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| Facts For State Military Records | |||
Tips for General Military Records
Military records have originated at the federal, state, and local levels. Whether created in time of war or in time of peace, these records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served in the military forces of the United States. Almost every American family, in one generation or another, has seen one or more of its members serve in America’s armed forces. From regimental histories, which provide blow-by-blow accounts of a unit’s participation in military actions, to the personal details contained in the service and pension files of individual men and women, military records provide valuable information concerning a large and significant portion of the American population. And because military records have been preserved and made available at and through a number of research institutions, much information awaits the well-prepared researcher. How to Find Military Records When and where did the individual live? Did the family keep evidence of military service? Certificates, letters, journals, diaries, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, medals, swords, and other memorabilia kept in private collections may provide the basic facts needed to begin searching in military record collections. The site U.S. Wars list conflicts dating from earliest to 1865. Wars covered that are availibele are:
Military Time Lines Evidence of Military Service in Hometown Records Military History In addition to the standard histories, local public libraries and historical societies usually preserve and make available other types of publications that document the military history of the geographical areas they serve. Historical agencies collect biographies, letters, diaries, journals, and all sorts of memorabilia from military units and servicemen and -women. The personal accounts found in some collections are a fascinating means of stepping back in time. Firsthand accounts afford a better understanding of the day-to-day drudgery, loneliness, fears, and satisfactions of military life. Evidence of Military Service in Cemeteries Evidence of Military Service in Court Records Military Records in the National Archives A wonderful array of federal military records are available in major libraries and archives and through microfilm rental programs. (Heritage Quest, a division of AGLL, Inc., PO Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011-0329, is a source of rental microfilms.) With sufficient identifying information, you may request a search of the registers of enlistments or the compiled military service records. The minimum information required for a search is (1) the soldier’s full name, (2) the war in which he or she served or period of service, and (3) the state from which he or she served. For the Civil War, you must also indicate whether the person served in Union or Confederate forces. A separate copy of the form must be used for military service, pension, and bounty-land warrant applications. Submit requests for information about individuals who served in the military before World War I on NATF form 80 (Order for Copies of Veterans Records). Write to the National Archives and Records Administration, General Reference Branch, Washington, DC 20408 to obtain copies of NATF form 80. Always ask for “all records” for an individual. Make requests for information about U.S. Army officers separated from the service after 1912 on standard form 180 (Request Pertaining to Military Records) and send it to the Military Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132. U.S. Military Records Records of state militias and the National Guard |
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Alabama - Alabamians have seen military service in all wars of the United States. Military records are found at both the state and federal levels. The most readily available military records for Alabama are those of the National Archives. The Alabama Department of Archives and History has made their military service surname files available on microfilm. These files include a series for Revolutionary War veterans residing in Alabama; service in the Indian Wars of 1812, 1813, and 1814; territorial service in 1818; the Indian War of 1836; the Mexican American War (1846-1848); and the Spanish-American War in 1898. These contain a card for each soldier indicating name, military unit, rank, and the source of the information Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers and Patriots Alabama lists those soldiers who lived and died in Alabama as well as some who died in other states. Data from scattered published and unpublished sources was edited and compiled. The volume includes a statement on the soldier's military service; a brief biographical sketch including the names of his parents, wife, and children; and bibliographic citations to sources. The state of Alabama paid its Confederate veterans a pension. The files contain the usual military pension application information: name, rank, unit, dates of service, places of enlistment and discharge, if wounded, and qualifications for pension. If the widow was making the application, she stated when and where she was born, her father's name, date and place of his death, and the date and place of her marriage. To qualify, a pensioner's annual income could not exceed $300 and his real property could not be valued at more than $400. The original files are housed in the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The applications have been microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and are available on loan through the FHL.
No comprehensive list of Alabama's Confederate or Union soldiers has been compiled.
Alaska - United States servicemen have been in Alaska since 1867. At that time Alaska was placed under the jurisdiction of the War Department. Most of the resident soldiers were from the lower forty-eight states. For information on the Sitka National Cemetery see Cemetery Records. The National Archives/Alaska Region has U.S. Military Post returns for Ft. Davis, Dyea, Ft. Egbert, Ft. Gibbon, Ft. Kodiak, Ft. Liscum, Ft. St. Michael, Sitka, Skagway, Ft. Tongass, Valdez, Ft. Wm. H. Seward, Ft. Wrangall, Circle City, Council City, Dutch Harbor, New Archangel, Camp Rampart, St. Paul Island, and Greadwell. These post returns are part of (M-617). Post returns generally show the units that were stationed at a particular post, officers present and absent, record of events, and official communications. Arizona - The Arizona Historical Society has a good collection of government records, including the records of each of the frontier military posts in Arizona, and quartermaster records relating to supply, construction, and equipment of Arizona military posts. The collection has been microfilmed and cross-filed in their card catalog. They will consult the catalog and supply copies of their materials for a small fee. State military records are housed at the Arizona State Adjutant General's Office, 5636 East McDowell Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85008. There is one roll of microfilm of the Union Army Volunteers of the Civil War. It is listed as M532 in the National Archives catalog. Also there is one roll for Confederate service (M318). The index is M375. Arkansas - The military history of Arkansas begins with the Native American nations and the conflicts that arose among them. By the time colonial powers staked their claims in the region, they had made allies of the Indian Nations there. The English stood with the Chickasaws in Mississippi while the French (and later the Spanish) supported the Quapaw. The last gasp of the Revolutionary War took place in 1783, after the peace accords were signed in Paris, when a British-led force attacked the Spanish fort at Arkansas Post. The Spanish and their Quapaw allies prevailed. While Arkansas was still a part of Missouri Territory, the United States Army established an important outpost at Fort Smith. Among a number of important figures who served at the Fort was Zachary Taylor, who was later elected president of the United States. While the perceived threat from Indians helped to keep the territorial militia active, the first significant military action in the region took place in the Texas Revolution. It was said that Sam Houston did much of the planning for the Revolution in Washington, Arkansas, and some Arkansas citizens joined the effort. In the Mexican War, Arkansas troops were active in the fighting, though not without some controversy. After the War, accusations about the quality of fighting led to a duel between John S. Roane and Albert Pike, though neither was injured in the duel. The Civil War pulled about 70,000 Arkansas men into military service, with close to 9,000 of them fighting for the Union. Confederate soldiers from Arkansas fought for the Army of Northern Virginia and in the Army of Tennessee in some of the major battles of the War, but significant action took place in Arkansas as well. The Battle of Pea Ridge, called the "Gettysburg of the West," opened the trans-Mississippi area to Union advances. By 1863, Union forces had taken Little Rock. The War did not bring the wholesale destruction visited upon some regions in the east, but significant property and lives were lost. Arkansas soldiers fought with distinction in both World Wars, but in World War II the most important contribution from the state came not in men but in the aluminum made from Arkansas bauxite. The military airplanes needed for modern warfare were made of aluminum, and with external supplies of aluminum blocked off, Arkansas bauxite became crucial to the war effort. The Arkansas History Commission maintains the finest collection of records pertaining to Arkansas military men and service. Included are microfilmed indexes to many of the National Archives compiled service records, such as those for the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and various Indian Wars. The Commission also has compiled service records for Arkansas men for the Mexican War, Civil War (both Union and Confederate), and Spanish-American War; returns from United States Military Posts, 1800–1916, including reports, rosters, and related papers; Confederate States Army Casualties: Lists and Narrative Reports, 1861–65; Register of Confederate Soldiers, Sailors, and Citizens Who Died in Federal Prisons and Military Hospitals in the North, 1861–65; and Registers of Confederate Prisoners Held in the Military Prison at Little Rock, Arkansas, 1863–65. Although a slave state, Arkansas did not secede from the Union until May 1861—five months after South Carolina did so. Arkansas took this action only after the Confederate capture of Fort Sumter and President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers. Union sentiment was strong in northern Arkansas; about 6,000 Arkansans joined the Federal forces. About 58,000, however, fought for the Confederacy. Little Rock fell to Federal troops in 1863, and for a decade the state was a legislative battleground between secessionist supporters and the imposed Republican government. Arkansas was readmitted to the Union in 1868, but internal strife approached open warfare. In 1874 the state returned to the fold of the Democratic Party, and remained there until Winthrop Rockefeller, a Republican, was elected governor in 1966. The Civil War's chief long-range effects on Arkansas, as on most of the other former Confederate States, were a crop-lien sharecropping system, a race problem of new and formidable dimensions, a one-party (Democratic) political system, and widespread poverty. The commission has the state's Confederate veteran or widow's pension applications and indexes to Confederate pension records for Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. In 1911 the Public Acts of Arkansas, Number 353, provided that an enumeration of Confederate veterans residing in the state be made by each county's tax assessor. Records are available for forty-four of the counties, but there are no extant records for thirty-one counties. There are 1,751 questionnaires that usually include the following information: full name of veteran; his address; date and place of birth; date, state, and county of enlistment; full name and place of birth of veteran's parents, grandparents; maiden name of wife, with date and place of marriage; names of her parents; and full list of children with spouses. The Arkansas History Commission has the actual 1911 Confederate
veterans census for Arkansas and copies of Confederate Veteran
magazine for the period 1893 through 1932.
