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Finding Soldiers of "Other Wars"

Beginning Research

North Carolina Soldiers
  • 929.1 NGS NCC. “Researching Volunteer Soldiers of the War 1812” by Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. NGS Magazine. Vol. 37 No. 1 (Jan. – Mar. 2011): Pages 36 – 41.
  • 929.1 NOR NCC. The North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal. Vol. 39 No. 3 (Aug. 2013).
    • Feature Articles by Perrah Yarborough on the War of 1812:
      • "The War of 1812 and North Carolina"
      • "Researching State and Federal Records for the War of 1812"
      • "Deserters from North Carolina during the War of 1812"
  • 973.5 DOU NCC. North Carolina roster of soldiers in War of 1812, 1812-1814. by James L. Douthat. This collection lists between 14,000 and 15,000 names of individuals that participated in the War of 1812 from every county in the state, except Greene County."
  • 973.524 L NCC. North Carolina and the War of 1812 (pub. 1971) by Sarah McCulloh Lemmon.
  • 973.52456 L NCC. Frustrated Patriots: North Carolina and the War of 1812 (pub. 1973) by Sarah McCulloh Lemmon.
Other Resources

Enlistment Records

NARA M233. Registers of Enlistments in the United States Army, 1798-1914. "These registers document the service of soldiers in the United States Army from enlistment to termination of service. They will include soldier's name, rank, regiment, and dates of enrollment and discharge. They may include a physical description, place of birth, age, occupation, and remarks regarding transfers, courts-martial, as well as reasons for discharge, including death."
Go tohttps://www.fold3.com/publication/891/us-army-register-of-enlistments-1798-1914

Muster Rolls

Service Records

  • FamilySearch.org
  • Fold3 
    • Go to: https://fold3library.proquest.com/barcode?accountid=11047 Log into Fold3 with your library card
    • War of 1812 Service Records Index (M602)
      Each index card gives the name of the soldier, his rank, and the unit or units in which he served. There are cross-references for names that appear in the records under more than one spelling.
    • War of 1812 Service Records - Mississippi (M678)
      Compiled service records consist of a jacket-envelope for each soldier, labeled with his name, rank, and unit. The records contain card abstracts created from original muster rolls, payrolls, hospital rolls, and other regimental information. They also contain images of original documents pertaining to a particular soldier.
    • War of 1812 Service Records - Lake Erie
      Service records are comprised of cards created from muster, pay, receipt and other rolls for men aboard various vessels attached to the Lake Erie Station during the War of 1812. The information for officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen, and boys includes name, service dates, terms of service, monthly pay, vessels upon which they served, and notes of interest.
    • War of 1812 Service Records - Creek Indians
    • War of 1812 Service Records - Chickasaw Indians                 
  • The Ancestry Library Edition (only available in all Gaston County library branches) has the following:
    • "War of 1812 Service Records, 1812-1815" (name index),

Prisoner of War Records

  • The Ancestry Library Edition (only available in all Gaston County library branches)
    • "War of 1812, Prisoner of War Records, 1812-1815" M1747 and M2019
    • "War of 1812 Papers, 1789-1815" (Only the ‘U.S. Marshal’s Returns of Enemy Aliens and Prisoners of War’ records have been indexed and are searchable by name)
  • War of 1812: Privateers. U.S. and British prisoners of War. Images of Indexed names. Go to: https://www.1812privateers.org/

Pay Vouchers

Pensions and Bounty Land Applications

Pension Application records may contain the veteran's war service and genealogical information about the veteran. Early pensions were granted to disabled soliders or the heirs of soldiers who died during the War of 1812. Later applications were based on service.

Bounty Land was issued to enlisted men who served for at least five years. Some bounty land warrant application files have been compiled together with the pension files. Rejected bounty land applications are not found with the pensions and are commonly called Unindexed Bounty Land Applications.

