Virginia Military Records

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Search Revolutionary War 1775-83 Service Records, Rejected Pensions, Loyalists Records, 1775-1783 Pay Rolls, Courts-Martial, Officers, Pension Index, 1841 Pensioner Census

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.

Bounty-land warrants were issued to Virginia soldiers for their war service. After the war, soldiers who served in the Virginia State Line or Continental Line applied for a warrant and, when approved, received a certificate to be exchanged for a warrant. The land to be issued was located in Kentucky and the Virginia Military District of Ohio. In the case of deceased soldiers, their heirs made application. Kentucky land was occupiedC first, then land was granted in Ohio after 1792.

The Library of Virginia and the FHL have microfilmed copies of applications for Virginia bounty-land warrants.

Virginia Revolutionary War Records

Virginia played a pivotal role in the struggle for American independence from Great Britain, 1775–1783. Virginia troops were engaged from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and many citizens provided some form of military or public service. The records of service are numerous, varied and sometimes complex. Most records contain little information about the person’s service and seldom contain genealogical data. There are existing records of Virginia Continental Line troops, the Virginia State Line, the Virginia State Navy, county militia, various independent units, and public service claims. Other important records include benefits in the form of land and pensions given by the Virginia and federal governments to veterans and their heirs.

There is no central source or index for Virginia Revolutionary War records, but rather a wide array of records, all of which should be examined. Records exist in a variety of formats, usually microfilm or photostats of original documents, as well as printed material. Soldiers may have served in more than one unit and may appear in several records of service and benefits. Men with common names are easily confused with one another since most records contain little identifying data. A related problem is the variant spelling of surnames. A number of state and county records of that era no longer exist, and not everyone in Virginia was sympathetic to the revolutionary cause. The Library of Virginia is fortunate to hold many of those records which do survive and a close study of them by researchers is advised. Searchable databases on the Library’s Web site index selected Revolutionary War records, including bounty warrants, land office military certificates, pensions, public service claims, and rejected claims. Digital images are also available for bounty warrants, pensions, and rejected claims.

Virginia Revolutionary War Service Records

Records of Virginia Revolutionary War military service begin in 1775 when the first Virginia revolutionary government began to raise troops and make payments for expenses. An excellent source for these and other early records is William J. Van Schreeven, Robert J. Scribner and J. Brent Tarter, eds., Revolutionary Virginia and the Road to Revolution: 1763–1776 (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1973–1983, 7 vols.)

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 artillery, cavalry, and other independent infantry units. These regiments were rearranged several times during the war and many soldiers served in more than one unit. Troops were also recruited to serve within the state under General Assembly authority and were known as the Virginia State Line. These included infantry units raised for special purposes such as guarding prisoners and the Illinois Regiment of George Rogers Clark. The organization and service of these and other Virginia units including the State Navy are detailed in E.M. Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations in the American Revolution: 1776–1783 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978). Records of service with George Rogers Clark are found in Margery Harding, George Rogers Clark and His Men, Military Records 1778–1784 (Frankfort: Kentucky Historical Society, 1981) and in the George Rogers Clark Papers, indexed microfilm of vouchers and receipts held by the Library of Virginia. A source for the Virginia State Navy is Robert A. Stewart, Virginia’s Navy in the Revolution (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1993). Some free African-Americans served in these units, and Luther P. Jackson, Virginia Negro Soldiers and Seamen in the Revolutionary War (Norfolk: Guide Quality Press, 1944) is the best source for this service.

Virginia also organized county militia companies. All free white males aged 16 to 50 were required to serve in a militia company unless exempted. Unfortunately few records of such service exist. Scattered pay records, recommendations and appointments of officers, and some militia fines have survived. Many post-1832 federal pensions also record militia service. A useful source is J.T. McAllister, Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War (Bowie: Heritage Books, 1989).

Three important indexes for Virginia Revolutionary War service are Hamilton J. Eckenrode, Virginia Soldiers in the American Revolution (Richmond: Virginia State Library and Archives, 1989, 2 vols.), John H. Gwathmey, Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, 1775–1783 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979), and Gaius M. Brumbaugh, Revolutionary War Records. Volume I, Virginia (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967). These volumes index records of individual service in Virginia units held by the Library of Virginia and the National Archives, including some militia service. Records cited are usually pay accounts, muster rolls, or records related to postwar benefits of land and pensions. Multiple records are often listed for the same individual. Researchers are cautioned that service records of different individuals bearing the same name may be indexed together because it was not possible to further identify them.

The National Archives in Washington, D.C. holds many records of Continental Line service by Virginians and soldiers from other states. These are fully indexed in Index to Revolutionary War Service Records (Waynesboro: National Genealogical Publishing Co., 1995, 4 vols.). The Library of Virginia holds some of these records on microfilm. The most important are the Compiled Service Records of Virginia Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, 192 reels, NARA Revolutionary War Service Records Index, 58 reels, Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775–1783, 138 reels, and various compiled service records of Continental cavalry, artillery, infantry, and naval personnel. The records typically may show enlistment, muster, pay, furlough, discharge, capture, sickness, and death. They seldom contain personal or genealogical data. These reels in the collection are only for reference use. Requests for copies should be directed to the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. 20408 (www.archives.gov).

