United States, Revolutionary War Compiled Service Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in This Collection?
Index to compiled service records of soldiers who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The collection corresponds to the National Archives and Records Administration publication M881 and is part of Record Group 93 War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Each envelope/jacket contains information and cross references to original records relating to the soldier. The compiled service records are abstracts from original muster rolls and pay rolls and other records from the Revolutionary War from the following National Archives collections.


 * Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, M246, 138 rolls
 * Numbered Record Books Concerning Military Operations and Service, Pay, and Settlement of Accounts, and Supplies in the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, M853, 41 rolls
 * Volumes used in creation the compiled service records
 * 1-11: Lists of Continental and State Troops and Militia. 1775-83
 * 1: List of Connecticut Troops, 1776-83
 * 2: List of Delaware Troops, 1776-83
 * 3: List of Massachusetts Troops, 1776-83
 * 4: List of New Jersey Troops, 1775-80
 * 5: List of New York Troops, 1776-83
 * 6: List of North Carolina Troops, 1776-83
 * 7: List of Pennsylvania Troops, 1776-83
 * 8: List of Rhode Island Troops, 1776-83
 * 9: List of South Carolina Troops, 1776-83
 * 10: List of Officers and Men of Col. Moses Hazen's 2d Canadian Regiment, Col. Benjmain Flower's Artificer Regiment, and Col. Jeduthan Baldwin's Artificer Regiment, 1776-83
 * 11: List of Officers and Men of Sheldon's and Moylan's Dragoons and Lee's Legion, 1776-83
 * 136 1/2: Ledger of Money Accounts with Officers of the North Carolina Line, 1777-83
 * 139: Account Book of Payments made to Officers and Men of the Virginia Line by Lt. Charles Stockley, 1782-83
 * 142: Record of Disbursements, Paymaster General's Office, New York, 1788
 * 143: Paymaster General's Ledger of Accounts with Officers of the Army, 1775-78
 * 145: Receipt Book of George Reid, Assistant Commissioner of Army Accounts, Charleston, S.C. Apr. 1785-Jan. 1786
 * 147 1/2: Receipt Book of John White, Assistant Commissioner of Amry Accounts, Annapolis, MD. Aug.-Nov. 1785 and Mar. 1786
 * 170: Paymaster General's Record of Money Due to Officers and Men of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire Regiments, and to Capt. Robert Walker's Company of Col. John Lamb's Artillery Regiment, 1776-83
 * 171-172: Records of Settlement of Pennsylvania Officers, and Men's Accounts. Sept. 21, 1818
 * 173: List of Pennsylvania Officers and Men Entitled to Donation Lands, Feb. 27, 1830
 * 175-176: Records of Pay and Service of Officers and Men of Virginia,New York, and Georgia, 1775-1856

See also Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. " Dig Deeper into Less Well Known Revolutionary War Records.  " NGS Magazine 35 #2 ( April-June 2009): 52-55.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Service
 * Name of soldier
 * Rank, regiment and commanding officer
 * State from which served
 * Date of commission or enlistment
 * Term of enlistment
 * Pay records
 * Type of records in file
 * NARA publication number, title, and roll number

Collection Content
Sample of indexed information:

How Do I Search This Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The state where your ancestor served
 * The date of your ancestor enlisted

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the estimated age to calculate a birth date
 * Use the age and location of the military unit to find the soldier’s family in census, church, and land records
 * Continue to search the index and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have served in the same unit or a nearby unit
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames
 * Search the records of nearby military units
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the United States.
 * US Military Basic Search Strategies
 * Beginning Research in United States Military Records
 * Finding Your Revolutionary War Ancestor
 * United States Guided Research
 * United States Record Finder
 * Research Tips and Strategies.

Related Family History Library Holdings
Pierce's register : register of the certificates issued by John Pierce, Esquire, Paymaster General and Commissioner of Army accounts for the United States, to officers and soldiers of the Continental Army under act of July 4, 1783.
 * Compiled service records of American Naval personnel and members of the departments of the Quartermaster General and the Commissary General of military stores who served during the Revolutionary War
 * Miscellaneous numbered records (The Manuscript File) in the War Department collection of Revolutionary War records, 1775-1790's
 * Numbered record books concerning military operations and service, pay and settlement of accounts, and supplies in the War Department collection of Revolutionary War records
 * Rhode Island Revolutionary War names index, 1776-1780

Related FamilyHistorical Record Collections

 * United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783
 * United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783
 * United States Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900
 * United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872

Related Digital Books
Military Obligation
 * W.T.R. Saffell. Records of the Revolutionary War.New York : Pudney and Russell, 1858.
 * Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War. 17 vols. Boston, Massachusetts : Wright & Potter, 1896-1908.
 * Isaac W. Hammond. The State of New Hampshire, rolls of the soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 1775, to May, 1777. 4 volumes. Concord, New Hampshire : New Hampshire State Legislature, 1885-1889.
 * Mabel E. Deutrich, comp. Preliminary inventory of the War Department collection of Revolutionary War records : record group 93. Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 1962

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

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Estados Unidos, Registros Compilados de Serviço da Guerra Revolucionária (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch)