The American Revolution, a major military conflict between the Thirteen Colonies
and Great Britain, began in 1775 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. As
a result of the Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence,
many historical and genealogically-related records were created. This column overviews
some of the major records.
One of the most valuable collection of records for this conflict is the Revolutionary
War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files which consists of some
eighty thousand military application files. Service is based on participation
of American military, naval, and marine officers and enlisted men in the Revolutionary
War. Bounty land warrants were granted by the federal government to veterans
who served in the Revolutionary War, or were granted to their heirs. The collection
has been microfilmed by the National Archives (microfilm M804, 2,670 rolls)
and is available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and the Harold
B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. Records are arranged
alphabetically by surname. See the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) for
microfilm numbers. www.familysearch.org Other records for the Revolutionary
War are housed at the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) in Washington, D.C.
Some Additional Resources of Interest:
Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army during
the Revolutionary War (NARA M881, 1,096 rolls)
General Index to Compiled Military Service Records of Revolutionary War Soldiers
(NARA M860, 58 rolls)
Printed Sources: A Selected List
There are many indexes and printed sources for this war. Here is a selected
listing:
Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded
by State Governments. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996.
Hatcher, Patricia Law. Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots.
4 vols. Dallas, Texas: Pioneer Heritage Press, 1987-88.
National Genealogical Society. Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications
in the National Archives. Arlington, Va.: National Genealogical Society,
1976.
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. DAR Lineage Books.
166 vols. Washington, DC: NSDAR, 1890-1939.
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. DAR Patriot Index,
Centennial Edition. 3 vols. Washington, DC: NSDAR, 1994.
Neagles, James. U.S.
Military Records. Orem, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 1994.
United States. Census Office. A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary
or Military Services. 1841. Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing
Co., 1965.
United States. War Dept. The Pension Roll of 1835. 4 vols. Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992. Reprinted with new index.
White, Virgil D. Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files.
4 vols. Waynesboro, Tenn.: National Historical Publishing Co., 1990-92.
White, Virgil D. Index to Revolutionary War Service Records. 4 vols.
Waynesboro, Tenn.: National Historical Publishing Co., 1995.
Internet Sites: A Selected List
American Revolution, 1775-1783, on the Internet
www.lineages.com/military/Links.asp?war=rw
Cyndi’s List, Military Resources
www.cyndislist.com/milres.htm
National Archives and Records Administration, Genealogy Page
www.nara.gov/genealogy/genindex.html
Revolutionary War
www.revwar.com
Roots Web’s Guide to Tracing Family Trees: United States Military Records
www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson14.htm
A Virtual Museum of the Revolutionary War
home.ptd.net/~revwar/museum.html
The War for American Independence
home.ptd.net/~revwar
Major Repositories: A Selected List Family History Library
www.familysearch.org
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
lcweb.loc.gov
National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC
www.nara.gov
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Washington, DC
dar.library.net
National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Louisville, Kentucky
www.sar.org
Selected Bibliography
Atlas of American History.
2nd edition. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1984.
Detailed Revolutionary War maps.
Neagles, James C.
U.S.
Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to
the Present. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1994.
Schweitzer, George K. Revolutionary War Genealogy.
Knoxville, Tenn.: G.K. Schweitzer, 1987.
Witcher, Curt B. “Finding
Your Patriot: Basic Sources for Starting Revolutionary War Research”
Ancestry Magazine 14 (May/June 1996).
Kip Sperry is an associate professor of family history at Brigham Young
University, Provo, Utah.