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Links to resources that have service records for multiple states: This page: Government | Military | Prisoners of War | Pension Appls | SAR/DAR Archives Other pages: Bounty Land | Gravesites | External Web Sources | Ethnic & Social Groups

Links to pages that have resources for single states: AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD ME MI MO MN MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WI WV WY  Continental Regiments with many Canadian residents Suggestions for external queries and documentation search engines

Latest Changes: 07Dec23 - reformat return links / 08Jan05 - more POW lists / 08Apr01- add Mariners of the American Revolution /

The Veterans Administration has records for 217,000 U.S. military patriots
from the American Revolution. Thousands more patriots served in the government
(as Benjamin Franklin did) or provided the vital funds and materials required in the fight
for independence. For over a century members of the Sons of the Revolution (SR),
Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), the Daughters of the American
Revolution (DAR), and Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R.),
have collected documentation of the U.S., French, and Spanish participants
in the fight for liberty: officers, enlisted personnel, elected leaders,
civil servants, and others who provided material support for the patriot effort.

Researching Your Revolutionary War Patriot Ancestor(s), by Debbie Duay, Ph.D., is a tutorial on a step-by-step process for finding any Revolutionary War patriots that may be hidden in your family tree and then gathering the documents necessary to document ("prove") the lineage for an application to a lineage society.

Government Service Records  (see also single state) Presidents of the Continental Congresses Signers of the Declaration, Articles, and Constitution [PDF file] State Presidents / Governors 1776-1790 Delegates to the Continental Congresses of 1774 to 1789 [PDF file] is an alphabetic listing noting the state and the years served. Many states have published books detailing the lives of their founding legisatures.

Military Service Records  (see also single state) Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, April 1775, to December, 1783 by F.B. Heitman (Washington D.C., 1893). This 570-page book has an alphabetical list of the officers of the Continental Army, also many officers of the militia, giving the date of rank in each grade; all brevet commissions; all cases in which thanks, swords, or honors were conferred by the Congress; date and place if killed, wounded, taken prisoner, and exchanged; and in many cases date of death after leaving the service. The book was reprinted in 1967 by the Genealogical Publishing Co. (Baltimore MD). Page-images of this book have been posted by the Hudson River Valley Institute as a series of PDF files: Officers of the Continental Army The revised ed., by F.B. Heitman (Washington D.C., 1914) has additional information. Officers of the Continental Navy and Marine Corps [U.S. Dept of the Navy -- Naval Historical Center] National Archives (NARA) provides only a small amount of data on-line, but General Index to Compiled Military Service Records of Revolutionary War Soldiers" (National Archives M860)provides a surname locater for the Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War (National Archives M881) American Revolutionary War Soldiers and Their Descendants includes Email address of researchers See FreeSurnamesSearch Finding Your Patriot Ancestors, by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG [Genealogy.com] tells how to search for military service information in the NARA files. The following books may be searched on Ancestry.com You may find them by clicking "Search", scroll down to and click "Military" and then scan down that list until you find the book. "Muster and Pay Rolls of the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783: Miscellaneous Records" "Mariners of the American Revolution" "Officers of the Continental and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-1900" "Records of the Revolutionary War (10,183 records)" "Revolutionary War Courts-Martial (3,873 records)" "Revolutionary War Officers (18,782 records)" "U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (425,724 records)" PRINT RESOURCES: ------------------------------------------------ Nothing But Blood and Slaughter -- The Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, by Patrick O'Kelley (a 4 volume set) has the orders of battle and lists of commanding officers for many of the battles in this region.

Pension Applications  If a military veteran or spouse lived past 1830 there is a good chance that he/she filed an application for a pension. This may verify military service and provide a description of that service. The applications are available on microfilm at National Archives centers and at major genealogy archives. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files. (Record Group15, Microfilm Series M804) is a set of 2,670 microfilms with records for 80,000 applicants, arranged in alphabetic order by surname. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) holds the original (paper) documents. NARA does not provide online access to the microfilm images or to an index, but the microfilms and the surname range index are available at regional branches of the National Archives and at many major genealogical libraries. The index helps you to determine which specific roll of microfilm (in M804) contains the alphabetic range for the surname you seek. For example, it notes that Roll 2294 contains records for "Stiles, Aaron" to "Stiles, Silas". The Surname Range Index for each microfilm have been posted on Yahoo's RevList by Ed St. Germain. After determining which roll of microfilm has your ancestor's surname the individual microfilms may be rented though your local library or through a Family History Center (a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- often called as LDS or Mormons). Heritage Quest (HQ) is a Web service that provides search through and images of the pension applications, census records, and other useful items. HQ is available online to members of the New England Hist. and Gen. Soc. Many public libraries and archives also subscribe, and at those libraries you may access HQ at no charge. However, the files on HQ are the abbreviated files, limited to the 12 or so pages that the clerk in the National Archives thought most likely to be of genealogical significance, so it is possible that the pages that were omitted may contain the information that you seek. [Submitted by Daryl Verstreate, Jr., and Dennis Marrs (Empire State Society SAR)] The full text of Pension Applications is being posted [on SouthernCampaign.org] for men who enlisted from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia and from other participants in the Southern Campaign (which included Continentals from several northern states). Over 1,200 were posted in 2007 Feb, and viewers are asked to help by contributing more.

