FamilySearch Wiki

United States Military Records

(Redirected from Tracing Immigrants Arrival Military Records)
United States Wiki Topics
Flag of United States
United States Beginning Research
Record Types
United States Background
Cultural Groups
Local Research Resources
US Military Records
Topics
Wars
Record Types
Branch of Service
Washington Crossing the Delaware
Washington Crossing the Delaware

Description

Military records are from times of war and times of peace. They identify individuals who served in the armed forces or who were eligible for service. Military records can help you learn more about your ancestors who served their country. These Wiki pages teach terminology and describe the contents, uses, and availability of major sets of records created mostly by the federal government. You can use them to learn about federal and nationwide sources. The Wiki pages discuss only sources that identify personal information about individuals in the armed forces and their units. They do not discuss historical sources about military institutions, weapons, battles, or tactics. The Wiki pages for the separate states have more information about state military records.

American Wars and Battles

  • U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. America's Wars
  • Maurice Matloff, ed, American military history. Washington, D.C. : Office of the Chief of Military History, U. S. Army, 1969. FS Library 973 H2ma
  • Newton Allen Strait. Alphabetical List of Battles,1754-1900: War of the Rebellion, Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection and all old war with dates from 1754-1900. (Washington, D.C., 1922) FamilySearch Digital Library
  • Francis Heitman. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army: from its organization, September 29, 1789 to March 2,1903. 2 volumes. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903 Volume 1 FamilySearch Digital Library Volume 2 FamilySearch Digital Library
  • Thomas H.S. Hamersly, edited and published, General register of the United States navy and marine corps : arranged in alphabetical order, for one hundred years (1782 to 1882) ... including volunteer officers ... with a sketch of the navy from 1775 to 1798 Washington, D.C. : W.K. Boyle Printer, 1882 FamilySearch Digital Library

Beginners' Corner

1. What are United States military records?
2. What time periods do they cover?
3. What can I find in them?
4. How do I access them?
5. Search strategies

Getting Started -Military Records Research

If you are just beginning research, you may need some introductory information before using this set of Wiki pages.

The Basic Search Strategies page of this set suggests steps you should take to find your ancestors in military records. This section is especially valuable if you are just beginning your research. The Record Finder can help you choose types of records to search. The FamilySearch Library's collection is described on that page, and there is also a page explaining how to use the FamilySearch Catalog to find specific records.

Online Resources

Revolutionary War


War of 1812


Mexican War


Civil War
Union and Confederate


Union


Colored Troops


Confederate

World War I


World War II


Other Military Record Collections

Branch of Service

Military Records Contents

Archives and Libraries

National Archives and Records Administration

Record Groups with Digitized Records
The Record Group Explorer and Record Group Explorer Data webpages will identify record groups with digital records in the National Archives Catalog.

Selected Record Groups with Digitized Records The following links identify by Record Group with some digitized content.

FamilySearch Wiki - Collection Coverage Tables

National Personnel Records Center (National Archives at St. Louis)

American Legion Library and Museum

This library and museum covers 20th Century Wars and Conflicts:


For Further Reading

  • Charles Knowles Bolton. The private soldier under Washington.Williamstown, Massachusetts : Corner House Publishers, 1976. FS Library 973 M2bc
  • Harold L. Peterson ; with three technical contributions by Detmar H. Finke and Marko Zlatich. The book of the continental soldier : being a complete sic. account of the uniforms, weapons, and equipment with which he lived and fought. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania : Stackpole Co., c1968. FS Library 973 M2ph
  • Stephen Brumwell. Redcoats : the British soldier and war in the Americas 1755-1763.New York, New York : Cambridge University Press, c2002. *FS Library 942 M2bst
  • Sylvia R. Frey. The British Soldier in America. A Social History of Military Life in the Revolutionary Period. Austin: University of Texas Press,1981.
  • Michael N. McConnell. Army & Empire. British Soldiers on the American Frontier, 1758-1775. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,2004.
  • C Edward Skeen. Citizen soldiers in the War of 1812. Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky, c1999. FS Library 973 M2scs
  • James McCaffery. Army of manifest destiny : the American soldier in the Mexican War, 1846-1848.New York, New York : New York University Press, c1992. FS Library 973 M2mcc
  • Richard Bruce Winders. Mr. Polk's Army. The American Military Experience in the Mexican War. College Station: Texas A7 M University Press, 1997.
  • Bell I. Wiley. The life of Billy Yank : the common soldier of the Union. Baton Rouge, Louisiana : Louisiana State University Press, 1983, c1980. FS Library 973 M2wb
  • Bell Irvin Wiley The life of Johnny Reb : the common soldier of the Confederacy. Baton Rouge, Louisiana : Louisiana State University Press, 1984, c1970. FS Library 973 M2wL
  • James I. Robertson. Soldiers Blue and Gray. Columbia, South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press, c1988. FS Library 973 M2rj
  • Michael J. Bennett. Union Jacks. Yankee Sailors in the Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
  • Dennis J. Ringle. Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1998.
  • Don Ricky. Forty miles a day on beans and hay : the enlisted soldier fighting the Indian Wars. Norman, Oklahoma : University of Oklahoma Press, c1963 FS Library 973 M2ri
  • Lee Kennett. G.I., the American soldier in World War II. New York, New York : Warner Books, c1987 FS Library 973 M2ke
  • Murtie June Clark. American militia in the frontier wars, 1790-1796.Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1990. FS Library 973 M2cLm

Research Tools

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The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.


  • NARA Collections on Ancestry.com - search for NARA collections by NARA title, NARA series number (ex. M313) or Ancestry.com title.
  • National Archives Military Records - National Archives page explaining some of their records available for the different wars.
  • Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. Free National Park Service site with a nationwide index to Union and Confederate servicemen, including U.S. Colored Troops (USCT).
  • Ancestry.com ($) A subscription site with records from most major American wars, including DAR Rolls of Honor, the Civil War Collection, and World War I Draft Registrations. Also includes selected Loyalist and Confederate sources.
  • Fold3.com ($) (formerly Footnote) Subscription site to digitized and indexed National Archives documents including Civil War Service Records, Civil War Widows Pensions, Mormon Battalion Pension Files, Pension Index-Civil War to 1900, Revolutionary War Pensions, Southern Claims Commission, WWI and WWII records.
  • HeritageQuestOnline. Search selected records from the Revolutionary War era pension and bounty-land warrant application files. Only at libraries.
  • Register of Revolutionary War Records Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, (FamilySearch Library), (Salt Lake City: FS Library, 2006) Shows National Archives and other sources available through the FamilySearch Library.
  • Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)
  • National Veterans History Archival Institute
  • National Archives
  • Pritzker Military Museum and Library Their collection includes over 45,000 books includes military histories, unit histories, military rosters, cruise books (similar to high school yearbooks), photographs, guides to uniforms, equipment, insignia, and ships for many of the world's militaries.
  • New Horizons Genealogy
  • Cyndi's List U.S. Military Links
  • Mary's Genealogy Treasures
  • For Further Reading
  • You can get copies of your own military records and those of your ancestors by going to this website.
  • Many resources are available online at the NARA/ADD website. It covers everything from the Revolutionary War to very recently.

Wiki articles describing online Military collections are found at:

See also Military Records in the FamilySearch Learning Center.

