Searching for Military Records

2. Determine if your ancestor served :
Clues may be found :
 FAMILY STORIES
 PHOTOGRAPHS
 CENSUS RECORDS
 NEWSPAPER CLIPPING
 JOURNALS, DIARIES AND CORRESPONDANCE
 DEATH RECORDS AND OBITUARIES
 LOCAL HISTORIES
 GRAVE MARKERS
 “COMPLETED” FAMILY GENEALOGIES
 REGISTRATION/DRAFT RULES FOR THAT PARTICULAR WAR

3. What are military records
• Draft records
• Service Records
• Pension Documents
• Prison Rolls
• Casualty lists
• Unit histories
• Etc. (anything with information about service

4. Military Records
in the United States
In general the U.S. National Archives and Records
Administration or NARA (archives.gov) in Washington
DC has service records for those serving in the United
States military from 1775-1917.
The National Personnel Records Center or NPRC
(archives.gov/st-louis) in St. Louis, MO has service
records from 1912-present day.

5. Please Note :
Individual’s official military records are generally NOT online.
A few sample miltary records are digitized in the Archival
Research Catalog (ARC) or Access to Archival Database (ADD)
on the National Archives website at archives.gov .
Some miltary information can be found online at
Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, Fold4 or other subscription
databases.
You may find family history information relating to military
ancestors or historical military information by doing a general
internet search (Just Google It!)

6. Types of Military Records useful for
genealogists :
• Military service records and discharge
records
• Compiled military service records
• Pension records or veteran’s claims
• Draft registration cards
• Bounty Land Records

7. Military Service Records
 Colonial wars (1675-1763)
• More historical than genealogical.
• Most rosters and rolls have been published and are available
in genealogy libraries and/or on the internet.
 Revolutionary and Post Revolutionary (1774-
1848)
• Records not destroyed by fire are at the National Archives.
• Mostly are rosters and rolls of soldiers serving in the
Continental Army and militias.

8. Revolutionary War Records
Revolutionary war Records:
Contain more genealogical data than colonial records.
Indexed and Microfilmed.
Available at the National Archives and regional branches.
(None located in Louisiana.
And at the LDS Family History Library (familysearch.org)
Also check the internet and computer databases like
Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest.
Three types of records
• Pensions
• Bounty –land warrant applications
• Military service records

9. More Revolutionary War
Revolutionary War pension application files have been
microfilmed at the LDS Family History Library (family
search.org) in Salt Lake City and the National Archives
(archives.gov) in D.C. and their branch locations.
Also see Heritage Quest and Ancestry.com for Revolutionary
War Pension File information

10. Military Bounty Land Grants
Given in lieu of monetary compensation for military
service
Given to entice enlistments during military conflicts
Citizenship was not a requirement for military
bounty land.
Primarily granted to soldiers serving in the
Revolutionary War, War of 1812, early Indian Wars
and the Mexican War.

11. Finding Military Bounty Land Grants
All federal military bounty-land records are housed at
the National Archives in Washington D.C.
Records were created by two different agencies:
• Pensions bureau handled the application
• General Land Office fulfilled the warrant

12.  Pension
 Applications
 Muster Rolls
 Pay Rolls
 Militia Lists
 Material Aid Claims
 Civil Service
 Oaths of Allegiance
 Oaths of Fidelity
 Association Lists
 Signers of the
Declaration of
Independence

13. Revolutionary War & War of 1812
military service information online :
National Archives: www.archives.gov
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
www.dar.org
National Society of the Sons of the American
Revolution (SAR) www.sar.org
Also try the state libraries and/or state archives in the
13 original states
Some are also included in Ancestry and Fold3 for free
in our library databases

14. Civil War Records
Some 2.8 million men served the Union and Confederate
armies during the Civil War (1861-65)
The Civil War Pension Index is available at ancestry.com and is
one of the best places to start looking for Union Soldiers.
The Family History Library (familysearch.org) also has the
complete collection of index cards on microfilm.

15. Civil War – Confederate Records
NARA does not have pension files for Confederate soldiers.
Pensions were granted to Confederate veterans and their
widows and minor children by the states of Alabama,
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia : these records are in the state
archives or equivalent agency.

