Maryland Military Records

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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 The Maryland State Archives has a card index to muster and pay rolls for the colonial wars from 1732 to 1772.
 * Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774 Pages 1-123 include lists of Maryland militia from 1732 to 1763. The source sometimes lists residence. It is indexed.

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


 * 1) Maryland Pension Files 1835 (5 files), courtesy: USGenWeb Archives
 * 2) The Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. III, courtesy: Ancestry.com ($)

War of 1812 (1812-1815)
The Society of The War of 1812 along with it's counterpart State Society United States Daughters of 1812 works to provide information about the people between the close of the American Revolution and the close of the War of 1812. Among the Societies' holdings are family histories. For more information about the War of 1812 see the War of 1812 page.

Service Records
These records have not been microfilmed, so you must order photocopies from the National Archives. The Family History Library does have a microfilm copy of the index to these records. ($) Ancestry.com also has an index available online by clicking here.


 * A roster of soldiers and sailors with their rank and unit, compiled by Louis Henry Dielman, is in The British Invasion of Maryland, 1812-1815 Click here to view this book online.
 * Published abstracts of muster, pay, and receipt rolls of soldiers who served in the militia are in Maryland Militia War of 1812
 * A list of American prisoners kept at Dartmoor Prison in England is found in Dartmoor Prison 6,554 Americans were kept at this prison. Approximately 581 died while prisoners.

Pension Records
These records have not been microfilmed, so you must order photocopies from the National Archives. The Family History Library does have a microfilm copy of the index to these records The Family History Library also has the following index to pension records Index to War of 1812 Pension Files


 * War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815($) Ancestry.com

Mexican War (1846-1848)
A list of Maryland volunteers is found in Maryland and District of Columbia Volunteers in the Mexican War. 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.

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.

Spanish-American War (1898)

 * Roster of the Soldiers and Sailors Who Served in Organizations from Maryland during the Spanish-American War

Online Resources
A list of Spanish American War Veterans buried in Maryland

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 more information about World War I see the World War I page. Registration cards for Maryland can be found at Maryland, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. 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 more. Finding an ancestor's street address in a city directory will help you determine the board number if he lived in a large city. A map of Baltimore has been prepared which shows the draft board registration districts. The cities listed in the map are in alphabetical order by name of the city. For a copy of this map, see List of World War One Draft Board Maps Published lists of servicemen include:


 * Maryland War Records Commission. Maryland in the World War I, 1917-19 The Family History Library has only volume two, which contains surnames beginning with J to Z.
 * Soldiers of the Great War Volume 1 lists the Maryland soldiers who died in World War I and provides photographs. Full Text is at Google Books

Online Resources

 * World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 ($) Ancestry has the complete set of records for all states and the digitized indexes.
 * World War I Draft Registration Records (free). An Access Genealogy directory leads to text-based draft registration card data on RootsWeb. The data contains the registrant's name, birth date, ethnic group, birth location, and location of registration.
 * |2414472 Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900; Footnote ($) NARA T289. Pension applications for service in the US Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.

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.


 * Maryland in World War II: Register of Service Personnel

Online Resources

 * 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

Korean War (1950 TO 1953)
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 Causalities. 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 to 1972)
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.

Family History Library
The Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog lists military records under:


 * MARYLAND - MILITARY RECORDS
 * MARYLAND, [COUNTY] - MILITARY RECORDS

General Websites for Military

 * General Online Resources for Military
 * 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