Revolutionary War, 1775 to 1783

United States

U.S. Military

Revolutionary War

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African Americans American Indians Bounty Land Warrants Cemetery Records Census Records DAR and SAR Finding a Soldier Loyalist Records Pension Records Service Records Societies Unit Histories

Other Nations

British French Hessians Spanish

Did You Know?

In 1775, when the American Revolution began, there was no regular army. Instead each colony defended itself with a militia made up of local men. With few exceptions, any male 16 or older was expected to participate in the milita. By 1776 Washington had an army of 20,000 men. About one-third came from colonial militia groups, and two-thirds were regular army.

The American Revolutionary War was fought from 1775 to 1783. It was also known as the American War of Independence. The Revolutionary War began with the confrontation between British troops and local militia at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, on 19 April 1775. Throughout the war, state troops and local militias supplemented the Continental (Federal) Army. The total number of men who served is not known. Men between the ages of 16 and 60 may have served during the war in either the Continental Army, State Line Troops, or local militia mustered to help the Continental Troops.

After the French and Indian war ended 1773, the British Parliament imposed a series of taxes on their American colonies in an attempt to recover some of the cost of the war, to have the colonies pay for their own defense, and to assert authority over the colonies. The taxes were not well received by the colonists, who felt that as they lacked representation in the Parliament, their rights as Englishmen were being violated and the taxes were unlawful. The colonists attempted to gain representation in the British Parliament without success. When gaining representation failed each colony began to form their own parliaments or governments. These colonial government bodies would then overturn British laws that they felt were unlawful and created an undue burden. In response, Britain sent in more soldiers, and the colonies were occupied by a standing army. The already overburdened colonists were required to feed and clothe the army. This series of events lead to the outbreak of war on April 19, 1775. The colonists’ original aim was to restore their rights as Englishmen; however, by early 1776 the idea that the American Revolution was a bid for independence began to form and take root, and by July the Colonists had declared their independence from the rule of the British Empire.

In 1775, when war seemed like a possibility, a congress was formed with delegates from all 13 original colonies. This assembly, the Continental Congress, was a loose confederation of the colonies soon to become states. As part of their duties, the Continental Congress formed an army originally of enlisted men of short duration, but over the course of the war became a standing army of both enlisted men and conscripts, soldiers who were drafted into service. In addition to the Continental Army formed by the Congress, states, counties, and towns formed militias who fought and protected around their local area or for with the Continental Army. Revolutionary War records are the enlistment or muster roles both for the local militias and the Continental Army, pension files, and bounty land warrants. These records may include information on leave, mustering out or separation from the army, and any pension or benefits received as part of service or upon separation from the army or the militia. Military Rosters and Enlistment or Muster Rolls provide a record of when a soldier or sailor served, where they served, and for how long. They also provide details of who they served under, rank, promotion, leave information, and when their service ended. These records tell where a soldier or sailor lived and where the enlisted which were not always the same place.

Getting Started US Military Basic Search Strategies US Military Records at the FS Library Finding Your Revolutionary War Ancestor Additional Research Guides

Original British Colonies

New England Connecticut Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island

Middle Colonies Delaware New Jersey New York Pennslynvania

Southern Colonies Georgia Maryland North Carolina South Carolina Virginia

Canada Remained Loyal to Britain Province of Quebec (modern-day Ontario and Quebec)

State Revolutionary War Records

The Revolutionary War was fought before these states existed. However, many of these states have information specific to their area on individuals that served in the war and later lived in these states.