California - ? Colorado - ? Connecticut - ? Delaware - ? Florida - ? Georgia - Georgia was founded to serve as a bulwark against the Spanish and French in the lands beyond the Carolinas, and as such, its men were called into service frequently during the colonial period. Unfortunately, few informative records remain to tell who was involved in what conflict.Some military records for Georgia after the Civil War are in the Georgia Department of Archives and History as original records or as microfilm copies. Included are rosters of the Spanish American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and the Poncho Villa Campaign. The state archives also has on microfilm many county copies of service records for World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The National Archives-Southeast Branch has World War I draft registration records. Service records and photographs of Georgians who died in World War I were published in Bert E. Boss, Georgia Memorial Book (Macon, Ga.: Georgia Memorial Association, 1921). Georgia in the Revolutionary War - Georgia's total population in 1776 numbered less than 20,000 people, of whom perhaps 3,500 men were eligible for military service when the Revolution began. Many of Georgia's soldiers were recruited from the Carolinas and Virginia; many were neutral or fought for the king. Some of the original service records for the Revolutionary War were destroyed. It is doubtful that a comprehensive list of Georgia veterans of this war exists. Georgia Revolutionary War rolls at the National Archives are published with other records in Robert S. Davis, Jr., Georgia Citizens and Soldiers of the Revolution (Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1979). See also Allen D. Candler, The Revolutionary Records of the State of Georgia, 3 vols. (Atlanta, Ga.: State Printer, 1906). Louise F. Hays, comp., Georgia Military Affairs, 1775–1842, 9 vols. (N.p., 1940), includes indexed, unpublished typescripts from the Georgia Department of Archives and History which cover a much broader period than the Revolution. This collection is an excellent people finder and census substitute and supplement. Below is a list of online resources for Georgia in the Revolutionary War. Email us with websites containing information on Georgia in the Revolutionary War by clicking the link below:
Georgia in the War of 1812 & Indian Wars - Information included in service records for the War of 1812 is similar to that in the same records of soldiers in the colonial wars and Revolutionary War. The National Archives records taken represents roughly one-fifth of the males of military age in Georgia during the War of 1812 Indian Wars, 1784–1811 and 1815–38; Mexican War, 1845–48. Georgia supplied thousands of soldiers for various federal campaigns. The genealogically significant bounty and pension files are in the National Archives. Below is a list of online resources for Georgia in the War of 1812. Email us with websites containing information on Georgia in the War of 1812 by clicking the link below:
Georgia in the Civil War - While the original Georgia pension records for Confederate veterans are at the Georgia Department of Archives and History , microfilm copies are at the FHL. Georgians also served in the Union Army. Below is a list of online resources for Georgia in the Civil War. Email us with websites containing information on Georgia in the Civil War by clicking the link below:
Georgia in Later Wars - Some military records for Georgia after the Civil War are in the Georgia Department of Archives and History as original records or as microfilm copies. Included are rosters of the Spanish American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and the Poncho Villa Campaign. The state archives also has on microfilm many county copies of service records for World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The National Archives-Southeast Branch has World War I draft registration records.
