Revolutionary War Records at the National Archives and DAR Library

National Archives Research

Researching Revolutionary War military records can prove a challenging task. The records are fragmentary as many were destroyed by fire in 1800 and 1814. American forces during the American Revolution included many types of military organizations created by the Continental Congress, states, towns and counties. Regular units authorized by Congress formed the Continental Army, but this army was frequently supplemented by local militia and volunteer units. Many of the militia and volunteer records are not held by the National Archives. Some records may be found at the appropriate state archives. The following list of Revolutionary War Records are held at the National Archives.

The Revolutionary War compiled service records consist of a card or cards containing information abstracted from such original records as muster rolls, payrolls, returns, and other records. A typical service record gives the soldier's name, rank, military unit, and dates of entry into the service and separation by discharge, desertion or death. These records are valuable for proving military service.

Pension and bounty land warrant applications are based on the participation of American army, naval and marine officers and enlisted personnel in the Revolutionary War.

Pension files often contain both historical and genealogical information including pension applications, affidavits from friends and family members, proof of military service, and copies of marriage, birth, and death certificates.

Bounty land warrants were certificates giving eligible veterans rights to free land in the public domain and were used to encourage enlistments during the Revolutionary War. A bounty land warrant application file contains documents relating to claims for bounty lands: an application by the veteran or his widow for a warrant, sometimes a discharge certificate submitted by the veteran or his heirs as evidence of service, and a jacket showing whether the claim was approved or disapproved.

Note: Revolutionary War records have been microfilmed and the copies are sometimes of poor quality. We will provide you with best copies possible. Documents that are illegible or too dark will not be copied. Sometimes the image, while illegible when copied, may be legible while viewed. In those instances, we will transcribe, at your request, the document for an additional fee.

10% DISCOUNT ON FIRST ORDER

Compiled Service Records: $21.95

This search requires the soldier's full name and the regiment and/or company he served with. Birth date and birthplace may also prove helpful if known. Copies of all documents will be mailed to you. The price includes 20 copies, which is usually more than sufficient to copy any service record. Additional copies, if required will be billed at 40 cents per copy.

Full Pension / Bounty Land Warrant Application: $42.95

This search requires the soldier's full name and the regiment and/or company he served with. Birth date, birthplace, name of spouse, name of children and death date may all prove helpful in identifying the correct individual. You will receive a copy of the entire pension file and bounty land warrant application, if found. The price includes 40 copies, which is usually more than sufficient to copy any Revolutionary War pension file. Additional copies, if required will be billed at 40 cents per copy.

*If regiment is not known, we can conduct a search of the Revolutionary War indexes to try and identify his regiment for an additional fee. Contact us for more information. A shipping and handling charge of $2.00 will be added to all requests for compiled service records. Pension files are shipped by insured Priority Mail and require a shipping and handling charge of $6.50.

Daughters of the American Revolution Library Research

The DAR Library contains a great deal of information that may be invaluable for DAR membership. One collection of particular interest is their 'file collection' which contains material submitted with DAR membership applications and may include Bible records, family histories, research notes and copies of birth, marriage and death records. (Vital records cannot be copied, but are available for viewing.) If you've been able to locate your ancestor in the DAR Patriot Index, he should have a file in the DAR Library, but they do not have files for every individual in the index. To obtain copies of the file, you need the name of soldier, spouse, year and state of birth, year and state of death, and state of service.

File Collection Search:

The cost to access and obtain copies of a soldier's file collection is $33.00 plus the actual cost of copies and $2.00 mailing. Most orders completed within 2 weeks. Rush orders subject to a $10 surcharge.

Please note: Our prices are lower than the DAR nonmember fees, and you'll have your records in a couple of weeks - not two or three months!

Other DAR library search services available. Contact us for more information.

We accept payment by check or money order and accept credit cards via PayPal. Orders can be faxed to our toll-free number (877) 794-6734 or E-mailed. We will contact you within 48 hours with an estimate of time and cost.