Alabama Arkansas District of Columbia Florida Illinois Indiana

Iowa Louisiana Kentucky Maine Michigan Mississippi

Missouri Ohio Tennessee Vermont West Virginia Wisconsin

Online Collections

• 1775-1783 Revolutionary War Compiled Service Records, 1775-1783 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1775-1783 Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1775-1783 Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1776 United States, Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, 1776 at Findmypast - index ($)
• 1778-1783 United States. French Combatants in the Revolutionary War, 1778-1783 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1800-1900 United States Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images; Also at: Ancestry ($), American Ancestors; index ($)
• 1800-1912 Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, ca. 1800 - ca. 1912 at National Archives – partial index & images
• 1818-1872 United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1829-1832 United States: Revolutionary War Naval Pensioners' Receipts, 1829-1832 at American Ancestors - index & images ($)
• 1840 United States, Census Of Revolutionary War Pensioners, 1840 at Findmypast - index & images ($)
• 1880-1900 Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• United States British Loyalists at Findmypast - index & images ($)
• United States, Rolls Of The Soldiers In The Revolutionary War at Findmypast - index & images ($)
• US Revolutionary War at Fold3.com($)
• American Revolution at NPS.gov

Chronology of Major Events

16 Dec 1773	Boston Tea Party
18 Mar 1774	British occupied Boston, Massachusetts until evacuated 7 March 1776.
5 Sep 1774	First Continental Congress convened.
19 Apr 1775	Battle at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.
17 Jun 1775	Battle of Bunker Hill, Massachusetts.
4 Jul 1776	Declaration of Independence adopted.
15 Sep 1776	New York City occupied by the British until 26 November 1783.
26 Dec 1776	Attack at Trenton, New Jersey.
3 Jan 1777	Attack at Princeton, New Jersey.
11 Sep 1777	Battle of Brandywine, Pennsylvania.
19 Dec 1777	Washington's army established headquarters at Valley Forge.
6 Feb 1778	U.S. and France entered a military alliance.
28 Jun 1778	Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.
29 Dec 1778	Capture of Savannah, Georgia by the British. It was occupied until 11 July 1782.
23 Feb 1779	George Rogers Clark and his men took Vincennes, Indiana from the British.
21 June 1779	Spain declared war against the British.
21 Sep 1779	Spain wins the Battle of Baton Rouge, thus keeping the British out of the Mississippi valley.
12 May 1780	Charleston, South Carolina was captured by the British and occupied until 14 December 1782.
16 Aug 1780	Battle near Camden, South Carolina.
7 Oct 1780	Patriots defeated a group of Loyalists at Kings Mountain, South Carolina.
17 Jan 1781	Battle at Cowpens near the Broad River in South Carolina.
15 Mar 1781	Battle at Guilford Co., North Carolina courthouse.
10 May 1781	British lost the Battle of Pensacola Florida.
19 Oct 1781	Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia.
30 Nov 1782	A preliminary peace treaty was signed in Paris, France.
3 Sep 1783	The final peace treaty was signed in Paris.

• Peckham, Howard, ed. The Toll of independence : engagements & battle casualties of the American Revolution. Chicago, Illinois : University of Chicago Press, 1974. FS Library 973 M2ti

Boston Tea Party

• Massachusetts Historical Society - The Coming of the American Revolution 1764-1776 - The Boston Tea Party
• Participants in the Boston Tea Party - December 16, 1773
• Francis S. Drake. Tea Leaves : being a Collection of Letters and Documents Relating to the Shipment of Tea to the American Colonies in 1773 Boston, Massachusetts, 1884
• B.B. Thatcher, Traits of the tea party : being a memoir of George R.T. Hewes, one of the last of its survivors : with a history of that transaction, reminiscences of the massacre, and the siege, and other stories of old times Harper & Brothers, 1835
• Caleb A. Wall The historic Boston tea party of December 16, 1773 : its men and objects: incidents leading to, accompanying, and following the throwing overboard of the tea; including a short account of the Boston massacre of March 5, 1770; with patriotic lessons therefrom adapted to the present time Worcester, Massachusetts : F.S. Blanchard, 1896
• American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

