Illinois Territory in the War of 1812

Introduction
During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory furnished 1,303 infantry men, 1,005 cavalry men, and 49 men in miscellaneous troops for a total of 2,357.

Explanation of the Major Record Types

 * Thomas A. Pearson, Reference Librarian in Special Collections, at the St. Louis Public Library has created "Genealogical Records of the War of 1812: an Introduction and Selected Bibliography of Materials in the Collection of the St. Louis Public Library. This collection is found at Genealogical Records of the War of 1812.

State Records

 * The Illinois Secretary of State web site provides a searchable database for Illinois Veterans of the War of 1812.

Bounty Land
Veterans were offered a total of 6 million acres of bounty land in Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, and later, Missouri. Starting in 1852 bounty land warrants were also awarded outside these assigned districts.

Bounty land applications and warrants for the Revolutionary War and some warrants for the War of 1812 have been microfilmed. They are available at the Family History Library and are described in this set of Wiki pages for those wars. For more information about bounty land records, the following sources will be helpful:


 * Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Record Administration, 1985. (FHL 973 A3usn 1985.) See chapter 8.


 * Hone, E. Wade. Land and Property Research in the United States. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997. (FHL book 973 R27h.) See chapter 9, pages 115–26.


 * Land Warrants U.S. War Bounty Land Warrants, 1789-1858, can be found on Ancestry.com($). This data base contains bounty land warrants issued to veterans of the War of 1812, between 1815-1858.


 * War of 1812 Bounty Lands in Illinois. Thomson, Illinois: Heritage House, 1977. A reprint of Lands in Illinois to Soldiers of Late War. (26th Congress, 1st Session, 1840. House Doc. 262.) These records are arranged by date and include number of warrant, name of patentee, rank, description of the tract, and to whom delivered.

Service Records

 * Illinois Military Records contains Military Records for all Wars from the Revolutionary War through the Vietnam War.


 * Illinois War of 1812 Veterans. Includes index of Illinois militiamen listed on War of 1812 muster rolls, originally published in Adjutant General's 1882 report. Digital images available in Illinois State Archives.


 * General Society of the War of 1812. This contains registers for eight states and District of Columbia. Descendant Members of the Illinois Society identifies veteran and veteran ancestor by name, his rank, unit in which he served, dates of service, etc.


 * War of 1812 Service Records is a database on Ancestry.com($) that gives name, company, rank at time of induction and at time of discharge of men mustered into the armed forces between 1812 and 1825.


 * War of 1812 Pension Files is database on Ancestry.com($) that contains War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index.


 * War Papers is a collection of a variety ofpapers on Ancestry.com($) relating to the War of 1812.

Pension Records

 * Access Genealogy. Illinois. 1883 Federal Pension Roll by County in Illinois. Digital version hosted by USGenWeb Archives War of 1812 Project. Contains a few names from the War of 1812.


 * fold3 contain an incomplete digitized record of the War of 1812 Pension files. They can be viewed at Illinois War of 1812 Pension Files. Alphabetical by surname. Shows entire pension file for those digitized.

Roll of Honor

 * Free digital images are available in Illinois State Archives. They include War of 1812 veterans. Searchable by name.

Societies

 * Illinios War of 1812 Becentnial Commision features brief history of Illinois involvement, selective militia roster, links to war of 1812 websites of other states, and commemorative events. (Accessed 22 Feb 2013).

Important National and International Sources
The War of 1812 was a 32-month military conflict between the United States and the British Empire.


 * United States in the War of 1812 has lists of records, books, etc. for the United States, not just one state. The federal records are listed here rather than on each state page.


 * The Unfinished Revolution. The War of 1812.


 * The War of 1812 videos, speeches and photo galleries are available at History.com.