Military Records relating to American Slavery
The records referenced in these pages highlight some of the records pertaining to slavery that are available at the National Archives. Information and records are arranged by government branch and record group. Series, folders, and items are identified with brief descriptions. This page may provide actual documents that have been digitized and are in the National Archives Catalog. Some of the records are microfilmed, and have been noted.
For more information, see Walter B. Hill Jr.'s Prologue article on this topic, and the handout - Federal Records that Help Identify Former Enslaved People and Slave Holders
Return to American Slavery Main Page
Military Records
- RG 45: Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library
- RG 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's - 1917
RG 45 Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library
The Navy Department Library was established by order of President John Adams on March 31, 1800. By General Order 292, Navy Department, March 23, 1882, the Naval Records Collection was begun when the Navy Department Library was placed in the newly created Office of Naval Intelligence. The staff engaged in this task was designated the Naval War Records Office and was known collectively with the library as the Office of Library and Naval War Records. In the early 1900s the Office began to collect some of the older records of the bureaus of the Navy Department and records relating to naval personnel and operations during the American Revolution. In 1915 the Office was named the Office of Naval Records and Library. It retained this name until 1946 when the Office was combined with the Office of Naval History. These records are available at the National Archives in Washington, DC.
Series: Copies of Letters Received, 1801-84, 811 vols. NAID 710854
Interspersed throughout this series are letters relating to the slave trade and the colonization of African Americans in Africa, letters from the American Colonization Society, and Navy agents.
Series: Letters Sent to Naval Officers, 1798 - 1886, 96 vols. NAID 1334545
Series of letters to officers, ships of war, contains letters and instructions from the Secretary of Navy to Officers of the African Squadron, 1863 - 61.
Series: Letters Received from Captains, 1805-61, 1866-85, 413 vols. NAID 718998
Report by Capt. William M. Glendy, "U.S.S. Saratoga", that the revival of the slave trade was occurring under the American flag.
Series: Letters Received from the President and Executive Agents, May 1837 - Dec 1886, 131 vols. NAID 1789115
Letters from Treasury and State Departments regarding the seizure of vessels suspected of engaging in the slave trade.
Series: Letters Received from the Attorney General of the United States containing Legal Opinions and Advice, June 1807- Nov 1825, 1 vol. NAID 1964657
Replies to questions submitted by the Secretary of the Navy on such subjects as the capture of slave vessels on the coast of Georgia, 1818; the authority given to the President by the Act of March 3, 1819, relating to the slave trade; and the application for money for the support of captured Africans in Savannah.
Series: Letters Sent Relating to African Colonization, 1820-58, 1 vol. NAID 1768603
Communications to agents appointed under the act of March 3, 1819, prohibiting the slave trade; to U.S. deputy marshals and district attorneys, relating mainly to the slave trade and recaptured Africans.
Series: Letters Received relating to African Colonization, 1819-1841 NAID 1786936
Contains letters from U.S. agents for captured Africans on the African coast and from officers of the American Colonization Society concerning the slave trade and conditions at the reception agencies at Shebro Island, Cape Mesurado, Sierra Leone, and Monrovia. It also includes reports from U.S. marshals along the eastern coast of the United States concerning captured Africans received in their districts; reports from U.S. district attorneys regarding provisions made for Africans in southern states; and reports from the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury, Navy agents, and foreign bankers concerning the sale of captured slave vessels.
Series: Confidential Letters and other Letters, Telegrams, Cablegrams Sent to Commanding Officers of Squadrons and Vessels, 1843 - 1879, 5 vols. NAID 1768620
Contain copies of letters sent by Secretary of Navy to officers of the African Squadron and to U.S. forces in the Mediterranean.
File: African Squadron Letters, 1843 - 61, 13 vols. NAID 231930836
Letters from commanding officers of the Squadron, reports of officers of vessels in the Squadron, correspondence with British and other naval officers on the African coast, and with Liberian and other officials along the African coast.
Series: Letter Books of U.S. Naval Officers, March 1776 - June 1908, 234 vols. NAID 1799568
Many of the volumes are personal accounts and records of activities, observations, and experiences of naval officers and were not intended for official Navy use. Many volumes contains accounts of U.S. Navy personnel serving in the African Squadron
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RG 94 Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's - 1917
Established in the War Department to provide administrative and support services, and maintain personnel records. Recorded, authenticated, and communicated orders, instructions, and regulation. Issued commissions and consolidated and maintained the returns of the army and militia. Managed the recruiting service and maintained the noncurrent records of the War Department. These records are located at the National Archives in Washington, DC.
Series: Descriptive Lists of Black Volunteers, 1864 NAID 1223643
Contains descriptive lists of black volunteers who enlisted in the U.S. Army under General Order 135, Headquarters of the Department of the Missouri, dated November 14, 1863. They give the name, age, color of eyes, hair, complexion, height, place of birth, occupation, date of enlistment, by whom and for what period, and remarks. If a soldier was formerly enslaved, his enslaver's name is entered. Signed certifications of the examining surgeon and the recruiting officer are included.
Series: Registers of Claims of U.S. Colored Troops, 1864-1867 NAID 608297
Consists of registers of claims filed by the enslavers of persons who enlisted in the U.S. Colored Troops. There are registers for Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and Virginia which give the name and residence of the claimant, the name of the enslaved person, date of enlistment of the enslaved person, organization he was attached to, and the amount the enslaver claimed.
Series: Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations during the American Civil War, 1890-1912 NAID 300398
Documents the military service of Union volunteer soldiers who served during the American Civil War.
Series: "The Negro in the Military Service of the United States," 1888 NAID 602300
A compilation of copies of official records, state papers, and historical extracts relating to the military status and service of black persons from the colonial period through the Civil War. It was prepared under the direction of Adjutant General Richard C. Drum by Elon A. Woodward, Chief of the Colored Troops Division.
American Freedmens Inquiry Commission
Government commission established after the Emancipation Proclamation to determine the conditions of the freed slaves and recommend the measures necessary to give practical effect to their freedom. Records contain correspondence including the Commission's survey sent to government and hospital administrators in the U.S. and Canada on the numbers and conditions of freedmen in their jurisdiction; responses received; various drafts of the Commission's report; other reports on the health and living conditions of ex-slaves, including testimonies at hearings. There is a name and subject index.