Military Records

Military Records

• Genealogically, war is a two sided coin – destructive and creative

• Most nations are keenly aware to remember those who served

• Description of the individual – eyes, hair, completion, height

• Records exist for all conflicts• Different Types of records

– Service– Benefits - Pensions, Bounty Land Warrants– Draft, Conscription, Selective Service– Military Histories

Military Records

• This presentation will deal with United States of America Military Records

• Recognize that most other countries will have their own Military Records

Colonial Wars

• Colonial Period– Pequot War 1637-1638 2

years– King Philip’s War 1675-1676 2 years– King William’s War 1689-1697 9 years– Queen Anne’s War 1702-1713 12 years

– Father Rasle's War 1721-1725 5 years

– King George’s War 1744-1748 5 years– French & Indian War 1754-1763 10 years

US Wars• National Period

– Revolutionary War 1775-1783 9 years

– War of 1812 1812-1815 4 years– Indian Wars 1780s-1890s 110 years– Mexican War 1846-1848 3 years– Utah War 1857-1858 2 years

– Civil War 1861-1865 5 years

– Spanish-American War 1898 1 year– Philippine Insurrection 1899-1902 4 years– Boxer Rebellion 1900– World War I 1917-1918 2 years– World War II 1941-1945 5 years– Korean War 1950-1953 4 years– Vietnam War 1955-1973 19 years

Military Records• Where to Begin:

– Family Traditions– Naturalization Records– Census Records

• 1840 – Revolutionary War• 1890 – Civil War• 1910 – Civil War• 1930 – Any War

– Cemetery Records– Biographies – Veterans Organization– Time Line

• Most men who served during pre-twentieth century wars enlisted in state volunteer units

• Most people in military were between 18 and 30 years

Time Line

1840 Federal Census

1890 Federal Census

1910 Federal Census

Veteran of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy

1930 Federal CensusVeterans of any War

Service Records

– Better position to locate information if your soldier ancestor was an officer

– Name, Rank, Unit, Medical Records, Discharge

– National Achieves in Washington prior to 1900

– National Personnel Records Center 1900 to date• Records destroyed in a fire – 1973

– Air Force records 1949 -1963 (60%)

– Army records 1912 – 1959 (80%)

Benefit Records

• Pension Records– Post service period– Ancestor or next of kin applied for a pension– Pension Index for every war

• Bounty Land Warrants– In lieu of pay– 100 to 1100 acres– Based on rank– Prior to 1855– 450,000 Bounty Land Claims

Unit History

– Written by Veterans Groups– Collect information from soldiers– Roster of men– Battles– Lineage Organizations

• Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War• Daughters of American Revolution• Sons of American Revolution

Colonial Wars

• No Official National Records• A few Colonial and Local Militia Records

(rolls and rosters)• List are not extensive nor is the

information (Name and Organization)• In most cases there were no benefits

provided for veterans• Bibliography of published works see “The

Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy” Pages 553 to 554

Colonial Wars• Andrews, Frank DeWitte “Connecticut Soldiers in the French and Indian War”• Bockstruck, Lloyd D “Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers”• Bodge, George M “Soldiers in King Philip’s War”• Buckingham, Thomas “Roll and Journal of Connecticut Service in Queen Anne’s War, 1710-

1711”• Chapin, Howard Millar “Rhode Island in the Colonial Wars”• Clark, Murtie J. “Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774• Connecticut Historical Society “Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian Wars, 1755-

1762”• Lewis, Virgil A “Soldiery of West Virginia in the French and Indian Wars”• New York Historical Society “Muster Rolls of New York Provincial Troops, 1755-1764”• Pennsylvania Archives “Officers and Soldiers in the Service of the Province of Pennsylvania,

1744-1764”• Pomeroy, Seth “Journals and Papers, Society of Colonial Wars”• Rhode Island, Society of

Colonial Wars “Nine Muster Rolls of Rhode Island Troops, Enlisted During the Old French War”

• Robinson, George Frederick and Albert Harrison Hall “Watertown Soldiers in the Colonial Wars and the American

Revolution”• Taylor, Philip F “A Calendar of the Warrants for Land in Kentucky, Granted for

Service in the French and Indian Wars”

Heritage Quest“Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776”

Heritage Quest

Colonial Wars

• Microfiche at Parker Family History Center:– 6046993 Colonial Soldiers of Virginia

– 6019959 Kentucky Warrants for Land Granted for Service in the French and

Indian War

– 6100009 North Carolina Entries and Warrants 1741-1757

– 6046769 Soldiers in King Phillip’s War

– 6048997 Virginia Colonial Militia 1651-1776

Revolutionary War Service Records

– No Official US Government hence few records– Mainly Rosters and Rolls

• Service in the Continental Army• Service in State Organization

– Beginning of US Military Records– National Archives abstracted muster rolls and pay

rolls onto a 3.5”x8” Card– Indexed

• Master Name Index• Continental Army Troops Name Index• Index for Each State

Revolutionary War Service Records

– Indexes have been microfilmed and can be found in the National Archives and Regional Archives, and Family History Library