Virginia Revolutionary War 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.

Virginia Revolutionary War 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 (http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/archlib). Bounty warrants and rejected claims (rejected for insufficient service or other reasons) are available on the Library’s Web site and on microfilm. Land office military certificates are available on microfilm and there is an online index. A card index to these records is located in the West Reading Room. The United States government also awarded bounty land and all records pertaining to it are held by the National Archives and the state(s) where the land was located.

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 Revolutionary War 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 Revolutionary War 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 contain statements made by the veteran, his widow, relatives, or neighbors. The data can include his military unit, rank and period of service, place and date of birth, residence before and after the war, names and ages of family members, bible records, and list of possessions. The widow’s application usually contains place of marriage and maiden name. The Library of Virginia holds copies of these records on microfilm. Photocopies must be obtained from the National Archives.

Below is a list of online resources for Virginia in the Revolutionary War.

• Virginia Revolutionary War Books at Amazon.com
• Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
• Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M881. Compiled service records of soldiers who served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783 from the State of Virginia.
• Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
• Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War: This database includes the summary of the Militia's military movements arranged by counties, declarations of Virginia Militia Pensioners, Militia officers appointed in various counties, and pensioners residing in and outside of Virginia in 1835 who received pensions as Virginia militiamen. This record is an attempt to present a bird's-eye view of the field movements of the Revolution, which concern Virginia.
• Virginia Navy in the Revolution: This database is a history of Virginia's Navy of the Revolution, which was the largest of all the State navies. It presents individuals who played significant roles in this organization, as well as the achievements and failures of the Navy. Sources for this work include the Journal and the Letter Book of the Virginia Naval Board, Revolutionary pension claim papers, and other documents concerning the Virginia Navy.
• Virginia Revolutionary War Records: This database represents a variety of records of Virginia's army and navy forces in the Revolutionary War. The lists include names of officers, seamen, marines, and soldiers; service rendered; and compensation, if any. Material was obtained from Federal and State archives. Also included are extensive lists of Bounty Land Warrants issued by Virginia, indicating many thousands of the Revolutionary war soldiers, sailors and marines, and their heirs.
• Virginia Soldiers of 1776, Vol. 1: Published in 1927, this important reference work identifies many military men serving from Virginia in the Revolutionary War. Information about each soldier has been compiled from documents on file in the Virginia Land Office, or from material in the Archives Dept. of the Virginia State Library. Entries often contain information about heirs, spouses, witnesses, and other people as are associated with the proceedings of probate and other legal processes.
• Revolutionary War Public Service Claims - index to documents relating to claims for compensation made by Virginia citizens.
• Revolutionary War Land Office Military Certificates - land Office Military Certificates are printed forms on which the names of Revolutionary War officers, soldiers and sailors are filled in as well as the details of their service in the State or Continental line.
• Revolutionary War Virginia State Pensions - index to and scanned images of the surviving records that veterans and their widows presented to the county courts to certify their eligibility for pension.
• Revolutionary War Rejected Claims - index and images of the documents of applicants who had military service of insufficient length to qualify for the bounty land requested.

 

Search War of 1812 Service Records and Miscellaneous Canadian Records

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.

• Virginia Revolutionary War Books at Amazon.com
• Index to War of 1812 Pay Rolls and Muster Rolls - a fully-searchable personal name index to Pay Rolls of Militia Entitled to Land Bounty Under the Act of Congress of Sept. 28, 1850 and its supplement, Muster Rolls of the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812. Approximately 40,000 names are indexed.
• Search War of 1812 Service Records and Miscellaneous Canadian Records

 

Search Civil War Soldiers, Service Records, Regiments, General Officers, Battle Summaries, Pension Index: 1861-1934, CSA Field Officers and the War of the Rebellion

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.

Virginia Civil War 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 enlistment. There are no CMSRs for either Union or Confederate naval personnel.

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.

Virginia Civil War Confederate Rosters

Interest in memorializing Confederate veterans prompted the General Assembly to pass an act on 13 March 1884 directing the adjutant general to compile a roster of all those who served from Virginia in the Confederate armed forces. It was not until 1904 that the project began, after the passage by Congress of an act in 1903 providing for the assembling of muster rolls for all the Confederate states. Virginia created the Office of the Secretary of Virginia Military Records in 1904 to begin this task. The Department of Confederate Military Records was formed by an act of the General Assembly on 12 March 1912. This act abolished the Office of the Secretary of Virginia Military Records. The new Department of Confederate Military Records continued the work of assembling muster rolls and other documents related to Virginians in the Civil War.