Hawaii - ? Idaho - ? Illinois - ? Indiana - ? Iowa - ? Kansas - ? Kentucky - ? Louisiana - ? Maine - ? Maryland - ? Massachusetts - ? Michigan - ? Minnesota - ? Mississippi - ? Missouri - ? Montana - ? Nebraska - ? Nevada - ? New Hampshire - ? New Jersey - ? New Mexico - ? New York - ? North Carolina - ? North Dakota - ? Ohio - ? Oklahoma - ? Oregon - ? Pennsylvania - Because of the Quaker influence, Pennsylvania had no formal militia until the French and Indian War when it became necessary to defend its citizens on the western frontier. Most original military records up through World War II are in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Later records are with the Adjutant General's Office, Department of Military Affairs, Fort Indiantown Gap, Annville, PA 17003. Information from the time of World War II is restricted.
Pennsylvania in the Revolutionary War - Much interesting material is located at the David Library of the American Revolution, River Road, Box 48, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania 18977-0048, which has a guide to its microform holdings.
Pennsylvania in the Civil War - Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861–65, 5 vols. (Harrisburg, Pa.: B. Singerly, 1869–71) is arranged by regiment but only indexes officers. For all names, consult the National Archives microfilm, Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers in Pennsylvania Organizations, available at the National Archives-Mid-Atlantic Region and the Pennsylvania State Library. There is also a separate, every-name index in the state archives. Record of Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, 1898, 2d ed. (Philadelphia, Pa.: Wm. Stanley Ray, 1901) was compiled by the Pennsylvania Adjutant General's Office. Below is a list of online resources for Pennsylvania in the Civil War. Email us with websites containing information on Pennsylvania in the Civil War by clicking the link below:
Rhode Island - ? South Carolina - ? South Dakota - ? Tennessee - ? Texas - ? Utah - ? Vermont - ? Virginia - Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the Colonial Wars. Email us with websites containing information on Virginia in the Colonial Wars by clicking the link below:
Virginia in the Revolutionary War - Some of the original service records for the Revolutionary
War were destroyed by fire. Those remaining are on file at the National Archives, compiled primarily from rosters and rolls
of soldiers serving in Virginia's militia units, with additions
from correspondence and field reports of military officers.
However, there is no comprehensive list of Virginia veterans
of this war. Some published indexes exist. A card index of Virginia
soldiers is available only at the National Archives and is not
on microfilm. Virginia Revolutionary War Records There is no central source or index for Virginia Revolutionary War records, but rather a wide array of records, Service Records By 1777 Virginia had raised 15 regiments of infantry for service under Continental Congress authority, commonly
known as the Virginia Continental Line. Many Virginians also served in continental regiments of Virginia also organized county militia companies. All free white males aged 16 to 50 were required to serve Three important indexes for Virginia Revolutionary War service are Hamilton J. Eckenrode, Virginia Soldiers The National Archives in Washington, D.C. holds many records of Continental Line service by Virginians Benefits Records: Benefits in the form of bounty land and pensions were offered by Virginia to induce men to enlist in the Continental or State Line. Beginning in 1790, the new United States government also began to grant pensions and bounty land. These records can be valuable to researchers as they may contain personal and service information about the veteran and identify his heirs. Bounty Land: Virginia awarded bounty land to soldiers who served for at least three years in the Continental Line, the State Line and the State Navy, died in service, or enlisted for the war. Heirs could apply if the soldier had died. The process was lengthy. In many cases land speculators obtained the right to the land from the veteran or his heirs. Proof of service had to first be submitted to the state. Once this was approved the governor issued a land office military certificate. The amount of land awarded was based on the rank of the soldier and the amount of time served. Virginia kept no record of the next two steps in the process, which was to have the land surveyed, followed by the issuance of a grant. All Virginia bounty land was in Ohio or Kentucky and records of the surveys and grants are held by the Secretary
of State’s Land Office Division, Room T40 Capitol Annex, Frankfort, KY 40601
(http://sos.ky.gov/land/military) and the Ohio Historical Society, 1982 Velma Ave., Columbus, OH 43211 Useful sources relating to bounty land are Lloyd D. Bockstruck, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants: Awarded by State Governments (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996), Samuel M. Wilson, Virginia Land Bounty Warrants (Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1953), Louis A. Burgess, Virginia Soldiers of 1776 (Spartanburg: The Reprint Co., 1973), William L. Hopkins, Virginia Revolutionary War Land Grant Claims, 1783–1850 (Rejected) (Richmond: 1988), Margie G. Brown, Genealogical Abstracts Revolutionary War Veterans Scrip Act of 1851 (Lovettsville: Willow Bend Books, 1997), and Clifford Neal Smith, Federal Land Series (Chicago: American Library Association, 1972–1982). Virginia Pensions: Beginning in 1775 the Virginia General Assembly passed several