Photos of People Who Lived before 1783 Some who experienced the Revolutionary War first-hand were still alive when photography came into use (1839). Several veterans appeared in Reverend Elias Hillard ‘s Last Men of the Revolution, and now David Lambert (of the New England Historic Genealogical Society) and Maureen Taylor (of Ancestral Connections) are collecting and documenting such photos and people. For details see www.maureentaylor.com/projects.html. The Last Surviving Full Pensioners of the American Revolution [based on information supplied by Roy Goold Registrar of the Empire State Society SAR] Lemuel Cook, Sr., served during the American Revolution in Capt William Stanton's company in the 2nd Regiment of Light Dragoons under Col. Elisha Sheldon of Connecticut. He was discharged at Danbury CT on 12 June 1784. He was granted a pension in 1818 and all subsequent pension acts. In 1862 Cook was one of the surviving pensioners photographed by the Rev. Elias B. Hillard for his book "The Last Men of the Revolution" (H.S. Griffiths, Hartford CT, 1864)). article on Cook [americanrevolution.org] Cook died at the age of 107 years on 20 May 1866 at Clarendon NY. At the time of his death he was the oldest surviving full pensioner. An SAR chapter was formed under his name at Albion, NY. His grave was marked by the Rochester Chapter of the Empire State Society SAR. Daniel Frederick Bakeman said he served in Col. Marinus Willett’s Regiment (NY Continentals). He applied for and was granted a "special act" pension by the 39th Congress (1867-8) because he could not meet the pension requirements under any of the other pensions laws. He then became the oldest surviving full pensioner. Bakeman died at the age of 102 years in 1869 at Freedom NY. His grave was marked by the Buffalo Chapter of the Empire State Society SAR.

1820 Pensioners of Revolutionary War - Struck Off the Roll is a list of 5,417 records for names that were first struck off and then restored in 1820. See FreeSurnamesSearch 1840 U.S. Census of Pensioners - Revolutionary War or Military Service has the the name, age, residence of the few pensioners still alive nearly sixty years after the war. See FreeSurnamesSearch Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions (Washington DC, 1852) is a database of over 8,600 records. It is available online ( if you are a member of Ancestry.com) as "American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions". The following books may be searched on Ancestry.com You may find them by clicking "Search", scroll down to and click "Military" and then scan down that list until you find the book. "Revolutionary War Pension Index" (1,784 records) "Naval Pensioners of the United States" "Pension List of 1820" (12,750 records) "The Pension Roll of 1835", Vols. I-IV (about 54,000 records) "U.S. Pensioners, 1818-1872" (160,553 records) "American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions" (8,613 records) "Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions" (7,905 records) New England Hist. and Gen. Soc. has a database on U.S. Revolutionary War Naval Pensioners' Receipts, 1829-1832 PRINT RESOURCES: ------------------------------------------------ Information on determining if a person has a pension or land warrant and locating that file is provided by Revolutionary War Pension & Land Warrant Records Vols. 5, 6 (available from www.ancestorstuff.com as #5001-W071, #5001-W061) Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, by Virgil White, is a four-volume compendium of relationships noted in thousands of pension files. A supplementary resource is The 'Lost' Pensions: Settled Accounts of the Act of 6 April 1838, by Craig R. Scott (Willow Bend Books, Lovettsville VA, 1996) (softcover, available through Amazon.com). This lists the people named in the 144 boxes of previously unindexed payment records in National Archives Record Group 217, entitled "Settled Accounts for Payment of Accrued Pensions (Final Payments)". [Submitted by Dennis Marr, (Empire State Society SAR]] The National Archives has a little-known resource called the "Final Pension Payment File" with information on who filed for the payment after the death of the RevWar pensioner. This may list a wife or children not noted on the pension application itself. You may have to ask twice for this; some employees at NARA may not recognize it.

