Kentucky Military Records

United States U.S. Military  Kentucky  Military Records

Military records identify millions of individuals who served in the military or who were eligible for service. Evidence that an ancestor actually served may be found in family traditions, census records, naturalization records, biographies, cemetery records, and records of veterans’ organizations. Military records can give birth, marriage, and death dates; spouses’ and children’s names; and places of residence throughout the life of the family. Military records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The Kentucky Military History Museum in Frankfort (which is part of the Kentucky Historical Society, listed in the "Societies" section) also has many military records. The United States Military Records Wiki article provides more information about the federal records and search strategies. For Kentucky the following sources are also available.

Forts
Fort Boonesboro (1775)

Fort Jefferson

Fort Nelson -- French and Indian War (1754–1763)


 * Newport Barracks -- Textual records of this post, 1833-1894, 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).
 * Taylor, Philip Fall. A Calendar of the Warrants for Land in Kentucky, Granted for Service in the French and Indian War. (See Kentucky Land and Property.) This record contains an alphabetical list of soldiers, mostly from Virginia, who received warrants for bounty land in what is now Kentucky from about 1774 to 1789.

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
If a person supported the Revolution, he may be mentioned in records as a rebel, patriot, or Whig. Those who opposed the Revolution were Loyalists or Tories.

Patriots

Service and pension records and indexes for patriots are available on film at the National Archives and the Family History Library. See the United States Military Records Wiki article for these sources.

The Revolutionary War was fought before Kentucky became a state in 1792. Many veterans came to Kentucky and may be listed in:


 * Quisenberry, Anderson Chenault. Revolutionary Soldiers in Kentucky: Containing a Roll of the Officers of Virginia Lines Who Received Land Bounties, a Roll of the Revolutionary Pensioners in Kentucky, a List of the Illinois Regiment Who Served Under George Rogers Clark in the Northwest Campaign, also a Roster of the Virginia Navy. Baltimore, Maryland.: Southern Book, 1959. (Family History Library .) These lists are arranged by county and alphabetically within each county by the name of the pensioner.
 * Virginia State Library. Department of Archives and History. List of the Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia: Special Report of the Department of Archives and History for 1911 and 1912. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1954. (Family History Library .) The contents of this record are arranged in alphabetical order by surname.

An Internet site entitled “Revolutionary War Warrantsis available to determine the names of Virginia veterans (or their assignees) who received bounty land warrants as payment for military service. The database also includes scanned images from the Warrants Register and the file identification for the patents authorized by the evolutionary War land warrants.

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 of Kentucky, which includes Revolutionary War pensioners and heirs of War of 1812 casualties, is available online:


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

Loyalists

For Loyalist records see the Canada Military Records Wiki article.

War of 1812 (1812-1815)

 * Kentucky. Adjutant General. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky. Soldiers of the War of 1812. 1891. Reprint, Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical, 1992. (Family History Library This book lists by company all soldiers who served, giving their name, rank, enlistment and termination dates. An index is included with the book. See also:
 * Index to Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky, Soldiers of the War of 1812. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Historical Society, 1968. (Family History Library film .)

Mexican War (1846–1848)

 * Kentucky. Adjutant General. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky: Mexican War Veterans (1846–1847). Frankfort, Kentucky.: Historical Society, 1966. (Family History Library .) These are arranged by company and regiment and then alphabetically by the name of the soldier. It includes his name and rank, dates and length of service, the places he was mustered in and out of, and the dates this mustering took place.

Civil War (1861–1865)


See Kentucky in the Civil War for information about Kentucky Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the Kentucky 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.

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


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

Spanish-American War (1898)

 * Kentucky. Adjutant General. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky: Kentucky Volunteers, War with Spain, 1898–1899. 1908. Reprint, Frankfort, Kentucky.: Historical Society, 1966. Family History Library .) These unindexed records are arranged by company and regiment and then alphabetically by name. They include the soldier’s name, rank, date and place of enrollment, and dates and places of mustering in and out.
 * Volunteer Officers and Soldiers of the Spanish American War, 1898–1899. Frankfort, Kentucky.: Kentucky Historical Society, 1966. (Family History Library .) These are arranged alphabetically by name within the company and regiment. The soldier’s name, rank, and enlistment and muster dates and places are listed.

World War I (1917-1918)
For a published roster of soldiers who died in the war, see:


 * Haulsee, W. M. Soldiers of the Great War. 3vols. Washington, DC: Soldiers Record Pub. Association, 1920. (Family History Library ].) Kentucky soldiers are listed in volume 1, pages 375 to 408. It gives the soldier’s name, residence, rank, and cause of death, and it includes pictures.

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 Kentucky, see:


 * United States. Selective Service System. Kentucky, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1509. Washington DC: National Archives, 1987–1988. (On 92 Family History Library .)

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 draft board, and 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 use 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. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1989. (Family History Library .) Louisville is included in these maps.

Following World War I Kentucky attempted to keep three sets of records by county. They were:

Scrapbooks.

Records filled out by soldiers.

Records from the government with service number.

These records are scattered, though a full set may be found in the Department of Libraries and Archives in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Vietnam War (1963–1972)

 * Register of Vietnam War Casualties from Kentucky. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Department for Libraries &amp; Archives, 1988. (Family History Library .) This book lists soldiers alphabetically and by county. It includes lists of soldiers who came from other states and those who were missing in action. The soldier’s name, rank, birth date, residence, and casualty date are given.

Other Military Records
For a published list of militia officers from 1792 to 1811, see:


 * Clift, Garrett Glenn. The Corn Stalk Militia of Kentucky, 1792–1811: A Brief Statutory History of the Militia and Records of Commissions of Officers in the Organization from the Beginning of Statehood to the Commencement of the War of 1812. Frankfort, KY.: Kentucky Historical Society, 1957. (Family History Library .) This book is indexed and includes an alphabetical list of soldiers by year, showing each soldier’s name, regiment, and enlistment date.

For an index to Kentucky veterans from the War of 1812 to World War I, see:


 * Kentucky Historical Society (Frankfort, Kentucky). Index to Veterans of American Wars from Kentucky. Frankfort, KY: Kentucky Historical Society, 1966. (Family History Library .) This microfilm is arranged by war and then alphabetically by the name of the veteran. It references published rosters for the various wars.
 * For a comprehensive description of both federal and Kentucky state military records, see James C. Neagles’s book U. S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to the Present. Pages 246 to 254 provide details of military records (many of which are not microfilmed) housed in various archives in Kentucky.

Additional military information and sources can be found in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

KENTUCKY- MILITARY HISTORY

KENTUCKY- MILITARY RECORDS

KENTUCKY, [COUNTY]- MILITARY RECORDS

KENTUCKY, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- MILITARY RECORDS