US Military Types of Military Records

United States &gt;  Military Records  &gt;  Types of Military Records

The major types of military records kept by federal and state governments are:

Service records (militia, volunteer, or regular forces) Pension records and Bounty Land Warrants Draft, conscription, or Selective Service records

Other records relating to military service include burial and cemetery records, unit histories, and records of veterans’ organizations.

Service Records
Service records document an individual’s involvement with the military and can provide your ancestor’s unit or organization. This information makes it easier to search the pension records. Service records seldom provide information about other members of a soldier’s family.

Enlistment and Discharge Records.
Those who served in a military unit (company or regiment) were listed on muster rolls (similar to attendance rosters). These records generally give the soldier’s name and the date and place of enlistment and muster. You may also find descriptive rolls that provide the individual’s name, rank, age, physical description, marital status, occupation, place of birth, place of residence, and service information. The National Archives or the state’s adjutant general’s office may have these rolls. When an individual was discharged from military service, he or she was listed on muster-out rolls. Copies of the federal muster-out rolls were sent to the office of the state adjutant general. Discharge certificates, however, are not usually part of the service record. If a soldier served between 1865 and 1944, the discharge certificate may be in the family’s possession. Copies of the discharge were not kept in soldiers’ service files, but counties sometimes recorded discharges. The Family History Library has discharge records for some states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina, and Ohio. Check the Family History Library Catalog for additional state records under:

[STATE] - [COUNTY] - MILITARY RECORDS

Compiled Service Records.
The federal government has compiled military service records for soldiers serving in volunteer units in wars between 1775 and 1902. These records, on cards, have abstracts of information taken from unmicrofilmed original records at the National Archives such as muster rolls, pay lists, hospital records, record books, orders, and correspondence found in Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780s–1917. For a description of the contents of this record group, see:

Pendell, Lucille H., and Elizabeth Bethel, comps. Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, PI 17. Washington, D.C.: 1949. Reprint, 1981.

A card was made for each soldier and put in an envelope along with some original documents. These files are arranged by state, then by military unit, then alphabetically by the soldier’s name. The cards usually provide a soldier’s name, rank and unit, the state from which the soldier served, the date enlisted, and length of service. You may also find the age, residence, physical description, and date of discharge or death.

Other Service Records.
Other original records that may have been created include pay rolls, order books, hospital records, prisoner of war records, promotions, desertion records, and records of courts-martial. Many of these are found at the National Archives.

State Records of Service.
Each state keeps service records for its own militia, volunteer regiments, or national guard units. These are usually available at state archives, state historical societies, or state adjutant general’s offices. If a state unit was mustered into federal service, the federal government may have sent copies of records to the office of the state adjutant general.

The Family History Library has microfilmed state military records in many states, including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. Many early militia and state records have also been published and indexed. These are described in the state research outlines.

Pension Records
The federal government and some state governments granted pensions or bounty land to officers, disabled veterans, needy veterans, widows or orphans of veterans, and veterans who served a certain length of time. Pension records usually contain more genealogical information than service records. However, not every veteran received or applied for bounty land or a pension. Veterans who did not qualify under the pension laws may have received benefits by special acts of Congress. The appropriate federal or state agency maintained a pension file for each applicant. These files contain the application papers and any further correspondence or documents.

In a person’s pension application papers you may find his name (and sometimes his wife’s maiden name); rank; military unit; period of service; residence; age; date and place of birth, marriage, and death; and the nature of his disability or proof of need. To prove that he served in the military, he may have included documents such as discharge papers or affidavits from those with whom he served. Widows or heirs had to prove their relationship to the veteran with marriage records and other documents, and the file may list the names of dependent children under the age of 16.

Pension files for 1775 to 1916 are available at the National Archives in Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans Administration. Only those for the Revolutionary War have been microfilmed.

