Genealogy Introduction—Military Research at the National Archives: Pension Records
Guides
Terminology
- Compiled Military Service Records (Ancestry Insider)Also: Compiled Service Records, CMSR.
Information about the service of volunteer soldiers. Compiled from muster and pay rolls, descriptive rolls, returns, hospital records, prison records, accounts for subsistence, and other service information. There is a card for each time a soldier was mentioned in any of the sources. The cards are collected in a envelope called the jacket.
For listings of records, search Compiled Military Service Records in the National Archives microfilm publications catalog.
More Resources
- For Pity's Sake: Civil War Nurses and the Pension System (National Archives)Article by Mercedes Graf. In Prologue: The journal of the National Archives vol. 40, no. 2 (Summer 2008), pages 28-35.
- Follow the Money: Tracking Revolutionary War Army Pension PaymentsArticle by Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. In Prologue: The journal of the National Archives. Vol. 40, No. 4 (Winter 2008).
Descriptions of Resources in the National Archives
- Selected Records From Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (M805)Descriptive pamphlet of National Archives microfilm.
Military History
This guide describes resources available for searching in military records, with an emphasis on Delaware materials.
These types of military records are the most useful for genealogists:
- service records (militia, volunteer, or regular forces)
- pension records and boundary land warrant records
- Draft, conscription, or Selective Service records
Starting Places | Pre-Federal | Civil War | Pensions | Prisons and Prisoners
Starting Places
- Delaware Archives (Military and Naval Records) byCall Number: F161 .D29 1911aBased on manuscript materials relating to military personnel. Five volumes:
Volume 1 - King George's War and Revolutionary War, 1746-1783
Volume 2 - Revolutionary War militia and pensioners, 1780-1850s; index to Volumes 1-2
Volume 3 - Revolutionary War militia and pensioners, 1776-1780s; index to Volumes 1-3
Volume 4 - Militia; 1795-1813
Volume 5 - Militia; 1813-1827, index to Volumes 4-5
Also available in Special Collections. Originals are in the Delaware Public Archives (DPA). (Note: DPA has additional materials which have not been published in the Delaware Archives volumes.) The volumes have been scanned and are available in many different digital collections, for example, Internet Archive.
- RG 1800.099 Delaware ArchivesThis webpage is a guide to all the records, published and unpublished, that are in the Delaware Archives: Military and Naval Records. The records are available at the Delaware Public Archives.
- Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army: From its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903 byCall Number: U11 .U5 H6The best starting place for army information. Contains a complete list of commissioned officers giving the officers' full names and showing their services as cadets and all services as officers or enlisted men, either in the regular or volunteer service. Biographical information on each officer includes state or country where born, state from which originally appointed, date of discharge, medals, battles participated in (when available), and, in about a fifth of the entries, date of death after leaving the Army. Volume 2 has a chronological list of battles and several other lists. Some information is included on officers of the Confederate States of America. Also available in the Library Annex (U.S. Doc W 3.11:789-903).
Also in the Ancestry Library Edition database; go to "All databases." In the keyword box type: heitman - Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware byCall Number: F161 .D45Papers relating to
* Revolution: nos. 8, 10, 13-16, 30, 35, 48, 56, 57, 92 and n.s. 3
* War of 1812: no. 33
* Civil War: nos. 53, 62
- Fold3.comFold3 specializes in digitized primary source materials covering historical military records. Some documents are available for free and others are available only to paid subscribers. Site also provides capabilities for members to highlight documents and post comments. Not available at the UD Library.
Fold3 has content partners including Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). National Archive collections include Revolutionary War Service Records (M881), Revolutionary War Rolls (M246), Civil War Pensions Index (T289), War of 1812 Pension Applications (M313) (still in progress).
Fold3 also includes non-military materials. For a list, see the category "Non-military records." Examples include American Milestone Documents, Naturalization records, and Passport Applications. - Ancestry Library EditionA massive online website which provides collections of historical and genealogical information. U.S. Census, records, vital records, immigration, military, and much more. Some of collections are full text images and fully searchable. Others are indexes or read-only image files. Additionally, there are eBooks of histories and family genealogies, reference books, information about the sources and tips for using them. Ancestry Library Edition is produced by Ancestry.com, a fee-based service. Ancestry Library is a smaller version and the one that Ancestry.com makes available for institutional subscriptions. Many of the functionalities and collections offered to individual users on Ancestry.com aren't available on Ancestry Library Edition.