Continental Congress

• 1774-1789 Papers of the Continental Congress (NARA pub., M247 at FamilySearch Catalog - images
• 1774-1789 Miscellaneous Papers of the Continental Congress (NARA pub, M332) at FamilySearch Catalog - images
• 1774-1789 Papers of the Continental Congress National Archives Catalog
• 1775-1789 Central treasury records of the Continental and Confederation governments relating to military affairs (NARA pub M1015 at FamilySearch Catalog - images
• Butler, John P. comp., Index, the papers of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 3 vols. Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 1973 FS Library Digital Images
• Ford, Worthington Chauncey. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 : edited from the original records in the Library of Congress Washington, D.C. : Government printing Office, 1904-1937. Vols. 5,7,19,20,23,25 FS Library Digital Images
• Harris, Kenneth E. and Steven D. Tilley, comps. Index/Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1789 Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service. General Services Administration, 1976 FS Library Digital Images
• Jones, Charles C. Biographical sketches of the delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress Boston, Massachusetts : Houghton Mifflin and Co, 1891. FS Library Digital Images
• United States Congress. Biographical directory of the American Congress, 1774-1971 : the Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788 and the Congress of the United States from the First through the Ninety-first Congress March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1971, inclusive Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office (United States), 1971. FS Library Digital Library

Signers of the Declaration of Independence

• Barthelmas, Della Gray. The Signers of the Declaration of Independence : a biographical and genealogical reference. Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., ©1997 FS Library book 973 D2bdg
• Goodrich, Charles A. Lives of the signers to the Declaration of Independence New York: William Redd & Co., 1829. reprint. El Segundo, California: Sightext Publications, 1969 FamilySearch Digital Library
• Genealogy of signers of the Declaration of Independence compiled by Frank Willing Leach - images 6 rolls
• Hayden, Horace Edwin. Charles Carroll of Carrollton : last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence Pennsylvania : Wilkes-Barre, 1894. FS Library Digital
• Lossing, B.J. Biographical sketches of the signers of the declaration of American independence : the declaration historically considered; and a sketch of the leading events connected with the adoption of the Articles of Confederation and the federal constitution Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: G.G. Evans, 1860 FamilySearch Digital Library
• Pyne, Frederick Wallace. Descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence 7 volumes. Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1997. v. 1. The New England States -- v. 2. New York State -- v. 3. New Jersey -- v. 4. Pennsylvania -- v. 5. Delaware and Maryland -- v. 6. Virginia -- v. 7. North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. FS Library 973 D2p
• Thurston, R.C. Ballard. Signers of the Declaration of Independence miscellaneous material collected by... - images
• Sanders, John. Biography of the signers to the Declaration of Independence 9 volumes. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: R.W. Pomeroy, 1822-1827 FS Library 973 D3s

Continental Army

• Second Continental Congress. Continental Army. 6/14/1775-3/2/1781 NARA Organization Authority Record
• Congress of the Confederation. Continental Army. 3/2/1781-1783 NARA Organization Authority Record
• Charles Patrick Neimeyer. America Goes to War. A Social History of the Continental Army. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
• Robert K. Wright. The Continental Army. Washington, D.C. : Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1983. FS Library 973 M2wr Digital Images
• Berg, Fred Anderson. Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units: Battalions, Regiments and Independent Corps. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Stackpole Company, 1972. FS Library 973 M2be
• Continental Army
• Continental Army Units
• Harry M. Ward. George Washington's Enforcers. Policing the Continental Army. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press,2009.
• Caroline Cox. A Proper Sense of Honor. Service and Sacrifice in George Washington's Army. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,2007.
• William Saffell. Records of the revolutionary war : containing the military and financial correspondence of distinguished officers ; names of the officers and privates of regiments, companies, and corps, with the dates of their commissions and enlistments ; general orders of Washington, Lee, and Greene, at Germantown and Valley Forge ; with a list of distinguished prisoners of war ; the time of their capture, exchange, etc. To which is added the half-pay acts of the Continental congress ; the revolutionary pension laws ; and a list of the officers of the Continental army who acquired the right to half-pay, commutation, and lands.New York : Pudney and Russell, 1858. FS Library Digital Book
• John Pierce. Pierce's register : register of the certificates issued by John Pierce, Esquire, Paymaster General and Commissioner of Army accounts for the United States, to officers and soldiers of the Continental Army under act of July 4, 1783 ; seventeenth report of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Reprint. Originally published as Senate Documents, v. 9, no 988, 63rd Congress, 3rd Session, Washington, D.C., 1915.Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1973, 1984, 1987. FS Library 973 M2up
• Joseph M. Toner. The medical men of the revolution : with a brief history of the medical department of the continental army. Containing the names of nearly twelve hundred physicians. An address before the alumni association of Jefferson medical college, March 11, 1876.Philadelphia : Collins Printer, 1876. FS Library Digital Images
• Oscar Reiss. Medicine and the American Revolution : how diseases and their treatments affected the colonial army. Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers, 2005, ©1998. FS Library 973 M2rei
• C. Rogers McLane, editor American chaplains of the Revolution. Louisville, Kentucky : National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, c1991 FS Library 973 M2aco
• J.T. Headley, The chaplains and clergy of the Revolution New York, New York : C. Scribner, 1864 FS Library Digital Images