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.

Virginia Civil War 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, and condition or need of each beneficiary, along with her relationship to and service of a Confederate soldier relative. Microfilm copies of these pension applications for the relief of needy Confederate women (1915–1967) are found on miscellaneous reels 2178–2205.

Virginia Civil War 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 on when, where, and how they were wounded; and provided details about their medical history. The disability benefit provided by the state was a one-time commutation payment of sixty dollars.

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 Virginia Civil War 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.

• Virginia Civil War Books at Amazon.com
• Southern Claims Commission from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
• Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
• Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from southern units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
• Index to Virginia Confederate Rosters - unofficial roster of soldiers from Virginia who served in the army of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War compiled between 1904 and 1918.
• Civil War Soldiers and Sailor System
• Confederate Navy Index - searchable index created from a card file compiled primarily in 1924 as part of the United Confederate Veterans project to document Virginians' service during the Civil War.
• Index to Confederate Veteran Magazine - A -searchable index to the personal names of Confederate soldiers as they appear in the Confederate Veteran magazine published between 1893 and 1932.
• Confederate Disability Applications and Receipts - applications to the Board of Commissioners on Artificial Limbs from injured soldiers.
• Confederate Pension Rolls, Veterans and Widows  - searchable database of pension applications and amended applications filed by resident Virginia Confederate veterans and their widows. See also Card Index below - it may contain different information.
• Confederate Pension Rolls, Veterans and Widows Electronic Card Index - index to pension applications and amended applications filed by resident Virginia Confederate veterans and their widows. See also Database above - it may contain different information.
• Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers' Home Applications for Admission

 

See Also Researching in Military Records

To locate military records for any individual, it is essential to know when and where in the armed forces he or she served and whether that person served in the enlisted ranks or was an officer. (If you don’t have that identifying information, some potential solutions are discussed below.)
As in any research project, it is important to study carefully whatever is already known about the subject of interest. Families and communities frequently pass down stories of military heroes from generation to generation. In most cases, these stories retain some fact, but, with the passage of years and in the process of retelling, accuracy fades. At any rate, family stories should not be overlooked for clues at the start of a military search.

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.

There are a number of public records that are potentially valuable in discovering the military history of a veteran. It has been a long-standing American tradition to foster patriotism by honoring local sons and daughters who have defended the ideals of their country. Hometown military heroes are frequently noted on public monuments, and local newspaper files may yield surprisingly detailed accounts of a community’s well-known and less-famous military personnel.

By far the most comprehensive study of military records and how to use them is found in James C. Neagles’s U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal & State Sources, Colonial America to the Present. Neagles’s guide addresses primary and secondary military sources and accessibility, including the following information-rich sources:

• Records of state militias and the National Guard
• Records of the army, navy, and other branches of the U.S. military
• Records of the military academies
• Post-service records
• Pensions
• Bounty-land grants
• Bonuses and family assistance
• Soldier’s homes
• Military burials
• Military installations
• Censuses of veterans
• Conscription
• Civilian affairs

See Also Researching in Military Records

Creating a historical time line can be especially useful for determining if and when the subject might have served in the military. By compiling a chronological list of the known dates and places of residence of an individual from birth through adulthood, it is frequently easy to discover the possibility of military service. Was the individual the right age to be eligible for the draft or to serve voluntarily in the Civil War? Is it likely that the person served on the Northern rather than the Southern side, or vice versa? For records from the colonial period to more recent military engagements, the place of residence is key to finding an individual’s records.

See Also Researching in Military Records

Commercial enterprises and historically oriented groups and institutions have regularly published local histories. As a rule, these histories will include glowing accounts of the area’s involvement in military activities. Some volumes provide biographical sketches of military leaders, while others attempt to list all of the community’s participants in various military conflicts. Locally focused histories have been published at various times for virtually every state and county in the United States. Do not overlook them as an important research aid. P. William Filby’s A Bibliography of American County Histories is a list of five thousand such sources.

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.

See Also Researching in Military Records

Cemeteries provide yet another local source of information regarding individuals who served in the armed forces. Almost every cemetery in the United States contains some evidence of military events and veterans. Cemetery records and grave markers frequently identify military dead by name, rank, and unit designation. If a man or woman died elsewhere while in the service, the body was frequently brought home for burial; cemetery records often note the place and date of death.

Court records are yet another potential source for identifying those who served in the military. Most counties formally recorded and indexed the names of their citizens who were discharged from the military. In some local courts, “military discharges” will be found indexed separately, and in others the military records may be oddly interspersed with deeds, naturalizations, or other categories of documents. The contents of military records may vary greatly from one courthouse to another. Some will provide biographical information, while others may simply list names and the event or names and date of certificate issue.

See Also Researching in Military Records

Federal military documents that have been classified as archival material are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration. Not all records created by military agencies are judged to be permanently valuable. Generally, only records of historical or administrative importance are kept.

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.