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Importance

A valuable source of information for family history and biography are the records of a person's activities while in the military. These records can sometimes supply information not readily available elsewhere and provide a record which will help the researcher separate myth from reality. The two types of military records are: the Service Records and the Record of Veterans' Benefits. All military records are maintained by the National Archives and access to them is obtained only through written request. Check their web site for further information and for access to the required forms. Forms can also be requested through the email address.

Military Personnel Records
9700 Page Boulevard
St Louis, MO 63132
www.nara.gov/genealogy
email: inquire@arch2.nara.gov.

[Military Census]
[Record of Veterans' Benefits]
[Service Records]


Information

Books and records which may be of assistance in your search are available at the State Historical Society of North Dakota are noted below in bulleted lists.

• How to locate anyone who is or has been in the military. By Lt Col Richard S Johnson, 7^th edition. Spartanburg, SC: MIE Publishing, c1996. 929.1072073/J687h-/1996
  
  
• Searching American military records by Fran Carter. Bountiful, Utah: American Genealogical Lending Library, 1996. 929.1072073/C3235s/1996
  
  
• Some of the military records of America, before 1900; their use and value in genealogical and historical research, by E Kay Kirkham. Washington, 1963. 929.3/K635s
  
  
• US Military Records: a guide to federal and state sources, colonial America to the Present, by James C Neageles. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1994. 929.373 /M338u

These records will include the name of the soldier and the colonial unit in which he served. They consist of rosters, rolls and lists of those who survived the wars.

• An historical journal of the campaigns in North America for the years 1757, 1758, 1759, and 1760 by Captain John Knox. Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1914-16 971.4/K77d
  
  
• The original lists of persons of quality; emigrants; religious exiles; political rebels; serving men sold for a term of years; apprentices; children stolen; maidens pressed; and others who went from Great Britain to the American plantations 1600-1700. With their ages, the localities where they formerly lived in the mother country, the names of the ships in which they embarked and other interesting particulars. From MSS preserved in the State paper dept of Her Majesty's Public records office, England. Ed by John Camden Hotten. NY: J W Bouton, 1874 929.4/H799
  
  
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These records are compiled from rosters and rolls of soldiers serving. They provide the name, rank, military organization, state from which the soldier served, date his name appears on the rolls, date of enlistment or of appointment and sometimes the date of separation. Physical description, date and place of birth, residence at time of enlistment are occasionally included.

• Battles of the American revolution, 1775-1781 Historical and military criticism with topographical illustration by Henry B Carrington. NY: A S Barnes & Co, 1876 973.3/C235
  
  
• Complete regular army register of the United States: for one hundred years (1779-1879). Together with the volunteer general staff during the war with Mexico, and a register of all appointments by the President of the United States in the Volunteer service during the rebellion with the official military records of each officer. Also a military history of the Department of War and of each staff department of the Army. Compiled and published by Thomas H S Hamersly. Washington DC: Hamersly, 1881. 353.6/H179
  
  
• Historical register of officers of the continental army during the ward of the revolution, April 1775-Dec 1783 by F B Heitman. Washington: Press of Nichols, Killam & Haffitt, 1893. 973.344/H365
  
  
• Index to Revolutionary War service records, transcribed by Virgil D White. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Co, 1995. 929.373/1995
  
  
• List of officers of the navy of the United States and of the Marine corps from 1775 to 1900 comprising a complete register of all present and former commissioned, warranted and appointed officers of the United States navy and of the Marine corps, regular and volunteer. Compiled by Edward W Callahan. NY: L R Hamersly & Co, 1901. 353.7/C13
  
  
• A National register of the society Sons of the American Revolution, comp and pub under the auspices of the national publication committee by Louis H Cornish, register list collated and ed by A Howard Clark. NY: Press of A H Kellogg, 1902. 369.133/So5
  
  
• Naval documents of the American Revolution. U S Naval History Division. Edited by William Bell Clark. Washington, DC: GPO, 1964- . 973.35/Un3
  
  
• The war of the rebellion; a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U S War Dept, Secretary of War: Washington DC: GPO, 1880-1901. 128 volumes. 973.7/Un3w
  
  
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The information included in this time period is similar to the service records of soldiers in the colonial wars and Revolutionary War and have been indexed and microfilmed by the National Archives. If a personal search of the microfilmed indexes at the National Archives or Family History Libraries is not possible, you can request a search at the National Archives using NATF form 80.