Continental Soldier

• 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
• Charles Knowles Bolton. The Private Soldier Under Washington. Port Washington, New York: Kenniket Press, Inc. 1964. reprint edition.
• Elias Brewster Hillard, FamilySearch Digital Library. The last men of the Revolution : a photograph of each from life, together with views of their homes printed in colors; accompanied by brief biographical sketches of the men. Hartford: N.A. & R.A. Moore, 1864. FamilySearch Digital Book.

Officers

• Francis B. Heitman. Historical register of officers of the Continental Army : during the War of the Revolution, April 1775 to December 1783.Washington, D.C. : The Rare Book Shop Pub. Co., Inc.,1914. FS Library Digital Book

Prisoners of War

• Prisoners of War
• Larry G. Bowman. Captive Americans : prisoners during the American Revolution.Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press, 1976. FS Library973 M2bow
• Danske Bedinger Danbridge. American Prisoners of the Revolution."Charlottesville, Virginia : Michie Co., 1911. FS Library Digital Book
• Charles H. Metzer. The prisoner in the American Revolution.Chicago, Illinois : Loyola University Press, 1971. FS Library 973 M2met
• Henry R. Stiles. Account of the interment of the remains of American patriots who perished on board the British prison ships : during the American Revolution, with notes and an appendix. New York : Privately reprinted, 1865. FS Library fiche 6078236
• Prison ship Jersey

Naval Sources

• Charles E. Claghorn, Naval officers of the American Revolution : a concise biographical dictionary Metuchen, New Jersey : Scarecrow Press, c1988 FS Library 973 M3c
• Clark, William Bell, ed. et.al. Naval Documents of the American Revolution10 volumes. Washington, D.C.:Naval Historical Center, 1964-1996. FS Catalog book 973 M29c Digital Volumes 1-5, 7
• Nova Scotia Vice-Admiralty Court, American vessels captured by the British during the Revolution and War of 1812 Salem, Massachusetts : Essex Institute, 1911
• Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture. 1/15/1780-5/16/1787
• Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture. Revolutionary War Prize Cases, 1780–1787 National Archives RG 267 NAID 1518851
• Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture. Selected Revolutionary War Prize Case Documents, 1780–1784 RG 267 NAID 1518853
• Kaminkow, Marion and Jack, comp. Mariners of the American Revolution : with an appendix of American ships captured by the British during the Revolutionary War Baltimore, Maryland: Magna Carta Book Company, 1967 FS Library 973 M25k copy 2
• Compiled service records of American Naval personnel and members of the departments of the Quartermaster General and the Commissary General of military stores who served during the Revolutionary War NARA pub M880
• Charles Henry Lincoln, Naval records of the American Revolution, 1775-1788 Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1906 FamilySearch Digital Library