Available remotely only to persons currently affiliated with the University of Delaware and students at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes.
Pre-Federal to Pre-Civil War
- Colonial Delaware Soldiers and Sailors, 1638-1776 byCall Number: F163 .P43 1995
- DAR Patriot Index byCall Number: Ref E255 .D38 1966 and supplement
- Delaware Continentals, 1776-1783 byCall Number: E263 .D3 W3Delaware Revolutionary troops were called "Delaware Continentals" or "Blues."
- Delaware Militia in the War of 1812 byCall Number: E359.5 .D3 P43x 2003
- Delaware Papers, Colonial and Revolutionary Documents, Circa 1770-1850Call Number: Microfilm nos.175-176These records contain deeds, state letters, governor’s messages, votes of the Assembly, commissions to officials, communications between the Continental Congress and the state, and more. The reels are the records pertaining to Delaware regiments and navy, lists of soldiers. No index is available. Filmed from volumes at the Library of Congress.
- Loyalists of Revolutionary Delaware byCall Number: E277 .H26 1977
Civil War
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (OR)The volumes of the OR were also published as House Miscellaneous Documents of the 51st to the 56th Congress. The catalog description lists the volumes of the Serial Set that have these Documents. Serial Set volumes are available online in the library database U.S. Congressional Serial Set.- The Complete Civil War DVD-ROM: Official Records and MoreContains the OR (War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies), the ORN (Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion), and many other sources.
Pensions: Pre-Federal Up to Civil War
Pension application files index: Andrew Feaster, War of 1812
Note: the application form includes the date of death of the soldier and the wife’s maiden name.
Indexes and/or digitized images for service records and pensions may be available in:
and 
- War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815 (microfilm M313 National Archives)Available on Ancestry. This file is an index to War of 1812 pension application files, original data from National Archives microfilm M313. Contains images of the “envelopes” containing the actual pension applications. Information shown on the fronts of the envelopes includes name of veteran, name of widow (if she applied), pension claim or file number, and service type. May include: soldier’s residence and death date, widow’s maiden name and current residence, date of marriage.
Using this information, request the original records from the National Archives. - An Overview of Records at the National Archives Relating to Military ServiceArticle by Trevor K. Plante, published in Prologue magazine Vol. 34, No. 3 (Fall 2002).
- National Archives Collections on MicrofilmIdentify records filmed by National Archives. Microfilms can be borrowed through the Interlibrary Loan service.
- Selected Records From Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (microfilm M805 National Archives)National Archives microfilm. American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; Pensions; Possessory interests in land. Arrangement is by last name; no index is included.
Note: this consists of selected records from M804. Records were selected on basis of being most useful to genealogists. - Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (microfilm M804 National Archives)National Archives microfilm. American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; Pensions; Possessory interests in land. Arrangement is by last name; no index is included.
Note: M805 has selections from this set. - United States, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, Index (FamilySearch)Indexes the veteran's name and additional names in the application. Links to images available on fold3.com.
Index to National Archives microfilm M804.
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set This link opens in a new window
House and Senate Documents and Reports, constituting a rich set of primary source documents. Covers a variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations, etc. (Coverage: 1817-1994)
Prisons and Prisoners
Genealogy Resources at the University of Delaware Library
Although not aimed at genealogy and family history, the collections of the University of Delaware Library (Morris Library) include materials useful to genealogists and family historians.
This Genealogy Research Guide is provided as a service for genealogists. It presents topics and resources to assist researchers.
The UD Library does not specialize in genealogy and does not have staff responsible for genealogy. Library staff cannot conduct research.
For questions about library resources and holdings, use the Ask the Library service.
For questions about getting research assistance, see the suggestions on the home page of this guide or on the topic/resources pages.
