Between the patriotic celebrations of Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day is a good time to contemplate our use of military records. When we place our families’ histories on a continuum or timeline, we quickly realize that hardly a single generation has gone by–from before the founding of this country until the present day–that has not experienced some military activity or war. Indeed, historian James Neagles writes, "A history of America might be characterized as a history of its military experiences." That fact makes military records important in successfully conducting family history research. But as with many record groups, finding the military records for a particular ancestor can be a formidable challenge.
A genealogical take-off from an old song might be something along the lines of after Johnny came marching home from war, he may have left evidence of his service in some places a bit off the beaten path. And it is these records that may hold the keys to unlocking some genealogical gems. Certainly service and pension records will remain keystone documents in discovering the personal and family history of a veteran. But instead of being the sum total of records used to detail these meaningful events in an ancestor’s life, they can be a starting point from which a researcher can branch out to other sources and more significant data.
In beginning the pursuit of the widest collection of military records for a particular ancestor, take the time to understand the historical context in which the war took place. A good history of the state and county where the ancestor lived will provide details on the wars and other engagements that occurred during a particular time, as well as on how those activities impacted the area. This will help keep the researcher open to the myriad of record possibilities, including the less frequently used records.
After pursuing good general histories of an area, focus on specific military engagements that happened during the particular time period of an ancestor’s life. Narrowing research to a particular area and time period can then be complemented by becoming familiar with all the military record possibilities.
One of the best compilations for understanding the scope of military records available to the family historian is U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to the Present by James C. Neagles (Ancestry, 1994). Its 400-plus pages detail numerous types of military records, list which national and federal repositories hold particular records groups, and most important, provide tremendous inventories by state of important military records and compilations. From finding aids to actual record groups, this publication is a field guide to exploring many military records off the beaten path.
State Libraries and Archives
State libraries and archives can provide the researcher of military history with untold treasures. Most such organizations have very useful Web pages that contain important finding aids, online catalogs to their collections, and searchable data files. This is a powerful research combination. The New York State Library has a small collection of links relating to military history including a link to "Military History of New York State Militia Forces and Personages," an impressive set of links to significant military data pertaining to New York including numerous photographic images. The Library of Virginia, a combined state library and state archives facility, offers a "Military History" link on its Digital Library Program Web page. Another example is the Florida State Library's Web site that provides numerous photographic images of its state’s soldiers in the more than 80,000 images found in the Florida Photographic Collection. Every state library’s Web site can be explored for military related data.
Equal amounts of data pertaining to our military ancestors can be found on state archives Web sites. The Illinois State Archives , under its online databases link, provides searchable data files for seven different wars. The Tennessee State Library and Archives provides a "Military History" link under its "Tennessee History and Genealogy" section. Information on soldiers from Tennessee stretches from the Vietnam era back to the War of 1812. Under the main family history link on the Massachusetts Archives Web site is considerable information about the numerous military records available at the archives, and an indication of the type of genealogical data in a given record. The variety of information that may be found in particular state archives, let alone regional or county archives, is almost startling. The Web sites of state archives and state libraries are definitely must-visit sites for the military researcher.
Personal Accounts
Often overlooked in the quest for military information are the soldiers’ letters and diaries, and the letters and diaries of the family members and caretakers of soldiers. Many of these records can provide interesting insights into a soldier’s life, the hardships of encampment, marching, and battle, the comfort of camaraderie in the unit, and the horrors of war. These records can really put flesh on the bones of ancestors and sometimes even identify an immediate family member or distant relative not previously known.
Increasing numbers of letters and diaries of soldiers and their families are being published as collected works. Not only do these works make the unique documents much more readily available, but transcribing and publishing such works often means that an index to the letters has been compiled, an appendix has been added possibly detailing a roster of the journalist’s unit, and editorial comments have been provided such that the careful researcher might discern other documents to search. While it may be disappointing not to find letters or a diary written by a military ancestor, search for the personal writings of an ancestor’s comrades. These writings may prove to be almost as useful and as interesting as if a familial hand penned them.
