Veterans' Service Records

Requesting Copies of Older Military Service Records

Requesting Copies of Older (pre-WWI) Military Service Records

The National Archives and Records Administration stores the following military records:


How to Order Older Military Service or Pension Records

Select the type of Military Service or Pension Records (pre-1917) you need and select the Order Online or Download the Form link:

Military Service Records

 

Snippet

Order Online Order Online  |   Download the Form
Form Number:   NATF 86
Use to:   Order compiled records based on pre-1917 military service in the United States forces.

 

Military Pension/Bounty-Land Warrant Applications

Snippet

Order Online Order Online   |   Download the Form
Form Number:   NATF 85
Use to:   Order copies of military pension application files based on Federal (not State or Confederate) service between 1775 and 1903 (before World War I).

Categories of pension/bounty land files available using NATF Form 85:

Order copies of military pension application files based on Federal (not State or Confederate) service between 1775 and 1903 (before World War I).

Categories of pension/bounty land files available using NATF Form 85:
  1. A complete Civil War and later pension application file (up to 100 pages), based on Federal (not State or Confederate) military service during the Civil War or later (includes the Pension Documents Packet.)
  2. A complete Federal pre-Civil War military pension application based on Federal military service before 1861 (includes the Pension Documents Packet.)
  3. A pension document packet that contains reproductions of eight documents containing genealogical information about the pension applicant, to the extent these documents are present in the file.
  4. A complete military bounty land application file based on service 1775-1855 (includes only rejected Revolutionary War applications).

Types of Military Service Records

This is a list of the Older Military Service Records held at Washington, DC.

Branch of Service Dates
Volunteers Military service performed by persons serving during an emergency and whose service was considered to be in the Federal interest, 1775 - 1902
Regular Army Enlisted personnel, 1789 - October 31, 1912
Officers, 1789 - June 30, 1917
Navy Enlisted personnel, 1798 - 1885
Officers, 1798 - 1902
Marine Corps Enlisted personnel, 1798 - 1904
Some officers, 1798 - 1895
Coast Guard Persons who served in predecessor agencies to the U.S. Coast Guard: the Revenue Cutter Service (Revenue Marine), the Life-Saving Service, and the Lighthouse Service, 1791 - 1919
Confederate States Persons who rendered military service for the Confederate States government in its armed forces, 1861 - 1865
Veterans Records Claims files for pensions based on Federal military service, 1775 - 1916 and
Bounty land warrant application files relating to claims based on wartime service, 1775 - 1855
Top