Lists of federal and state military pensioners have been published for the years 1792 to 1795, 1813, 1817, 1818, 1820, 1823, 1828, 1831, 1835, 1840, 1849, 1857, 1883, and 1899. Most of these lists are found in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, available at federal repository libraries and major university libraries. The lists can provide the soldier’s name and his heirs, age, death date, and service information. Some have been reprinted including:

The Pension Roll of 1835. 4 vols. 1835. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1968, 1992. (FHL 973 M24ua; fiche 6046995; computer number 272015.) Entries contain name, rank, annual allowance, sum received, description of service, when placed on the pension roll, commencement of pension, age, and so on. Includes many death dates.

List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883. . . . 5 vols. 1883. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1970. (FHL book 973 M2LD; computer number 271776.) (FHL CD no. 58; computer number 805944.) Entries list name of pensioner, cause for which pensioned, post office address, and rate of pension per month.

The following pension material may also be helpful:

Index to Pension Application Files of Remarried Widows Based on Service in the War of 1812, Indian Wars, Mexican War, and Regular Army Before 1861. National Archives Microfilm Publication M1784.

Record of Invalid Pension Payments to Veterans of the Revolutionary War and Regular Army and Navy, March 1801–Sept. 1815. National Archives Microfilm Publication M1786.

Index to Pension Application Files of Remarried Widows Based on Service in the Civil War and Later Wars in the Regular Army after the Civil War. National Archives Microfilm Publication. M1785.

Index to General Correspondence of the Record and Pension Office, 1889–1904. National Archives Microfilm Publication M686. (FHL films 1527667–8051; computer number 462186.) Cards arranged alphabetically with name of soldier, organization in which he served, and name of person who made inquiry.

Bounty Land Warrants
The federal government provided bounty land for those who served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and Indian wars between 1790 and 1855. It was first offered as an incentive to serve in the military and later as a reward for service.

Bounty land could have been claimed by veterans or their heirs. The federal government reserved tracts of land in the public domain for this purpose. The states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia also set aside tracts of bounty land for their Revolutionary War veterans.

A veteran requested bounty land by filing an application at a local courthouse. The application papers and other supporting documents were placed in bounty land files kept by a federal or state agency. These documents contain information similar to the pension files and include the veteran’s age and place of residence at the time of the application. If the application was approved, the individual was given either a warrant to receive land or scrip which could be exchanged for a warrant. Later laws allowed for the sale or exchange of warrants. Only a few soldiers actually received title to the bounty land or settled on it; most veterans sold or exchanged their warrants.

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 outline in the sections for those wars. Bounty land files, including those not microfilmed, are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., in Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans Administration.

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; computer number 464323.) See chapter 8.

Hone, E. Wade. Land and Property Research in the United States. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997. (FHL book 973 R27h; computer number 777085.) See chapter 9, pages 115–26.

Draft or Conscription Records
Since 1863, the federal government has registered millions of men who may have been eligible for military service. The Civil War enrollment records and World War I draft registration cards typically give the man’s name, residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, physical description, and other information. More information about these records is found on pages 30–31 and 50-51 of this outline.

Unit Histories
Histories of military units may contain biographies of officers, rosters of soldiers in the unit, and clues to where the soldiers were living when they enlisted. They may also provide dates of death of veterans or their place of residence after their service. It is best to look in the Author/Title search of the Family History Library Catalog on microfiche under the name of the author.

Civil War unit histories are described in detail on pages 31 and 40 of this outline. The following sources are helpful for finding histories of regiments and divisions that participated in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War:

Controvich, John T., comp. United States Army Unit Histories: A Reference and Bibliography. Manhattan, Kansas: Military Affairs/Aerospace Historian, Eisenhower Hall, Kansas State University, 1983. (FHL book 973 M23cj; computer number 253277.) Also includes brief lineages, campaign participation credits, order of battles, and commanding generals.

Pappas, George S., et al., comp. United States Army Unit Histories. 2 vols. Rev. ed. Carlisle Barracks, Pa.: U.S. Army Military History Institute, 1971–78. (FHL book 973 B4ua no. 4; computer number 264586.) Bibliography of unit histories from 1914 to 1971 for regular Army, National Guard, and Reserve organizations. Regular Army histories of units active prior to 1914 are also included. Entries give title, author, publication information, number of pages, and are arranged by military unit.

