District of Columbia Military Records

United States U.S. Military  District of Columbia  Military Records

Many military records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The United States set of Wiki pages provides more information on the federal records.

Forts
Washington Arsenal -- Textual records of this post, 1825-1829, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).

Washington Barracks -- Textual records of this post, 1885-1886, 1901-1903, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
The 1835 Pension Roll

On June 5, 1834, the U.S. Senate required the Secretary of War to submit a statement showing the names of pensioners who were on the pension rolls or had previously been on the pension rolls. For more information on the 1835 Pension Roll see Revolutionary War Pension Records. The 1835 Pension Roll for the District of Columbia is available online:


 * Report from the Secretary of War... Vol. III (Google Books)
 * The Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. III (Ancestry) ($)

For a list of Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the District of Columbia see


 * John Clagett Proctor, E. Melvin Williams, and Frank P Black, Washington, Past and Present, A History (New York: Lewis Historical Publ., 1930).

Militia
A register of officers of the militia of the District of Columbia, 1813 to 1830, is in Record Group 94 of the Records of the Adjutant General's Office in the National Archives.

Civil War (1861-1865)
See District of Columbia in the Civil War for information about District of Columbia Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the District of Columbia regiments involved in the Civil War. The regimental articles often include lists of the companies with links to the counties where the companies started. Men in the companies often lived in the counties where the companies were raised. Knowing a county can help when researching the families of the soldiers.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System allows name searching for soldiers. The result set gives the regiment for the soldiers. Then you can check the regiment page to determine counties. Often knowing the counties that had men in a regiment will help you determine if a soldier was your ancestor.

World War I (1917-1918)
World War I draft registration cards for men ages 18 to 45 may list address, birth date, birthplace, race, nationality, citizenship, and next of kin. Not all registrants served in the war. For registration cards for the District of Columbia see:


 * United States. Selective Service System. District of Columbia, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1509. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1987-1988. (.)

To find an individual's draft card, it helps to know his name and residence at the time of registration. The cards are arranged alphabetically by county, within the county by draft board, and then alphabetically by surname within each draft board.

Most counties had only one board; large cities had several. A map showing the boundaries of individual draft boards is available for most large cities. Finding an ancestor's street address in a city directory will help you in using the draft board map. For copies of the maps, see:


 * United States. Selective Service System.List of World War One Draft Board Maps. Washington, D.C.: National Archives. (.)

Other Resources
For records of other wars and additional records for the above wars, check the Family History Library Catalog and other repositories, such as the National Archives.