Georgia Military Records

Portal:United States Military Records>Georgia

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

Many military records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal archives. The United States article provides more information on federal records. Additional military records are at the Georgia Department of Archives and History. The following sources are also very helpful.

Miscellaneous Wars

Lists of soldiers who served in Georgia military units include:

• Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Military Records, 1779-1842. Nine Volumes. [N.p.], 1940. (Family History Library microfilms 007031-35.) Includes muster and pay lists.
• Georgia Adjutant Generals Office. Military Records, 1782-1899. Six Volumes. [N.p.], 1957? (Family History Library microfilms 159015-17.)] Includes payrolls, muster rolls, and lists of commissioned officers.
• Clark, Murtie June. Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1983. (Family History Library book 975 M29c.)
• Georgia Executive Department. Military Commissions in the State Militia, 1798-1860. (Family History Library microfilms 158997-014.)

Forts

Fort Charlotte

Fort Clinch 1847-

Fort Early

Fort Fidius 1793-97

Fort Frederica

Fort Hawkins 1806-17

Fort James 1797-1802

McPherson Barracks -- Textual records of this post, 1866-1881, 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).

Oglethorpe Barracks 1821-51

Fort Prince George

Fort Pulaski 1862-73

Fort Scott 1816-21

Fort Telfair 1790-95

Fort Wayne 1821-23

Fort Wilkinson 1797-1806

For a list of Cherokee Removal Forts go to http://ngeorgia.com/history/cherokeeforts.html

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

There are several published volumes of service records, bounty land certificates, and muster rolls. These include:

• Davis, Robert S., Jr. Georgia Citizens and Soldiers of the American Revolution. Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1979. (Family History Library book 975.8 H2dr.) This is listed in the Family History Library Catalog under GEORGIA - HISTORY.
• Hemperley, Marion R. Military Certificates of Georgia, 1776-1800. Atlanta, Georgia: State Printing Office, 1983. (Family History Library book 975.8 M2hm.)
• Revolutionary Soldier's Receipts for Georgia Bounty Grants. Atlanta, Georgia: Foote and Davies Company, 1928. (Family History Library microfilm 163524.)

The 1835 Pension Roll of Georgia, which includes Revolutionary War pensioners and heirs of War of 1812 casualties, is available online at two websites:

1. Ancestry.com ($).
2. USGenWeb Archives.

Helpful but undocumented lists are:

• Knight, Lucian Lamar. Georgia's Roster of the Revolution. 1920. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1967. (Family History Library book 975.8 M23k; microfilm 547588; microfiche 6050221.)
• McCall, Ettie Tidwell H. Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia. Three Volumes. 1941. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1968. (Family History Library book 975.8 M23m.)

Indian Wars (1836-1838)

An Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers who Served during the Cherokee Disturbances and Removal, 1836 to 1838, is on Family History Library microfilm 1205402. The compiled military service records for this index have not been microfilmed and are available only at the National Archives.

Civil War (1861-1865)

Soldiers from Georgia served in both the Union and the Confederate Armies. Indexes and the compiled military service records are available at the Family History Library and the National Archives.

Georgia Confederate pension records are indexed by the soldier's last name. (Family History Library microfilms 1493047--- )  Confederate soldiers received pensions for military service beginning in 1879. The law establishing pension payment was changed in 1891 to include widows of soldiers.  Pension records for Confederate veterans are arranged by counties and are at the Family History Library on 634 films. (Family History Library microfilms 315678—) The indexed original pension documents are available online at the Georgia Department of Archives and History. Enlistment oaths and discharges for Confederate solidiers are also indexed and viewable as original documents at the Georgia Department of Archives and History.  Pension records for Union veterans are available at the National Archives.

A published roster of Georgia Confederate soldiers who served in the infantry is Lillian Hendersen, comp., Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, 1861-65, Six Volumes. (Hapeville, Georgia: Longino & Porter, Incorporated, 1960-64; Family History Library book 975.8 M22h; microfilms 1033660 items 3-4, —622; microfiche 6082336).

A national cemetery in Sumter County is the burial place of over 12,000 Union soldiers who died while prisoners at Andersonville, Georgia. A published cemetery list is United States Quartermaster's Department, Roll of Honor, Volume 3. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1866; Family History Library book 973 B4 v.3; microfilm 908229 item 2).

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 Georgia 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 the residents of all kinds 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 Georgia counties during the Civil War see the Southern Claims Commission.

Spanish-American War (1898)

A list of soldiers who served in this war is Carlton J. Thaxton, et. al., A Roster of Spanish American Soldiers from Georgia (Americus, Georgia: Thaxton Company, 1984; Family History Library book 975.8 M2th).

World Wars I and II

The Family History Library has many military discharge papers on microfilm dating from 1917 to 1960. These are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under GEORGIA, [COUNTY] - MILITARY RECORDS. Photographs and service records of men who served in World War I are in Bert E. Boss, The Georgia State Memorial Book (N.p.: 1921; Family History Library microfilm 175271).

World War I (1917-1918)

World War I draft registration cards for men age 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 Georgia, see:

United States. Selective Service System. Georgia, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1509. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1987-1988. (On Family History Library microfilms beginning with 1556940.)

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.)

Web Sites

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/topic/military/

http://www.georgiagenealogy.org/military.htm

http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~xander/georgia-records.htm

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