Virginia Military Records: Difference between revisions

Complete military records do not exist for [[Virginia]] before the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Most of those that survive have been gathered and published in the following books:  

=== Revolutionary War (1775-1783)  ===

Applications for Virginia bounty land warrants are at the Library of Virginia and on microfilm at the Family History Library. The approved application files are in Bounty Warrants, 1779-1860 {{FHL|414179|item|disp=FHL Films 29821-51}}; index on {{FHL|414179|item|disp=FHL Film 29850}} for A-Payser and {{FHL|414179|item|disp=FHL Film 29851}} for Pea-Z). These applications are also indexed by the Eckenrode source above. (Note that although these are titled “warrants” they are actually the papers submitted to receive a warrant.) Rejected applications are in Revolutionary War Rejected Claims and Index of Soldiers from Virginia, 1811-1851 {{FHL|474926|item|disp=FHL Films 29867-82}}, index on {{FHL|474926|item|disp=FHL Film 29882}} These manuscripts include certificates, powers of attorney, affidavits, and vouchers.  

'''Bounty Land Grants.''' The individual who received a warrant may have claimed the land himself or may have sold his warrant to someone else. See [[United States Land and Property]] and [[United States Military Records]] for more information about the process of obtaining a land grant.  

Two indexes that include these grants are:  

'''Lands Granted in the Virginia Military District of Ohio (Virginia Warrants)'''. An estimated 64 percent of Virginia's bounty land claims were granted in the Virginia Military District of Ohio. The Ohio Land Grant Office (c/o Auditor of State, 88 East Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215) has some records of these land grants.  

A significant collection of survey records and other information about this district is also at the Illinois Historical Survey Collection at the University of Illinois Library in Urbana. These are indexed in volume 4 of:  

The surrendered warrants and related papers were sent to the General Land Office in Washington, DC, and are now at the National Archives in Warrants Surrendered for Land in the Virginia Military District of Ohio. The National Archives also has an alphabetical index, numerical register, and survey register that can help you find a warrant in this collection. These records are not on microfilm or at the Family History Library.  

'''Lands Granted in the U.S. Military District and Other Public Domain Areas (U.S. Warrants)'''. The records of these land grants are described in [[United States Land and Property]].  

For a list of regiments, where they were raised, service dates, officers, and brief unit histories, see:  

'''Public Service Claims'''. Private citizens may have taken claims or petitions to the county courthouse for compensation for crops, cattle, weapons, and labor used by the military during the war. These county records have been collected in:  

The approved claims were recorded in:  

=== War of 1812 (1812-1815)  ===

Lists of War of 1812 soldiers are in:  

For a list of where regiments were raised and regimental and company officers, see:  

The Family History Library also has microfilm copies of the National Archives indexes to the federal service, pension, and bounty land files, but the actual files are only at the National Archives.  

Published abstracts of the federal pension and bounty land warrant applications are in:  

=== '''Civil War (1861-1865)'''  ===

The Family History Library and the National Archives have the:  

*''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 [http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails;t=searchable;c=1471019 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.

From the National Archives:  

From the [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/ Library of Virginia]: An outline explaining the variety of Virginia Civil War records available at the Library of Virginia in [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/mil/rn14_usingcivwar.pdf Research Notes series, No. 14.]  

The Confederate pension records from 1888 to 1928 are only at the Virginia State Library.  

Regimental rosters with biographical information of Virginia soldiers are published in:  

For guidebooks to Virginia's military units for the Civil War, the following sources are helpful:  

For records of national old soldier homes, including the home in Richmond, Virginia, see:  

A published roster of soldiers who died in the war is:  

An additional source of historical information is:  

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 Virginia's cards see:  

To find an individual's draft card, you must know his name and residence at the time of registration. The cards are arranged alphabetically by county, within the county by draft board, and alphabetically by surname within each draft board. Most counties had only one board; large cities had more.  

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:  

[http://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry] has World War I Draft Registration Cards digitized and online ($).