Mississippi Military Records

United States U.S. Military  Mississippi  Military Records

United States Military Records provides more information on federal military records and search strategies.

Many military records are found at the National Archives, the Family History Library, and other federal and state archives. For Mississippi, the following sources are also very helpful.

Forts
Fort Adams1798-1810, Fort Dearborn 1802-09

Post of Grenada-- Textual records of this post, 1867-1870, 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).

Fort McHenry1798

Post of Ship Island-- Textual records of this post, 1865-1870, 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).

Fort Warren-- Textual records of this fort, 1823-1883, 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).

Colonial Wars
Several sets of records of soldiers who served under French, Spanish, and English governments are available on microfilm at the Family History Library. They are in various languages and cover the years 1612 to 1794.

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, which includes Revolutionary War pensioners and heirs of War of 1812 casualties who ventured out into Mississippi, is available online:


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

War of 1812 (1812-1815)
The service records of soldiers who served in Mississippi units are on film, by regiment, at the Family History Library (Family History Library ). The pension records are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. An index to the pensions is at the Family History Library and the National Archives. The original service records are at the National Archives.

Mexican War (1846-1848)
The service records, listed alphabetically by unit, are on film at the Family History Library (Family History Library ). The original service and pension records are available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Civil War (1861-1865)


See Mississippi in the Civil War for information about Mississippi Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the Mississippi regiments involved in the Civil War. The regimental pages 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 more about the soldiers and their families.

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


 * Mississipipi, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Mississippi, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers (FamilySearch Historical Records)

World War I (1917-1918)
An index to World War I army veterans, 1917 to 1918, is available at the Family History Library (Family History Library ). The original index is at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

World War I draft registration cards for men age 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 Mississippi, see:

United States. Selective Service System. Mississippi, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1509. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1987-1988. (On Family History Library films beginning with —.)

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. There is an alphabetical list of cities that are on the map. For a copy of this map see:

United States. Selective Service System. List of World War One Draft Board Maps. Washington, DC: National Archives. (Family History Library .)