Research Guides, Bibliographies and Reference Sources

• Neagles, James C. and Neagles Lila L. Locating Your Revolutionary War Ancestor: A Guide to the military Records. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, Inc., 1983. FS Library 973 D27ne
• Schweitzer, George K. Revolutionary War Genealogy. Knoxville, Tennessee: The author, 1982. FS Library 973 M2sg 1997
• edited by J. Todd White and Charles H. Lesser, Fighters for independence : a guide to sources of biographical information on soldiers and sailors of the American Revolution Chicago, [Illinois}} : University of Chicago Press, c1977 FS Library 973 D33w
• Richard L. Blanco, ed. The American Revolution, 1775-1783 : an encyclopedia. 2 vols. New York, New York : Garland Pub. Co., 1993. FS Library 973 M2amr
• Mark M. Boatner. III. Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania : Stackpole Books, 1994. FS Library 973 M26be
• Jack P. Greene, ed. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Basil Blackwell, 1991. FS Library 973 M2ben
• Ronald M. Gephart, comp. Revolutionary America, 1763-1789 : a bibliography, 2 volumes. Washington, D.C. : United States. Government Printing Office, 1984 FS Library 973 H23g

Articles

• Schluz, Constance B. "Revolutionary War Pension Applications: A Neglected Source for Social and Family History." Prologue 15(Summer 1983): 103-114.
• Theodore J. Crackel. Revolutionary War Pension Records and Patters of American Mobility, 1780-1830. Prologue 16 #3 (Fall 1984)
• Jean Nudd. Using Revolutionary War Pension Files to Find Family Information. Prologue 47 #2 (Summer, 2015)
• David Allen Lambert. Strategies for Tracing Revolutionary War Veterans. American Ancestors 11 (Summer 2010): 21-24. FS Library 974 D25nea.
• Military Records: Revolutionary War (34 minute online video)

Archives and Libraries

• David Library of the American Revolution
• National Archives Military Resources: American Revolution
• National Archives - War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Record Group 93
• Library of Congress Web Guide to the American Revolution
• The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, Time Line: The American Revolution
• Museum of the American Revolution: Collections and Resources

National Park Service

• National Park Service: The American Revolution
• Yorktown Battlefield - Unit Lists and Casualty Lists

Revolutionary War Sources

• Records of the British Colonial Office, Class 5, FamilySearch Catalog
• British military records, "C" series, 1757-1899, located at the National Archives of Canada
• Lowell, Edward J. The Hessians In The Revolution: Williamstown, Massachusetts, Corner House Publishers. 1970. reprint edition.
• Curtis, Edward. E. The organization of the British Army in the American Revolution. New York: AMS Press, 1969.Reprint FS Library DGS 7954420 (Image 1024)
• Ford, Worthington Chauncey. British Officers serving in the American Revolution, 1774-1783 Brooklyn, New York: Historical printing club, 1897 FamilySearch Digital Library
• Office of Naval Records and Library. British P.O.W.'s captured, paroled, exchanged, confined in prison, etc., 1775-1783. FamilySearch Digital Library

Sources for Further Reading

Histories

• Alden, John Richard. The American Revolution: 1775-1783. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1954.
• Benson, John Lossing.Field-book of the American Revolution : published under the patronage of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution ... reprint of the 1850-1852 ed. published in New York, Harper and Brothers, 2 vols. Cottonport, Louisiana : Polyanthos, 1972. FS Library 973 H2Lb Digital
• Ellet, Elizabeth Fries. The women of the American Revolution 3 volumes. (1850) reprint edition. vol. 1 FamilySearch Digital Library; vol. 2 FamilySearch Digital Library; vol. 3 FamilySearch Digital Library
• Ferguson, E. James. The American Revolution: A General History, 1763-1790.rev. ed. Homewood, Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1979.
• Gibson, Lawrence Henry. The Coming of the Revolution: 1763-1775. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1954.
• Jensen, Merrill. The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution 1763-1776. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.
• Loane, Nancy K. Following the drum : women at the Valley Forge encampment Washington, D.C. : Potomac Books, 2009. FS Library 974.813/V1 F2L
• Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
• Miller, John C. Origins of The American Revolution. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1943.
• Miller, John C. Triumph of Freedom: 1775-1783. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1948.
• Morgan, Edmund S. The birth of the Republic: 1763-89. rev. ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.
• Peckham, Howard. The War for Independence: A Military History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958. 973 M2ti
• Resch, John and Walter Sargent War and society in the American Revolution : mobilization and home fronts. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 2007.FS Catalog book 973 M2rjs;
• Shy, John. A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.

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