16. Civil War Information Online :
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS)
www.itd.nps.gov/cwss
Confederate Regimental History Index
www.tarleton.edu/~kjones/confeds.html
Union Regimental History Index
www.tarleton.edu/~kjones/unions.html
Civil War Archive www.civilwar archive.com
Civil War Official Records
www.ehistory.com/uscw/index.cfm

17. WWI Draft Registration Records:
All men between 18 and 45 were required to
register.
Does not mean they actually served in WWI.
These records can be found on ancestry.com,
familysearch.org, archives.gov and possibly
other locations online.

18. WWI Draft Information Online:
• WWI Draft Online
www.genealogybranches.com/worldwaronedraftcards.html
• WWI Draft Registration Abstracts
Members.aol.com/Rayhbanks/cos.html
• WWI Draft Registration Lists
www.usigs.org/library/military/links/wwi.htm
• WWI Draft Registration
www.rootdig.com/draft/worldwaronedraft.html
• WWI Draft Search
Userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/search.cgi
• WWI Draft Cards Samples
www.rootdig.com/draft/samples.html

19. World Wars I and II
World War I draft registration cards.
• Required males between 18 and 45 to register.
• Are available from archives.gov,
familysearch.org, ancestry, and Fold3.
Discharge records for World Wars I and II are on
file at the local courthouse.
Some have been microfilmed by the Family
History Library and can be borrowed.
Are also on familysearch.org and ancestry

20. WWII Information Online :
• WWII Draft Registartion Cards
www.rootdig.com/draft/worldwartwo.html
• WWII Records at the U.S. National Archives
Aad.archives.gov/aad/topic_search_results.jsp
• Casualties
www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.php

21. Korean War and Vietnam
Korean War Casualties
www.abmc.gov/search-abmc-burials-and-memorializations
National Archives Korean War Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/military/korean-war
Korean War (General Info)
www.koreanwar.org/html/korean_war_databases.html
Vietnam War Casualties
http://thewall-usa.com
National Archives Vietnam War Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war
Vietnam War (General Info)
www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war

22. Military Service Records cont.
World War I to present (1917-2020)
WWII and later service records restricted to immediate family.
Right-to privacy laws (records must be 62 years old or older
before public access is granted). This would mean records from
before 1958 are starting to become available.
Housed at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC -
https://www.archives.gov/st-louis) in St. Louis Mo.
Fire in 1973 destroyed millions (75-80%) of service records for
those serving in the Army and Air Force between 1912 and 1964.
But some records have been reconstructed from other sources.

23. How to Obtain Copies from NPRC :
For recent record (WWII – present), veterans and next-of-kin
can obtain FREE copies of their DD Form 214 (Report of
Separation) and other military forms by using the eVetsRecs
system to create a request at
https://vetrecs.archives.gov/VeteranRequest/home.html
Mail or fax a Standard Form SF-180
https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records
For military personnel records prior to WWI:
Service Records : order online or use NATF Form 86
Pension claim files or Bounty land warrant application files
order online or use NATF form 85
Downloadable forms are at archives.gov/forms .

24. Military Burial Listings :
• Veterans Affairs Veterans Grave Locator
Gravelocator.cem.va.gov
• Interment.net listing of National Veterans
Cemeteries
www.interment.net/us/nat/veterans.htm
• American Battle Monuments Commission
www.abmc.gov

25. Other non-”official” military records :
• Unit histories (books and online)
• Histories of Specific Conflict
• Cemetery records
• Diaries
• Letters
• Memoirs
• Family Stories
• Photographs
• Medals, Uniforms, etc.
• Helpful for “fleshing out” the story (making it more
interesting, lively or compelling). Also gives you ideas of
where to look for official records.

26. Military History (casualty lists, etc.) :
• U.S. Army – www.history.army.mil
• U.S. Navy – www.history.navy.mil
• U.S. Marine Corps – www.mcu.usmc.mil
• U.S. Air Force – www.afhra.af.mil
• U.S. Coast Guard – www.uscg.mil/history
• Department of Defense – history.defense.gov
• National Archives Military History Page
• www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military
/american-military-history.html