Virginia in the War of 1812

United States   War of 1812     Virginia Military    Virginia in the War of 1812

Introduction
During the War of 1812, Virginia furnished 65,354 infantry men, 8,803 cavalry men, 7,698 artillery men, and 10,036 men in miscellaneous troops for a total of 91,891 men.

Explanation of the Major Record Types

 * Pearson, Thomas A., comp. Genealogical Records of the War of 1812: an Introduction and Selected Bibliography of Materials in the Collection of St. Louis Public Library. (St. Louis, Missouri: St. Louis Public Library, July 2004).

Records

 * Soldiers of the War of 1812at the Library of Virginia


 * National Archives Military Records


 * Virginia. USGenWeb Archives War of 1812 Project - selected pensions, rosters &amp; land records. (Free). (Accessed 1 June 2012).


 * Harris, Nancy E. Ancestor index : Old Virginia Society 1907-1968 ; New Virginia Society 1969-1986 (National Society, United States Daughters of 1812, Virginia State Library 1986 ) pages 58 FS Library Book 975.5 D2


 * Prechtel-Kluskesn, Claire: Records relating to War of 1812 prisoners of war (Washington, District of Columbia, National Archives and Records Administration, 1995) 1 Microfilm

Service Records

 * Library of Virginia, Index to War of 1812 Pay Rolls and Muster Rolls – Indexes Pay Rolls of Militia Entitled to Land Bounty Under the Act of Congress of Sept. 28, 1850 and its supplement, Muster Rolls of the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812. Approximately 40,000 names are indexed. Explanations of this index are at About the War of 1812 Database and Abbreviations for Ranks.


 * Muster Rolls, Payrolls, and Index of the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1955 lists each soldier's name, rank, length of service, service dates, and county (residence). The card index on the first seven films indexes the two books.

Proof of military service during the War of 1812 may be found in two printed volumes:


 * Pay Rolls of Militia Entitled to Land Bounty under the Act of Congress of Sept. 28, 1850 (1851)
 * Muster Rolls of the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812, Being a Supplement to the Pay Rolls (1852), reprinted as Virginia Militia in the War of 1812 from Rolls in the Auditor’s Office at Richmond (2001)..
 * A searchable index to these rolls is available on the Library’s Web site.

Virginia did not grant bounty land or pensions for War of 1812 service. Since many soldiers serving in the War of 1812 ultimately were paid by the federal government, records of their service may be on file in the National Archives. A useful index to these records is:


 * Patrick G. Wardell, War of 1812: Virginia Bounty Land and Pension Applicants (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, c1987).

Genealogical Records at the Library of Virginia


 * Douthat, James L, Roster of War of 1812, Southside, Virginia" (Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press c2007), 302 pages.. Includes Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Greenville, Halifax, Hanover, Henrico, Louisa, Luenenberg, Mecklenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, Powhantan and Prince Edward Counties.


 * Lyman, Myron (Mike) E. War of 1812 veteran burials at St. John's Episcopal Church graveyard, Richmond, VA. (Society of the War of 1812 in the Commonwealth of Virginia, c2009), 21 pages. FS Library Book 975.5451 V3


 * Virginia militia in the War of 1812 : from rolls in the Auditor's office at Richmond. 2 Volumes. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., c2001..

Pension Records
A soldier may have been recorded in state records (see below) or in federal records (see US War of 1812 Pension Records).

The FamilySearch Library also has microfilm copies of the National Archives indexes to the federal service, pension, and bounty land files, but the actual files are only at the National Archives.

Veterans who were still alive in 1883 and drew pensions are identified in a book that is now widely available on the Internet:


 * List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883). Online at: Internet Archive, Ancestry ($). Identifies veterans still living in Virginia in 1883 who drew pensions. Virginia section begins on page 58.


 * Fold3. Virginia War of 1812 Pension Files . (Free). Alphabetical by surname. Shows the entire pension file for those digitized. Incomplete as of 1 June 2012.

Published abstracts of the federal pension and bounty land warrant applications are in:


 * Wardell, Patrick G. War of 1812: Virginia Bounty Land and Pension Applications. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1987. (FS Library book .) Gives marriage and death dates and places, spouses, and residences.


 * Muster rolls, pay rolls, and index of the Virginia militia in the War of 1812 Microfilm of published and typescript material at the Virginia State Library in Richmond, Virginia. 8 Microfilm reels, 16mm and 35mm

State Records

 * Muster rolls, pay rolls, and index of the Virginia militia in the War of 1812


 * Lyman, Myron E. Sr Location of War of 1812 veteran graves in Virginia : arranged alphabetically by veteran and by city or county location (Society of War of 1812 in the Commonwealth of Virginia, c2009). Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.

Rolls of Honor

 * Virginia Honors "Forgotten War of 1812"

Cemetery Records

 * Myron E. Lyman, Sr., compiler, editor ; Craig M. Kilbey, assistant editor. Burials of the War of 1812 veterans in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Berwyn Heights, Maryland : Heritage Books, Inc., 2012-2018. FS Library 975.5 M2Lm
 * Myron E. Lyman, comp.  Location of War of 1812 veteran graves in Virginia : arranged alphabetically by veteran and by city or county location.S.l. : Society of the War of 1812 in the Commonwealth of Virginia, 2009. Digital Images
 * Society of 1812 Burial Projects
 * Burials of Virginia Soldiers of the War of 1812

Histories
The Society of the War 1812has several historical articles:


 * Introduction to Battles and Skirmishes


 * Significant Eventsin the War of 1812 in Virginia


 * Bibliography for the War of 1812 in Virginia


 * National Society US Daughers War of 1812 Virginia Chapters


 * Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission has a timeline of events in Virginia during the war.


 * General Society of the War of 1812


 * Virginia Heritage Guides to Manuscript &amp; Archival Collections in Virginia Type in War of 1812 211 Finding Aids

Battles of the War of 1812

 * Major Events Time Line of the War of 1812 in Virginia


 * Battles and Skirmishes in the War of 1812 Society of the War of 1812


 * Battles of the War of 1812 and their location


 * Lyman, Mayron (Mike) E and William H Hankins, Encounters with the British in Virginia during the War of 1812, (Society of the War of 1812 in the Commonwealth of Virginia, c2009), 44 pages.

Virginia Military Units

 * Virginia War of 1812 Military Records


 * West Virginia War of 1812 Military Records

For a list of where regiments were raised and regimental and company officers, see:


 * Butler, Stuart Lee. A Guide to Virginia Militia Units in the War of 1812. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Publishing Co., 1988. (FS Library book .)


 * Virginia militia in the War of 1812 : from rolls in the Auditor's office at Richmond. 2 Volumes. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., c2001..


 * Virginia in the Revolution and War of 1812..

Societies

 * Virginia, Society of War of 1812 applications, 1970-2009 Digital Images
 * Society of the War of 1812in Virginia
 * Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission has short biographies of prominent Virginians, a timeline of the war in Virginia, and a map of 1812 historical markers.

Important National and International Sources

 * United States in the War of 1812 has lists of records, books, etc. for the United States, not just one state. The federal records are listed here rather than on each state page. Two of the most important are:


 * FamilySearch Historical Records Collection On line Database:


 * FamilySearch Historical Records Collection On line Database:


 * War of 1812, 1812 to 1815 has lists of general books and documentaries, as well as a list battles with links to websites about the battles, and other information not tied to one country.

Other Sources

 * Society of 1812 Publications