• The Historical register of the United States, Washington: T H Palmer, 1814-1816. 973.5/H629
  
  
• History of the late war between the United States and Great Britain: comprising a minute account of the various military and naval operations. By H M Brackenridge. Pittsburgh: J I Kay & Co, 1836. 973.52/B725
  
  
• War of 1812 genealogy by George K Schweitzer. Knoxville, TN: published by the author, 407 Ascot Court, Knoxville, TN 37923-5807, c1995. 929.1072073524/S4134w/1995
  
  
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These records are indexed by state and by military unit for those organized within a specific state. Use NATF form 80 to request Civil War service records for the Union Army. Civil War soldier draft records, 1863-1865, will provide rank and unit.

Civil War Soldier Draft Records, 1863-1965, are only available at the National Archives as are the Confederate Service Records. An online database available is the Civil War Soldiers System Database: http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/. It was begun on April 28, 1993, and is a joint project of the National Archives, the National Park Service, the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Genealogical Society of Utah. It provides a database which identifies every solder who fought in the Civil War. Each entry indicates whether the solder was Union or Confederate, his regiment and his rank and indicates where he is buried. You will find Civil War regimental rosters, Regimental chronicles, officer profiles, Civil War soldier photographs and Civil War battle synopses. As of Oct 6, 1999, they had 2,320,000 of approximately 4,000,000 soldiers listed or 58% completed.

• Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces, some volumes indexed. Sometimes called "Army and Navy Journal" or "Armed Forces Journal." Published weekly with articles, correspondence and reports on military actions and units. 1863-1900 microfilm.
  
  
• Civil War genealogy by George K Schweitzer. Knoxville, TN: published by the author, 407 Ascot Court, Knoxville, TN 37923-5807, c1996. 929.107207374/S413c/1996
  
  
• Confederate Research Sources; a guide to Archives collections by James C Neageles. 2^nd edition. Ancestry Inc, c1997. 929.373742/N338c/1997
  
  
• Index of compiled service records, volunteer Union Soldiers who served in organizations from the Territory of Dakota (Roll #6099)
  
  
• Journal of the U S Cavalry Association, sometimes called the "Cavalry Journal" and "Armored Cavalry Journal." Published quarterly it provides longer articles and reports on activities of the Cavalry and its equipment. 1888-1906 microfilm.
  
  
• Military engagements between United Sates troops & Plains Indians, 1854-1890, compiled by George E Fay. Greeley, CO: Museum of Anthropology, U of Northern Colorado, 1972. 978.02/F29
  
  
• Roster and records of Iowa soldiers in the War of the Rebellion: together with historical sketches of volunteer organization, 1861-1866. Des Moines: E H English, 1908-1911, 6 vols. 973.7477/Ad49 (We have only volumes 4&5.)
  
  
• Special schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War, North Dakota. (Roll #4235)
  
  
• War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington DC: GPO, 1901. 130 volumes with index. 973.7/Un3w
  
  
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Of special interest are the records of activities which reflect the military experience in the upper great plains.

• Army list and directory, US Adjutant General's Office. Various years from 1893-1941. (Fed Docs D 102.9)
  
  
• Army Register, US Army, Division of Militia Affairs. 1896-1967. (Fed Docs D 102.9)
  
  
• Minnesota in the Civil and Indian War, 1861-1865. St Paul: Pioneer Press, 1890-1893, 2 vols. (Sibley and Sully campaigns) 977.6/M666
  
  
• On the trail of the Buffalo Soldiers; biographies of African Americans in the U S Army, 1866-1917 by Frank N Schubert. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources Service, 1995. 355.0092273
  
