due to causes other than war.

For a bibliography of books about Indiana military and pension records, see: Miller, Carolynne L. Indiana Sources for Genealogical Research in the Indiana State Library described in the "Archives and Libraries" section of this outline.

Military and veterans records pertaining to Indiana are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

INDIANA- MILITARY RECORDS

INDIANA- MILITARY RECORDS- [WAR OF...]

INDIANA, [COUNTY] - MILITARY RECORDS

INDIANA, [COUNTY] - SOCIETIES

Online Resources

http://myindianahome.net/gen/jeff/records/military/index.html

http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/military.html

http://www.memoriallibrary.com/IN/SA/

http://aad.archives.gov/aad/index.jsp