Prisoners of War: Captured U.S. Forces and Supporters  The largest captures of U.S. troops were 4,000 in battles in the New York City area in 1776 5,000 at Savannah GA in 1780. Many others were captured at Quebec (1775), Brandywine PA (1777), Charleston SC (1780), and Camden SC (1781). In addition many commercial and naval vessels were captured and the crew imprisoned. More Americans died in British prisons than died of battlefield injuries. They were kept under dreadful conditions both in the U.S. and elsewhere: Mariners of the American Revolution by Marion Kaminkow (Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore MD, 1993). Data for several thousand captured American privateers in British prisons: ship, date confined, date left (by pardon, exchange, release or escape), and source citation. The introduction provides a list of American ships captured by the British during the Revolution. Page images are available to subscribers of Ancestry.com Print Resource: National Archives Micropublications 246 (Rev. War Rolls) Roll 135, Item 4 - Prisoners of War has lists from several British prison sites. [Citation contributed by Judy Longley] New York City: sugarhouses, city prisons, and prison ships in Wallabout Bay -- including the Jersey, Stromboli, and Hunter. American Prisoners [U.S. Maritime Service Veterans] has a list of 8,000 American prisoners kept aboard the British prison ships in New York harbor. Michigan: Detroit List of nearly 40 killed and 65 taken prisoner (mostly PA militia) at 1781 Aug: Lochry's defeat (Indiana) description of the battle and notes on the lists by Judy Longley [on RootsWeb] South Carolina: Hadrell's Point Canada: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Quebec Print Resource: “Rebel Prisoners at Quebec 1778 –1783", by Chris McHenry (published by the author, Lawrenceburg IN, 1981). McHenry compiled this from lists in the Gen. Frederick Haldimand Papers in the British Library, Additional Manuscripts #21,845, folio 125 and Add. Mss. 21,843. These papers list hundreds of soldiers, privateers, families and hunters who were captured by Indians. The lists give the name, residence, place and sometimes date of capture, and place where held in Quebec. The papers may be obtained on inter-library loan -- from the Public Archives of Canada, 395 Wellington, Ottawa, K1A ON3, Canada -- as Microfilm Roll A-765, pp 289 to 319 . English prisons: Tower of London, Dartmoor, Old Mill at Plymouth, Forton at Portsmouth Print Resource: Prisoners of War in Britain 1756 to 1815 - A Record of their LIves, Their Romance and Their Sufferings, by Francis Abell (Oxford University Press, 1914) 464 pp. [Dartmoor prison: pp. 235 - 283] Prisoners of War: Captured British Forces and Supporters The largest captures of British troops in the U.S. were 1,000 at Trenton in 1776 5,800 at Saratoga in 1777 8,000 at Yorktown in 1781. Other British forces were captured by France and Spain after they joined the global fight in 1778. Those (and the French and Spanish captured by the British) are not at present included in this site's discussions. British and Hessian prisoners fared somewhat better in American prison camps than Americans did in British prisons. Information is available on-line for some of these: Massachusetts: Rutland (10 miles NW of Worcestor) was the first place where some 5,800 prisoners from the "Convention Army", were imprisoned in 1777. Some of them spent six years in captivity, moving to Charlottesville VA, Winchester VA, Frederick MD, York PA, and Reading PA (see below). New York: the court house at Kingston (also called Esopus) Pennsylvania: Camp Security near York PA describes the history of several groups of prisoners. Between the summer of 1781 and the spring of 1783 this camp housed up to 1,500 British and Canadian prisoners of war, many from the "Convention Army", who were imprisoned for a total of six years. Maryland: Frederick Hessian Barracks at Fort Frederick were used to house Hessian prisoner (very little information on the Web site) Virginia: Charlottesville and Winchester had prison camps for the Convention Army and later for the soldiers who surrendered at Yorktown in 1781. PRINT: General Resources: Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution Bibliography of Print Resources [Army Center for Military History]

SAR or DAR (or Other) Archives  (see also single state) Sons of the American Revolution (SAR): Men and women whose patriotic services have been documented, reviewed, and accepted in applications for SAR members up to about 2001 are listed in the 2002 CDROM edition of The SAR Patriot Index. This CD provides genealogical information for over 610,000 people named in these SAR applications. For further information see the SAR Patriot index Web site at www.sar.org/pat_idx/default.htm. The Tennessee Society SAR is posting a list of all the documented patriot ancestors of TNSSAR members (over 1,500 in 2005) [HTML file, has only the patriot's name] Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR): You may ask the DAR to check to see if your ancestor has had his or her patriotic service documented as part of an application for DAR membership. Fill-in DAR Look-up Request Form. PRINT RESOURCES: ------------------------------------------------ The DAR Lineage Books list all the people in the line from the patriot down to the applicant. While these are old applications with little or no documentation, the lines may be helpful for your research. At Ancestry.com you may search the 2.4 million names in the DAR Lineage Books database

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