Ohio Military Records

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The U.S. Military Records Research Page provides more information on federal military records and search strategies.

Forts
Forts dotted Ohio as settlers, Native Americans and Europeans each struggled for their place on Ohio’s lands. These log forts played an instrumental part of Ohio’s early development and each has it’s own unique tale to tell.

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Although Ohio did not exist as a state during the time of the Revolutionary War, a man born between 1730 and 1765 who lived in Ohio later may have been granted Ohio land for his service for another state or for the Continental Army.

Patriot Records

 * Genealogical Abstracts of the Revolutionary War Pension Files May give a veteran's name, age, birth date, marriage date, residence, names of relatives, unit, and service dates and places.

Pension Files

 * Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land- Warrant Application Files
 * Revolutionary War Pensions

National Archives
If you prefer to order a copy of the original records from the National Archives, use NATF Form 80. This form is available from the National Archives,at the nearest federal office building or online.

Land Warrants

 * ''U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants Used in the U.S. Military District of Ohio and Related Papers, Acts of 1788, 1803, 1806
 * Land Grants and Sales
 * Ohio Land and Property page is a good source for this information.

Rosters
Rosters have been published for soldiers who lived in Ohio and are buried there, such as:


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio.


 * The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Who Lived in the State of Ohio


 * Official Roster III, Soldiers of the American Revolution Who Lived in the State of Ohio

War of 1812 (1812-1815)
The War of 1812

Rosters
Microfilmed and published rosters are available at the Family History Library. These include:


 * Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812. 1916


 * Index to the Grave Records of Soldiers of the War of 1812 Buried in Ohio

Mexican War (1846-1848)

 * The Mexican War

Rosters
For published rosters of Ohio soldiers who served in the Mexican War, see:


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War with Mexico, 1846-1848


 * Official Roster of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, and in the War with Mexico, 1846-1848.


 * Index to Mexican War (1846) Records at the Ohio State Archives Consists of microfilm of a card file at the Ohio State Archives which gives the name of each soldier's military unit.


 * Ohio in the Mexican War Includes a section that tells when and where a company was raised and lists many of the officers in those companies. The Library does not have volume 21.

Civil War (1861-1865)

 * The Civil War

Service Records
The index to the federal service records of Union volunteers from Ohio is:


 * Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Ohio United States. Adjutant General's Office.

Union Pension Records
The index to the Union pension records for all states is:


 * Pension Index File, Alphabetical

The actual service and pension records are available only at the National Archives. To order a copy of the original records, use NATF Form 80, which is available from the National Archives, at the nearest federal office building or online

Federal Pensions
Names and residences of persons receiving federal pensions in 1883 can be found in:


 * Index to Ohio Pensioners of 1883. This includes veterans of the Civil War and the War of 1812 or their widows.

Civil War Pension Index Cards - A free Internet index to pension applications of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch Record Search. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. Other wars, of that time period, may be included.

State Records
Records of Civil War soldiers were also kept by county and state officials. These include:


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion: Original Muster In &amp; Muster Out Rolls of Ohio Military Organization in the Civil War, 1-3 Year Enlistments, 1861-1866 Rosters are arranged by name of regiment and give enlistment and service information about each soldier.


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion: Muster In &amp; Muster Out Rolls of Ohio Military Organization in the Civil War, 1861-1866, 3-Month Enlistments Arranged by regiment.


 * Official Roster of the Colored Troops of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion: Original Muster In and Muster Out Rolls of the Civil War, 1-3 Year Enlistments, 1861-1866


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866 The files were compiled by the Works Progress Administration in 1938.

Rolls of Honor
A published roster is also available in:


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866.

Biographical Sketches
Officers
 * Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers

National Old Soldier Homes
For records of national old soldier homes, including the one in Dayton, Ohio, which served Ohio and nearby states, see:


 * Registers of Veterans at National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1937 Includes general indexes for each of the 12 homes, but some individual volumes are indexed separately. These may list a soldier's name, date and place of enlistment, rank, military unit, length of service, date and place of discharge, place of birth, age, physical description, religion, occupation, previous residence, marital status, nearest relative, pension, home admission and discharge dates, disability, death date, or cause of death. Though most were Civil War soldiers, veterans of other wars were included.

