GENEALOGICAL RECORDS OF THE WAR OF 1812, PART I

1. Compiled military service records
2. Indexes to compiled military service records
3. Muster rolls & Adjutant-General rosters
4. Enlistment records
5. Pay & account books

Compiled Military Service Records [CMSR] were compiled by government clerks from original muster rolls, pay rolls, etc. They cover soldiers who volunteered for duty in various military organizations raised by the states. Volunteer soldiers in the War of 1812 could enlist for a bewildering variety of terms of service: 30, 60, and 90 days; and 3, 6, and 12 months. It is quite possible, therefore, for a War of 1812 soldier to have served in more than one military organization during the war [and there will be a different CMSR for each military unit in which the veteran served]. CMSRs were recorded on cards which are kept in jackets (files) at the National Archives and Records Administration [NARA] in Washington, D.C. Most War of 1812 CMSRs have not been microfilmed. An exception is the CMSRs for the state of Mississippi, which are available in a 22 roll microfilm set [NARA series M678]. The rolls in this set are organized by regiment and then alphabetically. CMSRs for volunteer 1812 soldiers from other states have not been microfilmed. They can be requested from NARA.

You can now also check to see if one of the the subscription services (Fold3 or Ancestry.com) has digitized a CMSR of interest:

http://www.fold3.com/
http://www.ancestry.com/

Indexes to Compiled Service Records are available on microfilm and book format in some libraries [see bibliography in Part IV for materials owned by St. Louis Public Library], from the Mormon Church, and from NARA.

A. Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer War of 1812 Soldiers [NARA series M602- 234 rolls]. Listings are alphabetical by surname, and include name, rank, and unit or units in which the man served.

B. Indexes to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer War of 1812 Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Louisiana [NARA series M229- 3 rolls]. Listings are alphabetical by surname, and include name, rank, and unit or units in which the man served.

C. Indexes to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer War of 1812 Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina [NARA series M250- 5 rolls]. Listings are alphabetical by surname, and include name, rank, and unit or units in which the man served.

D. Indexes to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer War of 1812 Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of South Carolina [NARA series M652- 7 rolls]. Listings are alphabetical by surname, and include name, rank, and unit or units in which the man served.

Muster Rolls & Adjutant-General Records. In addition to the compiled service records maintained by NARA, the offices of state adjutant-generals and state archives sometimes maintain additional records pertaining to War of 1812 volunteer soldiers from that state. Rosters in book and/or electronic format exist for these states and territories: Connecticut; Delaware; Georgia; Illinois; Indiana; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Massachusetts; Mississippi; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Ohio; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; Tennessee; Vermont; and Virginia. St. Louis Public Library owns many [but not all] of these state rosters of 1812 soldiers [see bibliography in part IV for details].

Lists of Missouri and Illinois War of 1812 veterans are also available online:

Missouri: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/soldiers/
Illinois: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/war1812.html

Enlistment Records. Some men enlisted in the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps, rather than in a volunteer military organization raised by a state. Records of such Army enlistments are available on a microfilm set, Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1789-1914 [NARA series M233- 47 reels], which is owned by St. Louis Public Library. The Register is also available from subscription service Ancestry.com:

http://www.ancestry.com/

St. Louis Public Library also owns various registers in book form of 19th century U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps officers [see bibliography in Part IV for details].

Pay and Account Books. Pay and account books for various volunteer military organizations are often in the collection of state archives. These records are sometimes reprinted in books or in periodicals [see bibliography in Part IV for details].