  
• Roster of the Organized Militia of the United States, 1898-1909. (Fed Docs 102.9)
  
  
• Seventh US Cavalry muster rolls. (Rolls #13575,13576,13577)
  
  
• US Army Commands records, Fort Buford, letters, orders 1867-1894. (Roll #4287)
  
  
• US Army Post Records, Fort Abraham Lincoln, Correspondence, plans, medical history, 1872-1878. (Rolls #5838, 4304, 4283)
  
  
• US Army Post Records, Fort Rice, medical history, 1864-1878. (Roll #4277
  
  
• US Army Post Records, Fort Seward, DT, 1872-1877. (Roll #4389, 4390)
  
  
• US Army Post Records, Fort Totten, Abandoned Military Reservation, Commanding Officers, medical history, 1869-1892. (Roll #4278, 4273, 4274, 4275, 4277)
  
  
• US Army Post Records, Fort Yates, medical history, 1878-1903. (Roll #4286
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Camp Hancock, 1872-1877. (Roll #4310)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Abercrombie, 1858-1977. (Roll #4305)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Abraham Lincoln, 1872-1913. (Roll #4284, 4311, 4312, 4313)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Abraham Lincoln, Fort McKeen, 1872. (Roll #4327)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Abraham Lincoln, ordnance , 1879-1889. (Roll #4314)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Berthold, 1865-1867. (Roll #4307)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Buford, 1866-1895. (Roll #4308, 4309)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Pembina, DT, 1870-1895. (Roll #4315, 4316)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Rice, 1864-1878. (Roll #4317, 4318)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Seward (Sykes), 1872-1877. (Roll #4319, 4328)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Stevenson, 1867-1883. (Roll #4320, 4321)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Totten, 1867-1890. (Roll #4322,4323)
  
  
• US Army Post Returns, Fort Yates, 1875-1903. (Roll #4324,4325,4326)
  
  
• US Army Ration Returns, Fort Abraham Lincoln, 1877. (Roll #1242)
  
  
• US Army Registers of Enlisted, Indian Scouts, v150-151, 1866-1877. (Roll #4295)
  
  
• US Army, Fort Totten, Major McLaughlin, Correspondence, miscellaneous papers, 1870-1891. (Roll #4361)
  
  
• US War Department, Letters received, Adjutant General, series 31913, 1871-1878. (Rolls #13373-13412)
  
  
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Records of the last 75 years are restricted to use by the individual or next of kin if the individual is deceased. Other requesters will need a release authorization signed by the veteran or next of kin. Discharge papers also provide some basic information: age, date of birth, education, duty status, decorations and awards, duty assignments, marital status, rank/grade, serial/service number, promotion sequence. For military records before WWI use the NATF form 80. For all others use the current version of Form 180.

• Campaigning in the Philippines. San Francisco: The Highs-Judd Company, Pub, 1899. 973.89/F275
  
  
• Draft registration, 1917 and 1918 and a reconstructed roster and history of Company C, Divide County, North Dakota, Rod Gillund. Crosby, ND; R Gillund, 1989. INDEX/071.78471/G484d
  
  
• Full official history of the war with Spain; written over the wire in the discharge of public duty, by the highest authorities of the government, heads of departments and bureaus, the adjutant general; the commanders of fleets and armies in active service and the President of the US, by Murat Halstead. 973/891/H166f
  
  
• The Great War; a guide to the service records of all the World's fighting men and volunteers by Christina K Schaefer. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co, c1998. 940.3/S294g
  
  
• Historical Record, American Legion. Department of Dakota. Auxiliary. Consists of biographical sketches and photographs of North Dakota women who served as nurses in WWI. ARCHIVES/MSS/10339
  
  
• The Honor list of dead and missing for the state of North Dakota: Spanish American War, 1898-99; Mexican Border Campaign, 1916-17; World War I, 1917-18; World War II, 1940-46; The Korean Conflict, 1950-53 Bismarck, ND: Office of the Adjutant General, 1958. OVERSIZE/355.35025/N814/1958
  