laws to increase military enlistment. These laws provided for pensions for maimed and disabled soldiers or their widows. Surviving state pensions usually include proof of service, the nature of the disability, records of payment and receipt of the pension, and statements of disability from the local court. In most cases the General Assembly was petitioned to pass an act granting a pension. Search the legislative petitions database on the Library’s Web site for references to these pensions. The Virginia pensions are available on microfilm at the Library. Federal Pensions: Federal pensions were granted by Congress under a number of acts beginning in 1789 and continuing until 1878. The earliest acts applied mainly to disabled Continental soldiers or their widows. Beginning in 1818 pensions were granted for service only, and soldiers who served in the militia were eligible beginning in 1832. Papers relating to pension applications prior to 1818 were destroyed, but many exist for later years. Federal pension records can provide much information about the soldier’s service and life, and the files often Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the Revolutionary War. Email us with websites containing information on Virginia in the Revolutionary War by clicking the link below:
Virginia in the War of 1812 War - In his reminiscences, Captain Henry Brush described with precision what newly enlisted recruits wore during the War of 1812. Soldiers were outfitted for service in unbleached, tow-linen hunting shirts and trousers. On their heads they wore low-crown hats, on the left side of which were black cockades about two inches in diameter. A small silver eagle (about the size of a quarter) was fastened in the center of each cockade. Each soldier strapped a leather girdle around his waist, where he carried a tomahawk, a knife, a cartridge box, a bayonet, and a quart-sized tin canteen. He was armed with a musket and shouldered a linen knapsack with a blanket lashed to the top. Both were covered with oilcloth to protect them from wet weather. A soldier’s arms and pack together weighed about thirty-five pounds, and troops traveled an average of twenty-five miles a day on foot. Writing home to his wife, one soldier confessed: “My limbs were so stiff and sore at the end of each day’s march that I could hardly walk.” In response to complaints from militia officers about their bedraggled troops, Virginia governor James Barbour outlined new uniform requirements in January 1812. General officers, artillery, light artillery, and grenadiers stood out in cockaded hats, white cuffs, and epaulets. Cavalrymen wore distinctive black leather caps dressed on the crown with bearskin and a red and white plume. Riflemen wore purple linen hunting shirts and leather moccasins, while the main body of the militia donned blue hunting shirts festively trimmed with red fringe. Despite the governor’s official proclamation, any soldiers who had provided themselves with uniforms different from those specified in the regulations could wear them for six months, and many probably went to war in the everyday clothing in which they had enlisted. Virginia soldiers and sailors found themselves in the field as the result of international politics. Through the early decades of the nation’s history, relations between the United States and Great Britain remained strained. The relationship deteriorated sharply with the outbreak of war in Europe in 1803, when Britain imposed a blockade on neutral countries, including the United States. In addition, the British seized sailors from American ships and impressed them into the British navy. In Congress, southern and western War Hawks, such as the new Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and Representative John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, led the sentiment for war, calling for defense of American interests and honor. On 1 June 1812, President James Madison asked for a declaration of war. Shortly afterward, Congress approved the declaration (despite the opposition of every Federalist member), and the United States was fighting a war with the motto “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights.” In Virginia, the British responded by blockading the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and raiding coastal settlements. In mid-June 1813, the British attempted to capture Norfolk, but were repulsed by militia stationed on Craney Island. A week later, however, the British captured and sacked the nearby city of Hampton. Although actual encounters were few, the threat of attack kept militia in the field throughout the war, which ended when the Treaty of Ghent was signed on 24 December 1814. Information included in service records for the War of 1812 is similar to that in the same records of soldiers in the colonial wars and the Revolutionary War. Muster rolls, pay rolls, and an index of the Virginia militia in the War of 1812 are included in a card index at The Library of Virginia (also on microfilm at the FHL). Only the National Archives has copies of original pension and bounty-land warrant applications for the War of 1812. Researchers can use microfilmed indexes at the National Archives or the FHL. Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the War of 1812. Email us with websites containing information on Virginia in the War of 1812 by clicking the link below:
Virginia in the Civil War - When the Confederate government evacuated Richmond in April 1865, the adjutant and inspector general, Samuel Cooper, took the centralized military personnel records of the Confederate Army to Charlotte, North Carolina. When the Confederate civil authorities left Charlotte after agreeing to an armistice between the armies in North Carolina, President Jefferson Davis instructed Cooper to turn the records over, if necessary, to “the enemy, as essential to the history of the struggle.” After the armistice, when Union General Joseph E. Johnston learned that the records were at Charlotte, he turned them over to the Union Commander in North Carolina. These military personnel records were taken to Washington along with other Confederate records captured by the Union Army and were preserved by the War Department. Between 1878 and 1901, the War Department employed a former Confederate general, Marcus J. Wright, to locate missing Confederate records and borrow them for copying if the possessors did not wish to donate them to the War Department. In 1903 Secretary of War Elihu Root persuaded the governors of most of the southern states to lend to the War Department all Confederate military personnel records still in their possession for copying. The material gathered became the source for the Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Virginia (similar records are available for all Confederate and border states). The records are indexed in Index to Compiled Service Records of Confederated Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Virginia. These National Archives microfilm series are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL. Virginia offered pensions to her Confederate veterans in 1888; further pension acts passed in 1900 and 1902. The applications have been microfilmed and may be examined at The Library of Virginia in the near future. A “Confederate Pension Index” was microfilmed and is available in the microfilm area of the Archives Branch, The Library of Virginia. Using Virginia Civil War Records: The ordinance of secession adopted by the Virginia State Convention in Richmond on 17 April 1861 was the result of the failure of all political efforts to avert civil war. Virginia joined an increasing list of southern states dissatisfied with further participation in the Union. The seceding states chose, rather, to form a confederation of states in order to maintain the southern political and social order. The great debates over popular sovereignty and states’ rights ended. These issues were settled by a clash of arms. The convention realized the consequences of secession and so instructed Governor John Letcher to make preparations to defend the state from probable attack. The total armed militia force throughout the state by 21 April 1861 numbered 12,050 troops. By January 1864, the most reliable statistics available reveal that over 153,000 Virginians had served in the state’s military forces. The Old Dominion, however, was far from fully prepared for war. Virginia became the battleground for twenty-six major engagements and over four hundred smaller clashes. Ultimately, more men fought and died in Virginia than in any other state. The legacy of each soldier’s service remains within the surviving written record. Researchers using Virginia Civil War records should examine a variety of materials in order to chronicle a soldier’s military experience. Service Records:
At the end of the Civil War in 1865, the Union armies confiscated most surviving Confederate War Department
records. Records pertaining to service in Virginia Confederate as well as Union military units were later abstracted
by the U. S. War Department. Researchers should first consult these Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR).
Each volunteer soldier has one CMSR for each regiment in which he served. This record contains basic information
about the soldier’s military career, including when a soldier was present or absent, dates of enlistment and discharge,
wounds received or hospitalization for illness, and dates of capture and release as a prisoner of war. Records
relating to Confederate soldiers are typically less complete than those relating to Union soldiers because many
Confederate records were destroyed. The CMSR rarely indicates the battles in which a soldier fought, nor will it
contain any genealogical information. It may, however, provide a soldier’s physical description at the time of his The National Archives in Washington, D.C., preserves the original service records created for Union and Confederate soldiers from each state. The Library of Virginia has microfilm copies of the following service records for reference use: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia; Compiled Service Records of Confederate General and Staff Officers and Non-Regimental Enlisted Men; Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations Raised Directly by the Confederate Government; Compiled Records Showing Service of Virginia Military Units in Confederate Organizations; Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia. Requests for copies should be directed to the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. 