State Military Records

  • Including Militia and National Guard


National Guard Bureau, Record Group 168

Guidebooks

  • James C. Neagles. U. S. military records : a guide to federal and state sources, colonial America to the present. Salt Lake City, Utah : Ancestry Publishing, c1994. FS Library 973 M23nu
  • Bruce Cramer. United States military sources. Provo, Utah : B. C. Research, c1994. FS Library 973 M27c
  • Richard S. Johnson. How to locate anyone who is or has been in the military : Armed forces locator guide.San Antonio, Texas : Military Information Enterprizes Publishing, c1996. FS Library 973 M27j 1996
  • Christine Rose. Military bounty land 1776-1855.San Jose, California : CR Publications, c2011. FS Library 973 M27r
  • James C. Neagles and Lila L. Neagles.Locating your Revolutionary War ancestor : a guide to the military records.Logan, Utah : Everton Publishers, c1983. FS Library 973 D27ne
  • Ramona Cameron Worley. Valley Forge ... in search of that winter patriot, 19 December 1777 - 19 June 1778 : a comprehensive guide for tracing Valley Forge ancestors. Louisville, Kentucky : National Society Sons of the American Revolution, c1979. FS Library 973 M27w
  • Steven R. Butler. How to find your Mexican War veteran ancestor. Richardson, Texas : Descendants of Mexican War Veterans, c1994. SFS Library 973 M27bu 1994
  • Bertram Hawthorne Groene. Tracing your Civil War ancestor. Winston-Salem, North Carolina : John F. Blair, c1995. FS Library 973 D27gb 1995
  • David A. Norris. Tracing your Civil War ancestors : the research resources you need for success.Toronto, Ontario : Moorshead Magazines, c2011. FS Library 973 M27n
  • Richard A. Sauers.How to do Civil War research.Conshohocken, Pennsylvania : Combined Pub., c2000, c1995. FS Library 973 M27sc
  • Nancy Justus Morebeck. Locating Union & Confederate records : a guide to the most commonly used Civil War records of the National Archives and FamilySearch Library. North Salt Lake, Utah : Heritage Quest, c2001. FS Library973 M23mL
  • James C. Neagles. Confederate research sources : a guide to archive collections.2nd ed. Ancestry Publishing, c1997. FS Library 973 A3ne 1997
  • J. H. Segars ; edited by John McGlone. In search of Confederate ancestors : the guide.Murfreesboro, Tennessee : J. McGlone, c1993. FS Library 973 D27seg
  • Joseph G. Dawson, III. The late 19th century U.S. Army, 1865-1898 : a research guide.New York, New York : Greenwood Press, c1990. FS Library 973 M23Ln
  • Michael E. Hanlon. Researching Your World War I Relative? : Guidelines, Tips and FAQs.Stanford, California : The Great War Society, 2003. FS Library 973 M2h
  • Jonathan Gawne.Finding your father's war : a practical guide to researching and understanding service in the World War II US Army.Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania : Casemate, c2006. FS Library 973 M27g
  • Debra Johnson Knox. World War II military records : a family historian's guide.Spartanburg, South Carolina : MIE Publishing, c2003. FS Library 973 M27kw
  • Ann Bennett Mix. Touchstones : a guide to records, rights and resources for families of American World War II casualties. Bountiful, Utah : AGLL, c1996. FS Library973 M27mab

National Archives

  • K. Plante, comp. Military service records at the National Archives.Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 2007. FS Library 973 J53p v. 109
  • Charlotte Palmer Seeley, comp ; revised by Virginia C. Purdy and Robert Gruber. American women and the U.S. armed forces : a guide to the records of military agencies in the National Archives relating to American women. Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 1992. FS Library 973 M2scp
  • Benjamin L. DeWhitt, comp., Records relating to personal participation in World War II : American military casualties and burials ; reference information paper 82.Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 1993. FS Library 973 J53da
  • Ben DeWhitt and Jennifer Davis Heaps, comp., Records relating to personal participation in World War II : American prisoners of war and civilian internees. Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 1992. FS Library 973 J53dap
  • Benjamin L. DeWhitt & Heidi Ziemer, comp. Records relating to personal participation in World War II : the American soldier surveys: Reference Information Paper 78.Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 1998. FS Library 973 J53dr
  • Benjamin L. DeWhitt, comp.Records relating to personal participation in World War II : military awards and decorations: Reference Information Paper 92Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 2007. FS Library 973 J53r v. 92
  • Rebecca L. Collier, comp. National Archives records relating to the Korean War : reference information paper 103.Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 2003. FamilySearch Digital Library
  • Tim Wehrkamp, comp. Records relating to American prisoners of war and missing-in-action personnel from the Korean War and during the Cold War Era: Reference Information Paper 102 Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 1997. FS Library 973 J53w
  • Charles E. Schamel, comp., Records relating to American prisoners of war and missing in action from the Vietnam war era, 1960-1994: Reference Information Paper 90Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration, 1996. FS Library 973 J53s

References


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