Maryland Military Records

United States U.S. Military  Maryland  Military Records



Many military records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. The U.S. Military Records Research Page provides more information on the federal records.

Historical, Veterans and Lineage Societies

 * Maryland Military Historical Society was formed in 1982 to preserve the history, heritage, and memory of Maryland's organized militia. In addition to their focus on the militia, the Society strives to preserve the memory of the military accomplishments of all Marylanders, regardless of branch of service. The Historical Society was the instrumental in the establishment of the Maryland Museum of Military History.


 * Records of veterans’ organizations and lineage societies may be found at their national headquarters or at state archives, historical societies, and Libraries. Some Societies require members to submit applications documenting their ancestry back to a soldier. The applications typically provide birth, marriage, and death information, as well as establish relationship through multiple generations from the applicant to the qualifying ancestors, making these societies an excellent source of information. They may publish membership lists and other records. To contact these societies refer to the Maryland Societies page. For eligibility requirements, contact the individual society.

Forts
Throughout the beautiful land of Maryland historic Forts have dotted the land. Several are still standing and are now National Parks. Some forts no longer exist, but the history they leave behind gives us clues to the life of our ancestors.

Colonial Wars (1632-1775)
Many colonists served in local militias and participated in King William’s War (1689 to 1697), Queen Anne’s War (1702 to 1713), King George’s War (1744 to 1748), and the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763). Because these were local units and not part of the British Army, any surviving records are in historical societies and state libraries and archives. For more information about Colonial Wars see the Colonial Wars page.


 * Maryland Muster Rolls, Fort Cumberland, 1757-58. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949.) The original papers are at the Maryland Historical Society. .) The Maryland State Archives has a card index to muster and pay rolls for the colonial wars from 1732 to 1772.
 * Clark, Murtie June. Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1983) ISBN: 0806310367 9780806310367. Pages 1-123 include lists of Maryland militia from 1732 to 1763. The source sometimes lists residence. It is indexed.
 * "Register of the Maryland Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 1891-1915" (Google Books) (Worldcat) - lists women who are members of the society and a description of the ancestors military or political service.

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
The original service records and the earliest pension records of the Revolutionary War were destroyed in fires in 1800 and 1814. Substitute records were used to make the compiled service records. These records are in Record Group 93 at the National Archives. For more detailed information see the Revolutionary War in Maryland page.

General information about this war can be found on the Revolutionary War Page.

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 of Maryland, which includes Revolutionary War pensioners and heirs of War of 1812 casualties, is available online:


 * Report from the Secretary of War... Vol. II (Google Books)
 * Maryland Pension Files 1835 (5 files) (USGenWeb Archives)
 * The Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. III (Ancestry) ($)

War of 1812 (1812-1815)


The War of 1812 between Britain and the United States confirmed the separate existence of the United States and the future Canada. See the Wiki article, Maryland in the War of 1812, for information concerning military records, histories, links to relevant web sites, etc. for Maryland.

There are helpful nationwide records for soldiers of the War of 1812. For more information, see United States in the War of 1812

Mexican War (1846-1848)
The Mexican War was caused by the annexation of Texas by the United States in 1845. Most volunteer regiments were from southern states. Records of Mexican War veterans might exist in a state where the veteran later resided.


 * United States. Adjutant General’s Office. Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served during the Mexican War in Organizations from the State of Tennessee. Washington D.C.: National Archives, 1965. . This includes regimental returns, a record of events during the war, and company muster rolls.


 * Campbell, William B. Mexican War Letters of Col. William Bowen Campbell of Tennessee, Written to Governor David Campbell of Virginia, 1846-1847. Nashville, Tenn.: Tennessee Historical Magazine, 1915. Free digital copy.


 * Furber, George C. The Twelve Months Volunteer; or, Journal of a Private in the Tennessee Regiment of Cavalry, in the Campaign in Mexico, 1846-7. Cincinnati, Ohio: J.A.U.P. James, 1849. Free digital copy.


 * Mexican War Index to Pension Files, 1887–1926. (NARA T317). Alphabetically arranged and includes the veteran’s name, rank, and unit; names of dependents; date of filing and application; certificate numbers; act filed under; and state from which application was made. Also available at:


 * (FamilySearch) Free digital copy. (Learn more.)


 * Robarts, William Hugh. Mexican War Veterans : A Complete Roster of the Regular and Volunteer Troops in the War Between the United States and Mexico, from 1846-1848… Washington, D.C. : Brentano’s, 1887. Digital version available at Internet Archive.

A list of Maryland volunteers is found in Wells, Charles J. Maryland and District of Columbia Volunteers in the Mexican War. (Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1991.) ISBN 0940907194, 9780940907195. This book lists the soldier’s rank, unit, city of enlistment, and age. For more information about the Mexican War see the Mexican War page.

Click on these links to learn more about the Mexican War and about Mexican War pension records.

