North Dakota Military Records

Portal:North Dakota

The U.S. Military Records Research Outline (34118) provides more information on federal military records and search strategies.

Many military records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The United States Research Outline provides more information on the federal records. For North Dakota the following sources are also very helpful:

Forts
Fort Abercrombie -- in Kansas

Fort Abraham Lincoln -- Textual records of this fort, 1872-1891, 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 Atkinson -- in Iowa

Fort Berthold

Fort Buford -- Textual records of this fort, 1857-1895, 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 Lincoln -- See Fort Abraham Lincoln

Fort Mandan

Fort Pembina -- Textual records of this post, 1876-1895, 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 Rice

Fort Totten -- Textual records of this fort, 1867-1890, 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 Stevenson -- in Montana

Fort Yates -- Textual records of this fort, 1870-1903, 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).

Civil War (1861-1865)
An index to service records of Union volunteers from the Dakota Territory is at the library (FHL film 881616). The library also has an index to pension applications, but the actual service and pension records are at the National Archives. A special census was taken in 1890 of Union veterans of the Civil War (Family History Library film 338218).

Indian Wars (1798-1914)
The Family History Library has enlistment registers for soldiers who served in the regular army, 1798 to 1914. Many of them served in the western states during the Indian Wars. The enlistment registers provide the soldier's rank, unit, commanders, physical description, occupation, and birthplace. The records are arranged by year and by the first letter of the surname (Family History Library films beginning with film 350307).

The library also has an index of soldiers who applied for pensions between 1892 and 1926, for service in the Indian Wars from 1817 to 1898 (Family History Library films 821610-21). The pension records are only at the National Archives.

Spanish-American War (1898)
A published roster of the First North Dakota Infantry in the Philippine Islands is in Clement A. Lounsberry,Early History of North Dakota(Washington, DC: Liberty Press, 1919. Family History Library book 978.4 H2L pp. 577-602; film 1036397).

World War I (1917-1918)
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 North Dakota, see:

Ancestry.com, a subscription web site, has indexed World War I draft registration cards.

United States. Selective Service System.North Dakota, 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 films beginning with film 1819402.)

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 film 1498803.)

A published roster in alphabetical order of soldiers is Brigadier General G. Angus Fraser, Roster of the Men and Women Who Served in the Army or Naval Service (including the Marine Corps) of the United States or its Allies from the State of North Dakota in the World War, 1917-1918, Four Volumes. (Bismarck, North Dakota: Bismarck Tribune Co., 1931; Family History Library book 978.4 M23a; films 982257-8). In addition to the military information, the soldier's date and place of birth, and parents' nationality are also given.