Colonial Wars, 1607 to 1763

The following are the wars that occured before 1775 in what is now the United States.

By Date                                                     By War

Information from: Family History Library US/Canada Consultants, "[The Colonial Wars," in  LAD Release 4.1 , Family History Library, 2004, mjm.

The states involved in colonial wars were:

Connecticut,  Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia,  and West Virginia.

Many colonists served in local militias and participated in King William’s War (1689–97), Queen Anne's War: 1702-1713, King George’s War (1744–48), and the French and Indian War (1754–63). Because these were local units and not part of the British Army, any surviving records are in historical societies and state libraries and archives.

The Family History Library has copies of many of the records that have been published. These are found in Place Search in the Family History Library Catalog under:

[STATE] ‑ MILITARY RECORDS [STATE], [COUNTY] ‑ MILITARY RECORDS [STATE], [COUNTY], [CITY] ‑ MILITARY RECORDS

For historical information and sources for this period, see the following:

Gallay, Alan, editor. Colonial Wars of North America 1512–1763: An Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Garland Publishing, 1996. (FHL book 973 M2cw.) Contains short essays with references on people, events and topics from the Spanish conquistadors to Pontiac Wars of 1763.

Lydon, James G. Struggle For Empire: A Bibliography of the French and Indian War. New York, New York: Garland Publishing, 1986. (FHL book 973 M23b, vol. 7.) This book is arranged by topics and is a bibliography with brief annotations of books and articles relating to the French and Indian War.

Veterans’ and Lineage Society Records
The General Society of Colonial Wars. This society was established in 1893 and has no permanent headquarters. Check the current edition of the Encyclopedia of Associations described in “Veterans and Lineage Society Records,” in the “Types of Military Records” section of this outline.

The Family History Library has the following records of this society:


 * Register of Members: FHL film 528676
 * Lineage Papers: FHL films 515990–528428
 * Supplemental Records: FHL films 528429–528675
 * Index: FHL films 528677–533974

For the complete listing of film numbers, look in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

UNITED STATES - SOCIETIES