Genealogy Military Records In the United States

In this article, we help you get started searching genealogy military records for your ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. 

If your parents or grandparents served in the military, or if you think you may have World War, Civil War, or Revolutionary War ancestors, records of that service can be found a variety of places depending on which war, which branch of service, and what records are available. Each war presents unique challenges for research, and any government records, letters, medals, photographs, news articles, unit patches, or other memorabilia you may have for your ancestors, from the 1770s through the Vietnam War, will help you or a genealogist be more successful in your research. 

One of the reasons I started doing genealogical research was to find out more about my many relatives who served. My daughter and son-in-law were stationed on a Navy destroyer during the second Gulf War. I was in the Navy tracking Soviet submarines for three years. My uncle served in World War II, and my grandmother gave my grandfather’s World War I uniform to the Smithsonian. I was able to join Daughters of the American Revolution because of a fourth-great-grandfather, Walter Warfield, who was a doctor and joined the war from Maryland. 

Muster roll for Walter Warfield, surgeon, commissioned 10 June 1779.

Most exciting of all, though, was my Irish third-granduncle Neal McCafferty, who wrote letters back from the Civil War battle at Antietam about his day escorting President Lincoln around the battlefield in September 1862. Where can records be found to find out more about your ancestors’ war service? 

Revolutionary War Genealogical Records 

1.Revolutionary War records, such as Compiled Military Service Records and Pension and Bounty Land Application Files, can be found online on Family Search https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Finding_Your_Revolutionary_War_Ancestor or on Ancestry https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4282/.   

2.Original Revolutionary War records are in the National Archives. Most are not online,  but can be requested through the online National Archives Catalog which has indexes and descriptions of records https://www.archives.gov/research/military/american-revolution.  

3.Most states also have a list of soldiers and participants in the war kept in state libraries.  

4.Accessing the Revolutionary War pensions and bounty land records can uncover helpful information about those who served in the war. Starting in 1788, land was granted to certain officers and soldiers, or their families. A 4,000 square mile tract in what later was called the U.S. Military District of Ohio was set aside for land warrants. The warrants that still exist contain the date of issue, the name and rank of the veteran, their original enlistment state, and sometimes the name of a person they may have transferred the warrant to if they were not going to use the land. The original warrants before 1800 and some before 1814 were burned in fires at the War Department, but the indexes can be found and list the name and rank of the recipient, the warrant number, date received and number of acres. 

Army land warrant for Walter Warfield, surgeon, for 400 acres. 

5.The Daughters of the American Revolution database is also a great resource to find Revolutionary War records. This database includes all DAR members and their ancestors from the Revolutionary War. Even if you haven’t applied as a DAR descendant, the records attached to the ancestors’ files are available to order. 

6.A paid website called Fold3 (based on the flag folding ceremony in which the third fold is made in honor of veterans) has many of the same records online. For the War of 1812, for example, they have service records and Adjutant General records with a wealth of information.  

Civil War Genealogical Military Records  

Civil War draft registrations can be found on Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1666/). During the Civil War, every male citizen or immigrant who had applied for citizenship between the ages of 20 and 45 was registered for the draft. You can often find your ancestor, their age, occupation, marital status, and birth location on this draft registration. However, this does not mean they actually served.  

The more compelling records are the compiled military service records, the medical cards, and the Civil War pension applications. These are all held at the National Archives (though some, particularly rejected applications, are stored at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis). The index cards to the pension records can be found on Ancestry https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4654/. 

Civil War pension index card for Neal J. McCafferty. 

In Uncle Neal’s case, his mother Catherine submitted the pension application on behalf of the family because Neal had drowned in the Rio Grande serving in the U.S. Cavalry after the Civil War ended. The file contained letters from his mother and sister, many government documents detailing his service and his death, his naturalization record, and many more gems. Many pension files are over 100 pages and can include: 

• Descriptions of battles  
• Names of generals and commanders served under 
• Original letters from witnesses documenting the facts of service 
• Marriage and naturalization records 
• Names of parents, spouses, and children, and their dates of birth 

One pension record encountered recently included a rare 1851 Irish census record (lost in a fire in Dublin in 1922) obtained by the soldier in the 1880s to prove his age. 

Using the index card, you can order the file from the National Archives. Alternatively, Legacy Tree Genealogists employs an onsite researcher to go to the archives and scan the compiled service record, the medical cards, and the entire pension file to include in a report for you. 

Many states also keep records of Civil War veterans, and most Confederate states also have pension records available. Some of the state records are also online at Ancestry and Family Search.  

World War I and World War II Genealogical Records  

Fire has been a common theme in the saga of missing genealogical records. One of the worst was the 1923 fire at the National Personnel Records center in St. Louis. Sixteen to eighteen million Army and Air Force records were destroyed: 

With this devastating loss of records, it is very difficult to find compiled service records or troop movements for these soldiers and airmen. Navy and Marine Corps records do exist, and many sailors and Marines can be found on muster rolls, ships’ passenger lists, and other records online, such as this muster roll from July 1941 at Marine Barracks, Parris Island.  

For soldiers, hometown newspapers sometimes detailed when a local man or woman left for service, when they were promoted, and when they came home. Passenger lists also exist for when they may have left for Europe or the Pacific. Otherwise, digging into personal memorabilia may help with unit identification, and many units still have organizations with details about their members, and where the unit fought. 

Though I could not find an entire service record for my grandfather, William C. Warfield, he appeared on an army embarkation passenger list for the RMS Caronia, a British ship requisitioned as a troop ship from 1916 to 1918. The list from 14 July 1918 showed Second Lieutenant William C. Warfield was a member of Battery “A” 11th Field Artillery from Princeton, Coldwell County, Kentucky, and his mother’s name was Cora E. Williams. 

A news column from 21 June 1919 in William’s local paper, The Kentuckian, included his promotion to First Lieutenant. William’s Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS (Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem) Death File listed his enlistment date and discharge date, as well as his birth and death dates. These types of files can be found on Ancestry as well as newspaper databases such as Newspapers.com and are very helpful in building a timeline for World War II, World War II, Korean War, and early Vietnam era soldiers and airmen. 

Korean War and Vietnam War records

 Korean and Vietnam records are only public 62 years after the veteran left the military, so today that means before 1962. Anything newer than 62 years is only available to the veteran or next of kin. Next of kin is applicable after a veteran has passed away or if the veteran writes a notarized letter saying a particular person has permission to order the record.  

These types of records can take three months to a year to receive. When a next of kin orders the record, a death certificate is normally required. At Legacy Tree, we assist in getting this death certificate for the client.   

United States military records can significantly help research an ancestor, but understanding where and how to obtain these records can be challenging.   

If you are searching for an ancestor who is a veteran of a United States military branch, the experts at Legacy Tree Genealogists can help you find the records you are looking for and let you know which ones might no longer exist. Request a free quote to start your United States military record research.