Civil War (1861-1865)
See Maryland in the Civil War for information about Maryland Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the Maryland regiments involved in the Civil War. The regimental pages 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 regiments for the soldiers. Then you can check the Wiki regiment pages to determine counties. Often knowing the counties that had men in a regiment will help you determine if a soldier was your ancestor

Family Search Historical Records Collection





Spanish-American War (1898)
The Spanish-American War was largely fought in Cuba and the Philippines. Spanish-American War records might exist in the state from which the soldier served or in a state where the veteran later resided.

Indexes


 * (NARA T288). (FamilySearch) Free digital copy. The "General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934". The index covers veterans of the Civil War, Spanish‑American War, Philippine Insurrection, Boxer Rebellion (1900 to 1901), and the regular Army, Navy, and Marine forces. (Learn more.)


 * (FamilySearch) Free digital copy. (Learn more.)


 * Roster of the Soldiers and Sailors Who Served in Organizations from Maryland during the Spanish-American War. Reprint. (Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1990. Original is Baltimore, Maryland: W.J.C. Dulany, 1901.)


 * A list of Spanish American War Veterans buried in Maryland

Click on the link to learn more about the Spanish American War.

World War I (1917-1918)
World War I was a global war fought on multiple continents with several nations involved. Over four million men and women served from the United States.


 * (FamilySearch) - free

Draft Cards


 * United States. Selective Service System. Maryland, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1987-1988. Available online in the  See WWI Draft Records for more information.

Published Lists of Servicemen


 * Maryland War Records Commission. Maryland in the World War I, 1917-19. Military and Naval Service Records. Two Volumes. (Baltimore, Maryland: Maryland War Records Commission, 1933.) The Family History Library has only volume two, which contains surnames beginning with J to Z.
 * Haulsee, W.M., F.G. Howe, and A.C. Doyle. Soldiers of the Great War. Three Volumes. (Washington, DC: Soldiers Record Publishing Association, 1920.) Digital version available through catalog entry. Volume 1 lists the Maryland soldiers who died in World War I and provides photographs. Full Text is at Google Books


 * World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 ($) Ancestry has the complete set of records for all states and the digitized indexes.


 * World War I Draft Registration Records (free). An Access Genealogy directory leads to text-based draft registration card data on RootsWeb. The data contains the registrant's name, birth date, ethnic group, birth location, and location of registration.


 * Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900; Fold3 ($) NARA T289. Pension applications for service in the US Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.

United States World War I Draft Records provides additional information.

World War II (1941-1945)
Over 16.5 million men and women served in the armed forces during World War II, of whom 291,557 died in battle, 113,842 died from other causes, and 670,846 were wounded. Because of privacy restrictions and loss of records, it is usually best to document World War II service by finding home sources, or by writing to the Adjutant General’s Office of the state from which a soldier served. Discharges may also have been recorded at local county courthouses. Many records may no longer be available due to a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. To learn more about World War II see the World War II page.


 * War Records Division, Maryland Historical Society. Maryland in World War II: Register of Service Personnel. Five Volumes. Baltimore, Maryland: Maryland Historical Society, 1965. (Not at the Family History Library.)


 * Online at FamilySearch Historical Records.


 * Online at FamilySearch Historical Records.


 * Browsable images online at FamilySearch Historical Records.


 * Ancestry has U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 ($)


 * Maryland World War II Casualties Army and Air Force


 * Maryland Veterans of World War II Maryland Historical Society


 * WorldVitalRecords ($) Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook This database contains the following years: 1902,1911,1915,1917 - 1918,1920 - 1921,1923 - 1939,1941 - 1946,1948 - 1951,1953 - 1955,1957,1959 - 1960


 * WorldVitalRecords ($) Army Casualties 1956 - 2003


 * A series of books entitled "Young American Patriots", published shortly after the war, documented the service of soldiers from different states including Maryland and Delaware. The series of books included photos and a short biography of some of the soldiers from the state.

Korean War (1950-1953)
The Korean War was a conflict between North Korea (and its communist allies) and South Korea (with support of the United Nations, primarily the United States). See the Korean War wiki article for information on records and their availability.

There were 518 causalities from Maryland in the Korean War. U.S. military personnel who died from hostile action (including missing and captured) in the Korean war, 1950-1957 are listed alphabetically by name at AII POW-MIA Casualities. This website also gives information on the date of death or date declared dead. Another list of casualties from Maryland in the Korean War is listed in the Korean War Project. To learn more about the Korean War see the Korean War page.

Vietnam War (1964–1972)
The Vietnam War was a conflict between North Vietnam (and its communist allies) and South Vietnam (with support of its anti-communist allies, including the United States). See the Vietnam War wiki article for information on records and their availability.

Maryland had 1046 of it's citizens lose their lives in the Vietnam War. A searchable index can be found at Maryland Distant Cousin. To learn more about the Vietnam War see the Vietnam War page.

Websites

 * General Online Resources for Military
 * Maryland State Archives
 * Pension Records Searchable index to find pensions of Civil War Veterans and also veterans of the Spanish American War, the Philippine Insurrection, Indian Wars, and World War I
 * United States Naval Academy