Spain Military Records

Guide to Spanish Military Archives
A guidebook has been newly published in 2012 with information about Spanish Military Archives. A downloadable pdf version of the book is available by clicking on the title below. Please note that the guide is in Spanish.

Guía de archivos militares españoles

Military Files
The General Military Archive of Segovia holds more than 62,000 files containing personal files from the 15th to the 20th centuries with the majority being from the 18th and 19th century. Within the personal files you will find information about the soldier such as their service record and their baptism record.

The military records in Spain can be a good source to look for your male ancestors. Many men in Spain served in military units such as the army, the militia, the navy, and others. Often these records contain genealogical information that can help you to build your family tree. The men of Spain often had to receive an exemption from military service or prove that they had already served before they could leave the county. They needed to receive special permission to do so.

The records of those that served in the Americas are found in the General Archive of Simancas. These records include the following places:


 * Buenos Aires
 * Cuba
 * Chile
 * Philippines
 * Guatemala
 * Nueva España (originally Mexico and Central America except Panama)
 * Viceroyalty of Peru (originally included most of Spanish South America)
 * Indias (Florida, Puerto Rico y Venezuela)

Military ranks - Army

 * Soldado - private
 * Cabo – corporal
 * Alferez – sergeant
 * Sub-teniente – second lieutenant
 * Teniente – Lieutenant
 * Capitan – Captain
 * Comandante – Major
 * Teniente Coronel – Lieutenant Colonel
 * Coronel – Colonel
 * Comandante General – Major General
 * Teniente General – Lieutenant General
 * General – General

Military ranks - Navy

 * Marinero - sailor
 * Marinero de primera clase - seaman first class
 * Cabo - corporal
 * Cabo Primero - corporal first class
 * Sargento - sergeant
 * Sargento Primero - sergeant first class
 * Brigada (grado) - brigadier (grade)
 * Subteniente - sub-lieutenant
 * Suboficial Mayor - senior chief
 * Alférez de Fragata - ensign of a frigate
 * Alférez de Navío - ensign of a ship
 * Teniente de Navío - lieutenant of a ship
 * Capitán de Corbeta - captain of a corvette
 * Capitán de Fragata - captain of a frigate
 * Capitán de Navío - captain of ship
 * Contralmirante - rear admiral
 * Vicealmirante - vice admiral
 * Almirante - admiral
 * Capitán General - captain general or commaner in chief

Promotions
There were three ways to advance in rank:


 * Por elección (by vote)
 * Por gracia general (by general order)
 * Por antiguedad (By length of service)

Empleo – A position of command or responsibility. A person could have the Rank of a captain but serve in the empleo of a lieutenant.

Service records (Hojas de Servicios)

 * Name
 * Date and place of birth
 * Names of parents
 * List of assignments and/or ranks with dates in chronological order.
 * In the bottom part of the page you can find information about the military campaigns in which he served with his military unit.

Personal files (Expedientes Personales)
You can find the following types of records:


 * Petition to be able to marry
 * Petition for a promotion. You may find documents demonstrating the man’s worthiness to receive the Rank desired.
 * Petition for a pension.
 * Petition to have a son attend a military academy.

Personal files are divided into sections such as:

Academic Files – Files related to petitions regarding education Marriage Files – Files related to marriage petitions Pension Files – Files related to pension petitions

Online Records
 * 1835-1940 at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage files
Marriage files generally contain great genealogical value. Normally you can expect to find baptism certificates of the bride and groom as well as the marriage certificates of their parents.

Military conscription [Quintas]
These records are annual lists of those available for military service. They can serve as a census substitute for males that identifies residence and parentage.

Charles III introduced a system where every fifth man was selected by lot to serve in the army. Initially meeting with heaving resistance, its enforcement was suspended at first but ultimately instituted. Local municipalities were required to make lists of all male citizens from whom the conscripts were selected. The age at time of conscription was 18-20.

Generally these records contain the name of the prospective conscript, age (sometimes birth date), and sometimes names of parents and their residence. About half of the male population, excluding hidalgos, may be found in these records. Records exist from 1773 to 1920 and can be found at municipal and provincial historical archives.

Religious Military Orders
To learn more about religious military orders we recommend that you read the following article:

Religious Military Orders

Other Online Records

 * 1566-1956 at FamilySearch — index and images

Internet sites
General Military Archive of Segovia

General Archive of Simancas

Portal de Cultura de Defensa

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * Spain, Barcelona Province Municipal Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Spain, Cádiz Province Municipal Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Spain, Pension Records of Widows and Orphans of Spanish Officials - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Spain, Sevilla Province Municipal Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Spain, Tarragona Province Municipal Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Spain, Valencia Miscellaneous Records - FamilySearch Historical Records