Florida Military Records

Portal:United States Military Records>Florida

The United States Military Records article provides more information on federal military records and search strategies.

Many military records can be found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The United States research information provides more information about the federal records. For Florida, the following sources are also very helpful:

Forts

Forts were established through the authority of the federal government, to house and maintain the military.

• Fort Alabama
• Fort Apalachicola (Blount's fort)
• Fort Barnwell
• Fort Barrancas -- Textual records of this fort, 1866-1940, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).
• Fort Bessinger
• Fort Brooke 1824-82
• Fort Brooks
• Fort Carolina (French) 1564
• Fort Cooper
• Fort Crum
• Fort Dade
• Fort Dallas 1838-58
• Fort Defiance
• Fort Denaud
• Fort Drane
• Fort Fraser
• Fort Gadsden  1818-21
• Fort Gardner
• Fort Hamer
• Fort Jefferson -- Textual records of this fort, 1844-1936, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).
• Fort Jupiter
• Key West Barracks -- Textual records of this fort, 1850-1910, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).
• Fort King 1827-43
• Fort King Trail
• Fort Lauderdale
• Fort Meade -- Textual records of this fort, 1850-1853, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).
• Fort Mellon
• Fort Myers -- Textual records of this fort, 1850-1858, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).
• Fort Micanopy
• Fort Morgan
• Fort Moultrie
• Fort Payton
• Fort Pierce 1838-42
• Fort San Luis
• Fort Scott
• St. Francis Barracks -- Textual records of this fort, 1871-1904, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).
• Fort St. Francis de Pupa
• Fort Taylor -- Textual records of this fort, 1844-1924, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).
• Fort Wacahoota
• Fort Walker

Indian Wars (1815-1858)

An index to compiled military service records for Indian Wars and disturbances from 1815 to 1858 is at the Family History Library (Family History Library microfilms 882753-94). The index includes soldiers who served in the Seminole and Florida Wars, 1817 to 1818 and 1835 to 1842. The compiled military service records for the Florida War, 1835 to 1858, are also available (beginning on Family History Library microfilm 1303446).

The library also has an index to Indian Wars pension files, 1892 to 1926 (Family History Library microfilms 821610-21). The index includes those soldiers who served between 1817 and 1898. The actual pension files have not been filmed and are only at the National Archives.

Civil War (1861-1865)

Soldiers from Florida served in both the Union and the Confederate armies. The Family History Library and the National Archives have the following:

Union

• Compiled service records: Family History Library microfilms 1299987-97
• Index to service records: Family History Library microfilm 821727
• Index to pension records: Family History Library microfilms 540757-541300
• (Pension records are only at the National Archives)

Confederate

In order to locate the compiled service records of a Florida Confederate soldier, the unit in which he served must be known, or located through the use of an index. The index to Florida Confederate Service records is located on Family History Library microfilms 880001-880009. The service records are organized by the units in which the solider served. Within the unit, the service records are listed alphabetically by the soldier's last name. Florida Confederate service records are on 104 film reels(beginning with Family History Library microfilm 880103)

Pension applications for widows and Confederate veterans began in 1885 and continued through 1955. The applications are indexed on Family History Library microfilm 006717. The applications are on 169 rolls of microfilm at the Family History Library and are arranged by file number (beginning with Family History Library microfilm 006718). These same records can be viewed online at the State Archives of Florida .

State militia records for the Confederate period are at the state arsenal in St. Augustine. For information, write to:

Adjutant General
Department of Military Affairs
Attn.: M.I.L.P.
P.O. Box 1008
St. Augustine, FL 32085-1008
Telephone: 904-823-0315
Fax: 904-823-0309

Civil War Pension Index Cards - A free Internet index to pension applications of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch Record Search. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. Other wars, of that time period, may be included.

Southern Claims Commission. If a Union sympathizer in Florida claimed a loss during the Civil War due to Union military confiscation, he could apply to the Southern Claims Commission for reimbursement. Only a few applied per county, but their neighbors were called as witnesses and asked dozens of questions. Hundreds of all kinds of residents in a county may be mentioned in answers to Commission questions, and their wartime activities described. To learn how to find records mentioning these neighbors in Florida counties during the Civil War see the Southern Claims Commission.

Spanish-American War (1898)

The compiled military service records of volunteer soldiers who served in the Florida Infantry are at the National Archives and the Family History Library (Family History Library microfilms 1314126-38). Published rosters are found in Soldiers of Florida in the Seminole Indian Civil and Spanish-American Wars (Live Oak, Florida: Democrat Book and Job Print, 1909; Family History Library book 975.9 M2s; also on microfilm 988193).

World War I (1917-1918)

World War I draft registration cards for men ages 18 to 45 may list address, birth date, birthplace, race, nationality, citizenship, and next of kin. Not all registrants served in the war. For registration cards for Florida see:

United States. Selective Service System. Florida, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1509. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1987-1988. (On Family History Library microfilms beginning with film 1556849.)

To find an individual's draft card, it helps to know his name and residence at the time of registration. The cards are arranged alphabetically by county, within the county by draft board, and then alphabetically by surname within each draft board.

Most counties had only one board; large cities had several. A map showing the boundaries of individual draft boards is available for most large cities. Finding an ancestor's street address in a city directory will help you in using the draft board map. There is an alphabetical list of cities that are on the map. For a copy of this map see:

United States. Selective Service System. List of World War One Draft Board Maps. Washington, DC: National Archives. (Family History Library microfilm 1498803.)