• National Archives Record Group 93 – War Department

– Records contain – Name, Rank, Military Organization, State from which he served, Date name appears on rolls, Date of Enlistment, Date of Separation (rarely)

Revolutionary War Service Records

Revolutionary War Veterans’ Benefits

• Veterans’ Benefits– Have More Genealogical information than Service Records

• Pensions:– Granted to invalid or disabled veterans and widows and orphans of men

killed– Veterans who served a minimum period of time

• Federal payments began in 28 July 1789 (Act 26 August 1776)• Many early applications were destroyed by fire in 1800 and 1814• Reports to Congress in 1792, 1794, and 1795 that contain name, rank,

regiment, date and place of disability, nature of disability, date of pension, residence – Record Group 233 (Records of the US House of Representatives) and Record Group 46 (Records of the US Senate)

• Initiated in the Courts of the Counties where the Veterans lived.• Act of 1832 made pensions available to all who had served at least six

months regardless of their need• National Archives has original pension application papers that are

completely indexed. Index published by the National Genealogical Society - microfilmed

Revolutionary War Veterans’ Benefits

– Bounty Land – free land promised for service• Special Warrants were issued by the Secretary of

War– Act of 1788– 100 to 1,100 Acres based on rank– 450,000 bounty-land claims on file

• In addition to Federal Land grants – Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia rewarded their soldiers with bounty Land.

– Virginia State Library

• National Archives – indexed M804 or M805

Revolutionary War

• Information that may be found in pension and bounty records:– Name, Rank, Military Unit, Period of Service,

Age, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Place of Residence.

– If Widow applied – date and place of his death, her age, place of her residence, the place and date of marriage, maiden name.

Bounty-Land Warrant

National Genealogical Society• “S” Survivor, pension granted

• “R” Pension Rejected

• “W” Widow’s Pension

• “BLWt” Bounty Land Warrant

• “BLReg” Bounty Land Rejected

• Variant Spellings to Name

• Name of Serviceman

• Name of Claimant

• State

• File Number

• Includes War of 1812

• No Papers – Records were destroyed

• National Genealogical Society Volumes 31, 36, 40, 44, 50

• FHL Microfilms # 1286, 1287, & 1288

Revolutionary War Pension IndexAncestry.com

Revolutionary War Books

• States, Counties and Towns• Dandridge, Danske “American Prisoners of the Revolution”• Dickore, Marie “Hessian Soldiers in the American Revolution• Eelking, Max von “The German Allied Troops in the North

American War of Independence, 1776-1783

• Ellet, Elizabeth F. “The Women of the American Revolution”

• Heitman, Francis B “Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the

Revolution

• Kaminkow, Marion J. • and Jack Kaminkow “Mariners of the American Revolution”• Peterson, Clarence S “Known Military Dead During the American

Revolutionary War, 1775-1783”

Revolutionary War

• If you had an ancestor of military age in the US but can’t find him– They may have belonged to a pacifist church such as

Society of Friends (Quakers)– They may have been Loyalists (1/3 of the Colonial

Population)– Many Loyalists and Tories went to the West Indies,

Canada, and Florida

• German Mercenaries– 32,000 served / 7,000 remained in the US

American Revolution• Microfiche at Parker Family History Center:

– 6046771 Revolutionary War Census of Pensioners– 6046875 Revolutionary War, German Mercenary who served with

the British– 6051293 DAR Index to Lineage Book– 6046615 Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War– 6046713 Roster of Soldiers of American Revolution buried in Ohio– 6051268 Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia– 6101453 Revolutionary Soldiers South Carolina Chester County– 6078182 German Soldiers in Revolutionary War

• Books at Parker Family History Center:– 975.3J53 DAR Library Catalog– 975.3J9 DAR Records may be Beneficial to your Genealogical

Health– 973M2sg Revolutionary War Genealogy

Between Revolutionary War and Civil War

• Service Records – National Archives M905– Contains Name, Rank, Organization, Muster

In and Out Dates, State from which served

• War of 1812– Arranged by State or Territory and then by

Unit

Between Revolutionary War and Civil War

• Indian and Related Wars 1817-1857– The Guide to Genealogical Research in the

National Archives Page 95

• Mexican War 1846-1848– Service Records Index – Index to Compiled

Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the Mexican War M616

Between Revolutionary War and Civil WarVeterans’ Benefits

• Veterans’ Benefits:– Four Series of pension records

• Old Wars Series – relates to death and disability claims for service T316

• The War of 1812 Series• The Mexican War Series – 1887 Act allowed pensions to

veterans who served sixty days and their widowsT317

• Indian Wars Series 1817-1898 – 1892 Act T318

– Bounty Land Warrant Applications • War of 1812 filed with Revolutionary War Act of 1855

