Florida Military Records

United States U.S. Military  Florida  Military Records

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

Many military records can be found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The United States research information provides more information about the federal records. For Florida, the following sources are also very helpful:

Forts
Forts were established through the authority of the federal government, to house and maintain the military.


 * Fort Alabama
 * Fort Apalachicola (Blount's fort or Fort Gadsden)
 * Fort Barnwell
 * Fort Barrancas -- Textual records of this fort, 1866-1940, 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 Basinger
 * Fort Brooke 1824-82
 * Fort Brooks
 * Fort Caroline (French) 1564
 * Fort Cooper
 * Fort Drum
 * Fort Dade
 * Fort Dallas 1838-58
 * Fort DefiancePresidio La Bahio)
 * Fort Denaud
 * Fort Drane
 * Fort Fraser
 * Fort Gadsden 1818-21 (Fort Apalachicola)
 * Fort Gardner
 * Fort Hamer
 * Fort Jefferson -- Textual records of this fort, 1844-1936, 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 Jupiter
 * Key West Barracks -- Textual records of this fort, 1850-1910, 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 King 1827-43
 * Fort King Trail
 * Fort Lauderdale
 * Fort Meade -- Textual records of this fort, 1850-1853, 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 Mellon
 * Fort Myers -- Textual records of this fort, 1850-1858, 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 Micanopy
 * Fort Morgan
 * Fort Moultrie
 * Fort Payton
 * Fort Pierce 1838-42
 * Fort San Luis
 * Fort Scott
 * St. Francis Barracks -- Textual records of this fort, 1871-1904, 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 St. Francis de Pupa
 * Fort Taylor-- Textual records of this fort, 1844-1924, 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 Wacahoota
 * Fort Walker

Colonial Wars
As a Spanish colony Florida was part of the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748) which took place between Florida and the British colony of Georgia.

Service Records


 * Military Service Records of Florida and Louisiana, 1787-1794 (in Spanish)

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 for the Territory of Florida 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)
Florida was was under Spanish rule during the War of 1812. Records are available, however, for War of 1812 soldiers that later settled in Florida.


 * War of 1812 pension records (fold3) (free access) are being digitized. Some soldiers that settled in Florida after the War are listed in the records. Currently the records are only 2% complete.

Indian Wars (1780s-1890s)
The library also has an index to Indian Wars pension files, 1892 to 1926 (Family History Library microfilms ). The index includes those soldiers who served between 1817 and 1898. The actual pension files have not been filmed and are only at the National Archives.

Second Seminole War (Florida War) (1835-42) and Third Seminole War (1855-58)

Only the service records for soldiers from the state of Florida have been microfilmed:


 * Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Florida during the Florida Indian Wars, 1835–1858 National Archives Microfilm Publication M1086. (FHL 63 films) (Worldcat)


 * An index to these records is also available, See Index to Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served during Indian Wars and Disturbances, 1815–58.

Civil War (1861-1865)


See Florida in the Civil War for information about Florida Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the Florida regiments involved in the Civil War. The regimental articles 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 the families of the soldiers.

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


 * Florida, Service Records of Confederate Soldiers of the Civil War (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Florida. Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Spanish-American War (1898)
The compiled military service records of volunteer soldiers who served in the Florida Infantry are at the National Archives and the Family History Library (Family History Library microfilms ). Published rosters are found in Soldiers of Florida in the Seminole Indian Civil and Spanish-American Wars (Live Oak, Florida: Democrat Book and Job Print, 1909; Family History Library ).

World War I (1917-1918)
World War I draft registration cards for men ages 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 Florida see:

United States. Selective Service System. Florida, 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 microfilms beginning with film .)

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 microfilm .)