US Military Types of Military Records

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Service Records
Service Records document an individual's involvement in the military. They usually provide an ancestor's unit or organization. This information makes it easier to find pension records. They may give the county of residence at the time of enlistment. They seldom give information about a soldier's family.

1. Enlistment and Discharge Records

 * Muster Rolls are attendence rosters. They usually give the soldier's name with the date and place of enlistment and muster.
 * Descriptive rolls provide name, rank, age, physical description, marital status, occupation, place of birth, place of residence, and service information. The National Archives or the State's Adjutant General's Office may have these rolls.
 * Discharge or muster-out rolls are federal rolls were sent to the State Adjutant General.
 * Discharge certificates from 1865-1944 may be in the family's possession.
 * Counties often recorded discharges. In the FHLC, do a Place Search for [COUNTY, STATE] - MILITARY RECORDS.

2. Compiled Service Records
The federal government abstracted the service records for soldiers serving 1775-1902 from unfilmed original records at NARA such as muster rolls, pay lists, hospital records, record books, orders, and correspondence. Data about each soldier was put on a card. The card and some original documents were put in a file. The files are arranged by state, then military unit, then alphabetically by soldier's name.

3. Other Service Records (many at NARA)

 * Pay rolls
 * Order books
 * Hospital records
 * Prisoner of war records
 * Promotions
 * Desertion records
 * Records of courts-martial

Pension Records
The federal, and some state governments gave pensions or bounty lands to veterans and/or their families. Not all veterans received pensions or land. These records usually have more genealogical information than service records.

INFORMATION FROM: Family History Library US/Canada Consultants, January 2004, MJM.