  • Bureau of Land Management. Check to see if veteran of War of 1812 applied for bounty land. Search by name for warrantees, and by land description to view land patent images for bounty land warrant applications.
    Go to: https://glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx
  • FamilySearch.org
  • Fold3
    • Go to: https://fold3library.proquest.com/barcode?accountid=11047 Log into Fold3 with your library card
    • War of 1812 Pension Application Files (As of March 2025, this database is only 88% complete)
      "This series consists of approximately 180,000 pension and bounty land warrant application files relating to claims based on service between 1812 and 1815. The files generally contain documentation submitted in support of a claim, such as the original application form, affidavits, and statements from witnesses."                   
    • War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815 (M313)
      "The application files indexed in this collection relate to claims of military service between 1812 and 1815. Most of the applications were filed as a result of acts instated in 1871 and 1878. These acts made it possible for veterans and their survivors to receive pensions based on service alone. Earlier acts provided pensions only for service related deaths or disabilities."
    • Final Payment Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864
      "Pension payment records are not typically found in pension application files. These cards were created as an index for the final payments made to either the veteran or his widow. They provide additional details on where a family may have moved in the early- to mid-19th century, death dates of veterans, widows, or dependent children, and sometimes the maiden name of a widow." "These slips serve as an index to final and last payments to over 65,000 veterans of the Revolutionary War and some later wars."
    • War of 1812 Military Bounty Land Warrants (M848)
      "Reproduced 105 bound volumes containing two series of military bounty land warrants issued between 1815 and 1858 to veterans of the War of 1812, and four volumes of indexes to the warrants. These military bounty land warrants were certificates issued to eligible veterans giving them rights to free land in the public domain."
    • US, Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Index, 1812-1855 " (This index is only complete into the "L" names as indexing is ongoing currently.) Index of approved and disapproved bounty-land applications for soldiers who served post-Revolutionary War, 1790-1855.

      "With over 360,000 bounty-land applications, this index covers the years of service spanning the War of 1812, the Indian Wars, and the Mexican War. Soldiers, or their heirs, were allowed to submit an application with affidavits, commissions, discharges, or written declarations as proof of service between 1790 and 1855. The index typically includes information about the soldier's rank, military unit, year of service, state, warrant number and whether or not the application was approved."

  • National Archives
  • The Ancestry Library Edition (only available in all Gaston County library branches) has the following:
    • "War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815",
    • "Pennsylvania, War of 1812 Pensions, 1866-1879",
    • "Louisiana, War of 1812 Pension Lists".
    • "U.S., War Bounty Land Warrants, 1789-1858".

Societies

War of 1812 Society Applications in the District of Columbia (Fold3 Library Edition)
The Society of the War of 1812 in the District of Columbia was formed in 1894 to commemorate those who fought in the War of 1812. Many members were descendants of the original Washington "Warhawks," younger congressman who pushed for going to war with Great Britain in what is often called America's Second War of Independence. The applications provide genealogical data connecting members of the society to their War of 1812 ancestor.
Go to: https://fold3library.proquest.com/barcode?accountid=11047 Log into Fold3 with your library card

National Society United States Daughters of 1812's Ancestor Database contains over 40,000 records that have been officially verified by the Society. To protect the privacy of members, limited information is available to the public.
Go to: https://usdaughters1812.org/ancestor-database/

National Society United States Daughters of 1812
Go to: https://usdaughters1812.org/

North Carolina Daughters of 1812
Go to: https://www.ncdaughters1812.com/

Although no longer active, member activities of the Daughters of War of 1812 Pvt. Vincent Key Chapter No. 373 can be found in the NC Society Daughters of 1812 Scrapbooks.

Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 has biographies of prominent Virginian natives who played key roles in the War of 1812, interactive map to places of interest, and timeline of events.
Go to: http://va1812bicentennial.dls.virginia.gov/index.html

General Society of the War of 1812 "The objectives of the Society are the collection and preservation of rolls, records, books, and other documents relating to the War of 1812."
Go to: https://gswar1812.org/

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