In addition to the local and state historical societies that tend to collect the writings of their veterans, a researcher can find an increasing number of diaries transcribed, and even digitized, on the Web sites of university libraries, military institutes, and other specialized repositories. The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) is a good way to find diaries and letters hidden in repositories all over the country. Often the bibliographic information given in NUCMC contains details about the writer’s life and his or her family. Another more specialized virtual collection of diaries that provides not only collection descriptions but also copies of the actual diaries is "Civil War Women: Primary Sources on the Internet" . Many of these women’s diaries reside in the special collections of Duke University.
Organizational Publications
The publications of aid societies and patriotic organizations are another group of records frequently bypassed in the pursuit of military data about our ancestors. The records of these organizations, though, can offer great amounts of identifying information about the soldiers of yesteryear. Most researchers are familiar with the larger patriotic organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. However, smaller, not so well know organizations also collect, preserve, and disseminate military information.
Take the Mexican War as a classic example. Although it was one of the smaller of U.S. military engagements, numerous patriotic societies have grown up around the Mexican War. The Military Society of the Mexican War published a sesquicentennial history in 1997 that is nearly 1,500 pages long. To complement the register of members in this work, photographs, robust biographical sketches of early associates, and a detailed list of officers in the pages of the history can also be found. Another organization, the Descendants of Mexican War Veterans, supports an extensive Web site and regularly publishes directories of descendants linking twentieth-century descendants to their nineteenth-century ancestors.
Certainly the large organizations that sprang from the significant wars of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries need to be considered by genealogists as well. For example, the large national organizations that grew out of the War Between the States, particularly the Sons of Union Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy, have numerous local chapters throughout the country. The Sons of Union Veterans is only one of several allied groups of the Grand Army of the Republic, another Union military organization. Many of these organizations are active in preserving and publishing military related data. Indeed, when you add military reunion and reenactment organizations to the many chapters, auxiliaries, and state regiment or patriotic organizations, the publication and information possibilities become almost limitless.
Local Research
Whether researching virtually on the Internet or in person, often the best genealogical research can be conducted at the local level. For many, the county is the most important geographic designation and one of the best places to look for those lesser-used and lesser-known military records. Typically, cities, towns, and counties are extremely proud of the individuals who have served their country. The histories of those locales will often list the individuals who served from the area, and will sometimes provide details about the more noteworthy happenings in which the hometown folks were involved. The local architecture itself may bear clues in the memorial plaques on county courthouse walls that list the Roll of Honor of soldiers who paid the ultimate price in serving their country. A number of months ago, on the grounds of a rural courthouse, I saw a row of plaques that honored those who served in the Revolutionary War through Desert Storm and who were buried in that county.
While exploring at the local level, be particularly aware of any special publications covering the military history of the county, or the county’s participation in a particular war. For example, a publication was penned for Adams County, Indiana entitled The Citizen Soldier. It provides a general history of military activities and individuals in the area of the county from 1749, well before Indiana statehood, to the Persian Gulf time period.
Many local courthouses have interesting collections of military-related records. Depending on the time period, many veterans were required to record their discharge papers at the county recorder’s office. Other records at the courthouse are veterans’ burial records, indigent and poor relief records, widows’ pension relief documents, and grave markers. Careful evaluation of even the smallest shreds of data can provide clues to other sources and documents that might provide both a clearer picture of the ancestor and research pathways to earlier generations.
Most locales have an extremely strong sense of pride in the veterans that served from their areas and are buried in their cemeteries. This pride continues to prompt the compilation of many local publications. Typically, the more limited the time period or the geographic area covered, the more data that is provided about particular units and soldiers. In these more localized and specialized records, a researcher can learn much about the daily lives of the soldiers and who fought alongside them. And finding these local military publications is often as easy as looking in the online catalogs of state libraries and local public libraries. Only then can we hope to find all the information Johnny left us when he came marching home.
Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA, is the president of the National Genealogical Society and the manager of the historical genealogy department for the Allen County Public Library. He is also a popular genealogical lecturer.
Return to the Ancestry Magazine September/October 2001 Table of Contents.
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