Census Records
The federal censuses of 1840, 1890, and 1910 specifically identify veterans and pensioners. Some state censuses also have information about soldiers and veterans. The federal censuses of 1900, 1910, and 1920 include special enumerations of personnel serving at military and naval installations, ships, and hospitals at home and overseas.

1900 census: see description under:

PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION - CENSUS RECORDS 1910 census: military and naval, 1910 federal census: population schedules. (FHL film 1375797; computer number 705355.)

1920 census: military and naval, 1920 federal census: soundex and population schedules. 20 rolls. (Soundex. FHL film 1831476–93; schedules film 1822040–41; computer number 665163.)

The military and naval schedule includes name of military or naval station or vessel, country, seaport, company or troop, regiment, arm of service, rank, residence in the United States (state, city or town, street and number), in addition to the information provided on the population schedules.

Cemetery Records
Soldiers and veterans were often buried in private, public, church, national, and military post cemeteries. Others were buried on the battlefield or in prison or hospital cemeteries. The first national military cemeteries were created in 1862 during the Civil War.

The National Cemetery System has a card index that identifies nearly all soldiers who were buried in national cemeteries and other cemeteries under federal jurisdiction from 1861 to the present. The address is:

National Cemetery System Department of Veteran Affairs 810 Vermont Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20422 Internet: www.cem.va.gov This web site has administration news; national veterans cemetery addresses; information about burial, headstones, state veterans cemetery grant programs, and links to other sites for locating veterans; and military records.

To find microfilm numbers of cemetery records in the Family History Library Catalog, look in the Locality search under:

[STATE] - CEMETERIES [STATE], [COUNTY], [CITY] -CEMETERIES

The National Archives also has applications for headstones for soldiers and veterans buried in private cemeteries between 1879–1964.

The following book provides descriptions of national cemeteries, state veterans’ cemeteries, soldiers’ lots, and abandoned military cemeteries:

Holt, Dean W. American Military Cemeteries: A Comprehensive Illustrated Guide to the Hallowed Grounds of the United States, including Cemeteries Overseas. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland &amp; Co., Inc., 1992. (FHL book 973 V3ho; computer number 670350.)

Some states and counties have grave registration records that identify the graves of soldiers buried in local cemeteries. You can usually find these by contacting the state archives or state library or historical society. The Family History Library has statewide veteran grave registrations for the following states:

Florida FHL computer number 427382 Illinois FHL computer number 71011 Kentucky FHL computer number 233600 Maine FHL computer numbers 175656, 175666 Ohio FHL computer number 285034 Rhode Island FHL computer number 99957 South Dakota FHL computer number 447850 Utah FHL computer number 709603

The American Battle Monuments Commission was created in 1923 to maintain memorials in the U.S. and foreign countries where American forces have served. They have the names of 124,913 World War I and II war dead and the names of 94,093 soldiers listed as missing in action or buried at sea from the World Wars, Korean War, and Vietnam War. For information you can contact:

American Battle Monuments Commission Casimir Pulaski Building 20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20314-0300 Telephone: 202-272-0533 202-272-0532 Internet: www.usabmc.com This web site includes information about the purpose, composition, and history of the commission; details about individual ABMC overseas cemeteries; and the names of persons buried at many of their cemeteries.

The following publications can help you find overseas cemeteries:

American Memorials and Overseas Military Cemeteries. Washington, D.C.: American Battle Monuments Commission, 1970. (FHL book 973 Al no. 58; FHL film 928257; computer number 262323.) Contains descriptions of cemeteries in Europe where Americans are buried who died in World Wars I and II.

Nishiura, Elizabeth, ed. American Battle Monuments: A Guide to Military Cemeteries and Monuments Maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Detroit: Omnigraphics, Inc., 1989. (FHL book 973 V3am; computer number 520674.) Lists the public services offered by the commission plus a directory to their offices. It serves as a guide to cemeteries and memorials for the World Wars.