State Soldiers' Home

 * Located in Sandusky; Ohio Veterans Home (Sandusky, Ohio). Veterans Home Records, 1889-1995. Sanduskey and Georgetown

Quarterly Publication

 * Ohio Civil War Genealogy Journal. This publication is devoted exclusively to Ohio and Ohioans in the Civil War.

Spanish-American War (1898)

 * The Spanish-American War

State Wide Rosters
Muster-in and muster-out rolls are on 31 microfilms at the Family History Library.


 * The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-1899.


 * Index to Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-1899


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio. Muster In and Muster Out Rolls in the Spanish American War: . . .


 * Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-99 Original data: Compiled under the direction of Frank B. Willis, Governor, Charles Q. Hildebrant, Secretary of State, and Benson W. Hough, Adjutant General. The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-99. Ft. Leavenworth, KS, USA: C.A.R.L. Library, 1916.

By 1890, about 40 percent of the Civil War veterans were members of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The descriptive books of each GAR post usually indicate each member's name, age, rank, birthplace, residence, occupation, and enlistment and discharge information. Records of GAR posts and of other veteran organizations may be found in various libraries and archives throughout Ohio.

World War I (1917-1918)

 * World War I

Registration Cards
World War I draft registration cards for men ages 18 to 45 may list each registrant's address, birth date, birthplace, race, nationality, citizenship, and next of kin. Not all registrants served in the war.


 * Ohio, 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 by county and by draft boards within the county. Individuals are listed alphabetically 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. Special maps of Cleveland and Cincinnati have been prepared, to show the draft board registration district boundaries.

The cities are listed in alphabetical order by name of the city.


 * List of World War One Draft Board Maps has a copy of this draft board registration district boundaries map.

Service cards for Navy (eight films), Marine Corps (three films), out-of-state (four films), and regular service (76 films) are on films at the Family History Library. The cards containing the names and information on over 200,000 soldiers have also been published in:


 * The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the World War, 1917-1918


 * World War I - Service Cards of the State of Ohio

Service records for World War I and later wars are at the Adjutant General's Office (State House, Columbus, OH 43215).

World War II (1941-1945)

 * World War II

Dead and Missing Soldiers
Lists of dead and missing soldiers who served during World War II, arranged alphabetically by county.


 * World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing - State of Ohio


 * World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from Ohio

Additional Records

 * World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing - State of Ohio. A concerted effort has been made to locate the Ohio gravesites of veterans from all pre-1945 wars. The cards are arranged alphabetically.


 * Roster of Soldiers of the Ohio National Guard, 1874-1917.


 * The History of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home at Xenia, Ohio This does not include the records.

Military service records are also found in the office of each county auditor and county recorder. The Family History Library has microfilms of discharge papers, dating from the Civil War to 1920 (some to 1970), for about half the counties in Ohio.

Prominent Ohio Veterans
Information about prominent Ohio veterans and major military actions is in:


 * Two Hundred Years: The Military History of Ohio.

Many more useful sources are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under:

OHIO - MILITARY RECORDS

OHIO - MILITARY RECORDS - [WAR]

OHIO - MILITARY HISTORY

OHIO - MILITARY HISTORY - [WAR]

OHIO, [COUNTY] - MILITARY RECORDS

Web Sites
Online Military information for Ohio is located at:
 * Revolutionary War Documents from Footnote
 * Civil War Documents from Footnote
 * Civil War Genealogy
 * Civil War Records
 * How to Trace Your US Military Ancestors
 * Military Abbreviations Found on U.S. Grave Markers
 * Military Records
 * Military Tombstones
 * National Archives
 * Ohio Military Men 1917-1918
 * Online Searchable Military Records & Databases for the USA.