Between Revolutionary War and Civil War

• Last Bounty Land Act was passed in 1855– 160 acres to anyone who fought in a battle or served at

least 14 days– In any War to that time– Many Warrant Applications filed prior to 1800 were

destroyed in the War Department Fire

War of 1812 Pension Records

Between Revolutionary War and Civil War

• Microfiche at the Parker Family History Center:– 6101028 War of 1812 North Carolina History– 6046612 Pension List of 1818– 6051240 Mexican War Military Dead 1846-1848– 6087608 Ohio Index to Pensioners 1883– 6051205 Ohio Her Statesmen, Generals, and

Soldiers in War

• Books at the Parker Family History Center:– 973H27s War of 1812 Genealogy

Civil War Service Records– No Master Index - You must know the State or Unit– Civil War Draft Records

• Consolidated Lists– All Males 20-35 and unmarried males 35-45, married men 35-45– Information in records – name, place of residence, age on

1 July 1863, occupation, martial status, state, territory or country of birth, if volunteer what military organization he served in

– Alphabetical Order by the first letter of the surname with the various states and Congressional Districts

• Descriptive Rolls– Must know the Congressional District in which a man lived– If you know the county, you can determine the Congressional District –

“Congressional Directory for the Second Session of the Thirty-Eighth Congress of the United States of America

– Kenneth C. Martis, “The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts – Physical description, place of birth, whether accepted or rejected for military

service• Neither have been microfilmed. Part of National Archives Record Group

110. Only available at the National Archives• Case Files on Drafted Aliens – Alphabetical order by surname

Civil War Service Records

– Burial Records• Soldiers buried at US Military Installations

– Headstone Applications 1879-1925 Federal Government erected headstones on the graves of Union servicemen, regardless of place of burial

• Applications are arranged chronologically by state and county of burial

– Service Histories of Volunteer Units– Naval Service Records – contains biographies of

officers

Civil War Service Records

• Indexes are on-line, National Archives, Family History Library

• Actual Service Records for Union Troops are only available at the National Archives

• Confederate indexes and some records are available both at the National Archives and Family History Library (M861)

Civil War Service Record – Ancestry.com

Civil War Veterans’ Benefits

• Veterans’ Benefits – almost exclusively pensions although they were given special consideration in Homestead legislation– All pension applications relating to service between

1861 and 1934 (excluding WWI) are filed together.– Information in records – name, military unit, place of

residence, summary of military record, age, date of birth, place of birth, date and place of marriage, date and place of death, wife maiden name, date of her death, names of surviving children with date and place of birth.

– Two Indexes – An Alphabetical Name Index and an Organization Index

Civil War Pension Index – Ancestry.com

Confederate Soldiers

• Records are not as good as Union Army Troops

• Consolidated Alphabetical Name IndexM253

• Index for Each State• 28,000 died in Prisons in the North• Southern States provided pensions – need

to go to the Archives of the Individual States

Tennessee Biographical Sketches• Civil War Veterans living in 1922

Censuses of Pensioners

• Alabama 1907 and 1921

• Arkansas 1911

• Louisiana 1911

Civil War

• Microfiche at the Parker Family History Center:– 6082483 Mississippi Civil War– 6046932 Oklahoma Confederate Soldiers,

Sailors, Widows– 6046966 Tennesseans in the Civil War– 6048860 Civil War Indiana, North Alabama,

Tennessee– 6083845 Civil War as seen from the Ranks

• Books at the Parker Family History Center:– 973D27gb Tracing your Civil War Ancestor

Modern Wars 1898 to Present

• Freedom of Information Act 1967

• Privacy Act 1974

• Service within last 75 years is restricted to Veteran or next of kin

• Access to World War I Selective Service Records (Draft)

World War I Draft Registration

World War II Enlistment Record

Modern Wars 1898 to Present

• Discharge Records– Each county in the United States was required to

record the honorable discharge of soldiers and sailors who served in World War I and World War II

– Records are kept in the local courthouse– Records may contain Name, Race, Rank, Serial

Number, reason for Discharge, Birthplace, Age at time of Enlistment, Occupation, Personal Description, Length of Service, Advancement, Battles, Decorations, Honors, Physical Condition, and Character Evaluations

Modern Wars 1898 to Present

• Microfiche at the Parker Family History Center– 6051244 Soldiers of the Great War, World War I

• CDs at the Parker Family History Center:– Military Index

• Korean (1950-1957) and Vietnam (1957-1975) Wars Deaths • 100,000 Servicemen• Birth Date, Death Date, Residence, Place of Death, Rank, Service Number, • Religious Affiliation, Marital Status, Race, War Memorial Plaque Number

Parker Family History Center

• Research Helps:– 973D27g The Researcher’s Guide to

American Genealogy– 974D27ts The Source– 973M27j How to Locate Anyone Who is

or has been in the Military

Regular U.S. Army Enlistments

• 1798 to 1914 Enlistments

• Records are arranged in subcategories of time blocks

• Microfilmed M233

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