  
• Officers and enlisted men of the United States navy who lost their lives during the world war, from April 6, 1917 to November 11, 1918. Washington, DC: GPO, 1920. 940.3/Un3
  
  
• Officers and men, First North Dakota Volunteer Infantry, 1939. 940.412784/O32
  
  
• Official history of the operations of the First North Dakota Infantry, USV, in the campaign in the Philippine Islands, written by First Sergeant Phil H Shortt, who was appointed to write this history and given access to such official records as military regulations would permit and other wise assisted by Colonel W C Treumann and other officers of the regiment. San Francisco: The Highs-Judd Company Pub, 1899. 973.89/F275
  
  
• Ramsey County in the War collection, 1919. 2.25 ft. ARCHIVES/MSS/10179
  
  
• Register of North Dakota Veterans; World War II, 1941-1945 and Korean Conflict, 1950-1953, ND Adjutant General, Bismarck, 1968. REF/940.54/-R263
  
  
• Register of North Dakota Veterans; Vietnam Conflict, 1964-1973, ND Adjutant General, Bismarck, 1981. REF/959.70433784/R337
  
  
• Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and of the Marine Corps, 1900-1967. (Fed Docs D 201.1)
  
  
• Roster of the men and women who served in the Army or Naval Service (including the Marine Corps) of the United States or its Allies from the State of North Dakota in the World War, 1917-1918, 4 vols,. ND Adjutant General, Bismarck, 1931. REF/940.41273/N814s
  
  
• Service record book of men and women of Mountrail County, North Dakota. Sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post no 2707. Stanley, ND: The Post, 194?. 940.41278474/M865/Mountrail
  
  
• Service record book of men and women of Valley City, North Dakota and community. Sponsored by the Frank S Henry Post no 2764. Valley City, ND: The Post. 194?. 940.41278432/V243
  
  
• Soldiers of the great war. Compiled by W M Haulsee, F G Howe and A C Doyle. Washington, DC: Soldiers Records Publishing Assoc, 1920. 940.3/So42
  
  
• United States in war with Spain and the history of Cuba. A thrilling account of the land and naval operations of American soldiers and sailors in our war with Spain and the heroic struggles of Cuban patriots against Spanish tyranny. Chicago: International Publishing co, 1898. 973.8/W585u
  
  
• United States Military Academy catalogue, information relative to the appointment and admission of cadets to the US Military Academy, 1910-1958. (Fed Docs D 109-2)
  
  
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The evidentiary material included in the pension application can be helpful in supplying summaries of service, military organization in which served, dates of service, date and place of birth, names of heirs, relationship to others who served with him, activities and residence after the war. After the Act of 1832, the application required birthplace, age and residence of application. Once all of the applications pertaining to a veteran were received, including those of the widow and other claimant, they were combined into one file. Contact the National Archives and use NATF form 80.

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Bounty-land warrants were authorized by Congress in 1776 as a substitute for the wages it was unable to pay its soldiers. If the soldier was deceased, his heirs took claim to the land after the war. Number of acres granted was based upon the solder's rank and ranged from 100 to 1,100 acres. Applications provide the veteran's name, age, residence, the military organization in which he served and the term of his service. If his widow or other heirs made claim, their names, ages and places of residence are given. About 450,000 bounty-land claims are on file in the National Archives. Request NATF form 80.

• Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants; awarded by state governments by Lloyd DeWitt Backstruck. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co, c1996. 973.34/B6658r
  
  
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War of 1812: information found in Index to War of 1812 pension files, National Historical Publishing Co., 1989. These files provide the veteran's name, age and place of residence. If married, the marriage date and the maiden name of his wife are included. The unit in which he served, the date and place of enlistment and the date and place of discharge are also given. The widow's pension file will provide her name, age and place of residence, their pertinent marriage information, date and place of the veteran's death, his enlistment date and place as well as the date and place of his final discharge.

Indian Wars between 1817 and 1858: classified as Indian survivors' - originals, Indian survivors' - certificates, Indian widows' - originals and Indian widows' - certificates. Files are located at the National Archives. Indexes are microfilmed and available at various libraries.