National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers
Congress established national homes for disabled veterans in 1866. Veterans were eligible for admittance if they were honorably discharged; had served in the regular, volunteer, or militia forces mustered into federal service; were disabled and without support; and were unable to earn a living. In 1930 the homes were combined with other agencies to form the Veterans Administration (now the Department of Veteran Affairs).

The registers are divided into four sections: military, domestic, home, and general remarks. The military section includes information such as enlistment, rank, company, regiment, and discharge. The domestic section includes the veteran’s birthplace, age, height, religion, occupation, residence, marital status, and name and address of nearest relative. The home section includes the veteran’s rate of pension, date of admission to the home, discharge, death date, and burial place.

Some reports published by the Board of Managers for the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers contain alphabetical rosters of soldiers. The rosters provide name, rank, company, organization, length of service, war, pension rate, birthplace, admission date, age when admitted, and status (including death date).

The national homes were in:

Bath, New York Bath Branch Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi Home Danville, Illinois Danville Branch Dayton, Ohio Central Branch Hot Springs, S.D Battle Mountain Sanitarium Johnson City, Tennessee Mountain Branch Kecoughton, Virginia Southern Branch Leavenworth, Kansas Western Branch Marion, Indiana Marion Branch Roseburg, Oregon Roseburg Branch St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg Home Sawtelle, California Pacific Branch Togus, Maine Eastern Branch Tuskegee, Mississippi Tuskegee Home Wood, Wisconsin Northwestern Branch

The Family History Library has microfilms of the following:

Registers of Veterans at National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866–1937. (On 282 FHL films starting with 1546167; computer number 508537.) The registers are indexed individually by the name of the veteran for each home. Upon admission each veteran was given a number. The registers are arranged numerically by these numbers. To find specific microfilm numbers, look in the Locality search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

UNITED STATES - MILITARY RECORDS. Many states also maintained soldier homes as well. The Family History Library also has records for some state homes, including:

Georgia FHL computer number 433159 Louisiana FHL computer number 673398 Michigan FHL computer numbers 215281, 322613 Ohio FHL computer number 227535 Missouri FHL computer number 195357 Pennsylvania FHL computer numbers 4576, 4583 Tennessee FHL computer number 777448 Texas FHL computer number 553885 Virginia FHL computer number 795108

Veterans and Lineage Society Records
Records of veterans’ organizations and lineage societies may be found at their national headquarters or at state archives, historical societies, and public libraries. Some societies require members to submit applications documenting their ancestry back to a soldier. The applications typically provide birth, marriage, and death information, as well as establish relationship through multiple generations from the applicant to the qualifying ancestor. They may publish membership lists and other records. For eligibility requirements, write to the society’s national headquarters. This outline gives addresses of some organizations that have significant material of use for family history research. Additional veteran and patriotic organizations can be located in:

Maurer, Christine and Tara E. Sheets, eds. Encyclopedia of Associations. 33rd edition. Vol. 1, pt 2. Annual. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Section 12. (FHL book 973 E4gr; computer number 32244.) Provides addresses and phone numbers as well as a description of the organizations, their publications, and references to any library or research materials they maintain.

Biographies
You can find biographical sketches of prominent military figures in published biographical dictionaries. 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; computer number 479617.) 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; computer number 503977.) 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; computer number 270903.) 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; computer number 355642.) 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 &amp; C Merriam Company, 1978. (FHL book 973 D3wb; computer number 266232.) 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.

Awards and Decorations
Sketches of soldiers who received the Medal of Honor can be located in:

Medal of Honor Recipients, 1863–1978. No. 15 Committee on Veteran Affairs, U.S. Senate. 93rd Congress. 1st Session. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Gov’t Printing Office, 1979. (FHL film 1598044 item 1; computer number 372956.) Contains historical background about the Medal of Honor and descriptions of soldiers receiving the medal. Entries include name, rank, organization data and place, date entered service, birth date, date of issue, and citation.