20408. The following publications serve as a convenient index to records found in the Compiled Service Records: The Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861–1865, an alphabetical list of every Confederate soldier with a CMSR at the National Archives, and The Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861–1865, an alphabetical list of every Union soldier with a CMSR at the National Archives. Volume twenty-three of this series contains a listing of those Union soldiers who served from both Virginia and West Virginia. Confederate Rosters: Twenty volumes contain an unofficial roster of soldiers from Virginia who served in the Confederate military forces. These rosters represent the accumulated work of the Department of Confederate Military Records and its predecessor between 1904 and 1918. The rosters are organized by regiment and the soldiers are listed alphabetically according to rank. The rosters provide the soldier’s name, rank, date of enlistment or commission, and sometimes include additional remarks. Individual entries give minimal (if any) personal or military service information. The rosters are indexed and available on microfilm. A searchable database is also available on the Library’s Web site. A researcher should consult the Compiled Military Service Records for more detailed information on military service. The papers of Virginia’s Department of Confederate Military Records, which collected and compiled unit rosters and other lists of Virginia soldiers under the direction of Colonel Joseph V. Bidgood, are assembled in the Department of Military Affairs (Accession 27684). This extensive collection of manuscript materials was created to replace lost information resulting from the destruction of original unit rolls. It is composed of wartime documents, letters, memoirs, and published regimental histories produced in the early twentieth century in response to pleas for information. Unit records represent the largest segment, which are arranged first by branch of service and then by regiment. Confederate Pensions: Financial assistance for Confederate veterans and their families was provided when the General Assembly passed Confederate pension acts in 1888, 1900, and 1902, followed by a series of supplementary acts through 1934. The initial act provided pensions to Confederate soldiers, sailors, and marines disabled in action and to the widows of those killed in action. Subsequent acts broadened the coverage to include all veterans, their widows, and their unmarried or widowed daughters and sisters. The acts required that applicants be residents of Virginia. Later legislation also included veterans or their survivors residing in the District of Columbia. This collection consists of pension applications and amended applications filed by resident Virginia Confederate veterans and their widows. The applications contain statements pertaining to the service record of the applicants and may include medical evaluations, information about the income and property of the veterans or their widows, and, in the case of widows, the date and place of marriages. The collection also includes claims submitted by more than five hundred African Americans who had worked as cooks, herdsmen, laborers, servants, or teamsters in the Confederate army. The applications are indexed and are available on microfilm. (Pension applications filed by veterans’ sisters and daughters are not indexed.) The microfilm is arranged first by pension act, then alphabetically by the applicant’s county or city of residence, and thereunder by name of applicant. A searchable database linked to digital images is also available on the Library’s Web site. The General Assembly passed an act on 10 March 1914 providing additional money for the relief of needy Confederate
women who were not already on the pension rolls. Applications were made to the Relief Committee of the
Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which certified the applications, ascertained the payment
amount, and then forwarded the applications to the pension clerk at the Department of Accounts. A warrant
was then issued to the Treasury for payment to the beneficiary. Applications for relief include the name, address, Confederate Disability Applications:
The General Assembly enacted legislation, effective in 1867 and ending in 1894, to provide artificial limbs and other
disability benefits to Virginia’s Civil War veterans. To coordinate the program, and oversee the distribution of aid, the
General Assembly established the Board of Commissioners on Artificial Limbs. Injured soldiers submitted certificates
from their county court stating that they were Virginia citizens, that they had lost a limb or had been otherwise disabled
in the war, and the nature of assistance needed. The veterans listed the unit in which they served; included information The applications are indexed and available on microfilm. The microfilm is arranged by date of the act, then alphabetically by name of applicant. An online database to the disability applications is also provided on the Library’s Web site, which is searchable by both the Confederate veterans’ name and place of residence (city or county). In addition, each entry contains links to digital images of the disability application, including supporting affidavits and receipts for payments issued. Other Records: The Robert E. Lee Camp Soldiers’ Home was established on 18 April 1883 as a benevolent society to aid hundreds of needy Confederate veterans. The home opened on 1 January 1885. It was located at the corner of Grove Avenue and the Boulevard in Richmond. Eventually plagued by financial difficulties, the home sought money from the state in exchange for the deed to the property. Under the direction of the Department of Public Welfare it remained open until the death of the last resident in 1941. R. E. Lee Camp Soldier’s Home applications for admission are on microfilm and arranged alphabetically by the name of the applicant. A searchable database is also available on the Library’s Web site. Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the Civil War. Email us with websites containing information on Virginia in the Civil War by clicking the link below:
Washington - ? West Virginia - ? Wisconsin - ? Wyoming - ?
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