Mexican War: information is the same as for other pension applications but the maiden name of the wife, names of former wives, death or divorce information about previous wives and names and dates of birth of living children were also required. These are indexed by name and the index has been microfilmed. Contact the National Archives.

• Index to old wars pension files, 1815-1926, transcribed by Virgil D White. Rev ed. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Pub Co, 1993. Compiled from the microfilm records held by the National Archives. REF/929.373/W5889io/1993
  
  
• Index to pension applications for Indian wars service between 1817 and 1898, transcribed by Virgil D White. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Co, 1997. REF/929.373/W5889ip
  
  
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Pension applications filed for the Civil War and later included records of Union soldiers. Federal pensions were granted to veterans of the Spanish-American War of 1898, the Philippine Insurrection of 1899 -1902, the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and the regular establishment. All are included in the index for Union Civil War veterans for 1861-1934 and are arranged by name of the veterans. Held at the National Archives but the index has been microfilmed and may be available in local libraries.

Confederate states governed their own pensions and each state had its own regulations. Originals will be found with the various state archives.

• Index to old wars pension files, 1815-1926, transcribed by Virgil D White. Rev ed. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Pub Co, 1993. Compiled from the microfilm records held by the National Archives. REF/929.373/W5889io/1993
  
  
• Index to pension applications for Indian wars service between 1817 and 1898, transcribed by Virgil D White. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Co, 1997. REF/929.373/W5889ip
  
  
• Pensioners on the Roll as of January 1, 1883 (living in Dakota Territory). Roseville, MN: Park Genealogical Books, 1996. INDEX/929.3783/P4187/1996
  
  
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Veterans of the military services have had the benefit of being buried in one of the national or other federally administered cemeteries since 1861. Records regarding almost all soldiers and veterans buried in the cemeteries under federal jurisdiction are held by the Cemetery Service, National Cemetery System, Department of Veterans Affairs, 1810 Vermont Avene, Washington DC 20420. The names of the deceased are indexed and information will be furnished on request. The names of 228,639 Union soldier who were buried in more than three hundred national cemeteries during the Civil War are published in Roll of honor: names of solders who died in defense of the American Union, interred in the National Cemeteries, Number I - XIX, Genealogical Publishing Company of Baltimore, 1994. Index to the roll of honor was published in 1995.

There are also card file records of World War I era soldiers who died overseas between 1917 and 1922. These provide grave registrations, records of American names in European chapels and records of American Soldiers who were buried in Russia. They provide the name of the soldier, military organization, date of death, a statement that he was killed in action, name and address of the nearest relative or guardian and name of the chapel. These records are on file in Record Group 92, Records of the Quartermaster General, in the National Archives.

• Little Big Horn Battlefield: "Cemetery reinternment records; remains removed from military posts and re-interred at the Little Big Horn Battlefield Cemetery", 1994. Photocopy in the General Information File under Custer Battlefield National Cemetery.
  
  
• Roll of honor. Record of burial places of soldiers, sailors, marines and army nurses of all wars of the United States buried in the state of Illinois. Springfield, IL: 1929. 940.3/Ill6
  
  
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The military census was taken in 1840 and 1890. The 1840 was published in A census of pensioners for Revolutionary or military services: with their names, ages, places of residence as returned by the Marshals of the several judicial districts under the Act for taking the Sixth Census, Washington DC, 1956. This was reprinted by Baltimore: Genealogical Books in Print, 1996.

What is left of the 1890 military census was microfilmed as Special schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The 1910 census indicates whether an individual was a veteran of the Union Army, Union Navy, Confederate Army or Confederate Navy. In the 1900, 1910, and 1920 census, there is a category devoted to military personnel.

Addresses:

Copyright ©1999-2004 State Historical Society of North Dakota. You are free to use information from these pages for any non-commercial purpose. Any use of this information should credit the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Photographs shown on the State Historical Society of North Dakota's web site are taken from the collections of the State Historical Society of North Dakota and may not be included in any publication, printed or online, without the written permission of the Society.