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Alabama Military Records

Browse Alabama Counties

See Also Researching in Military Records and Research In Colonial & United States Wars From Earliest to 1865

The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. A list of Wars fought on American.

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Revolutionary War in Alabama

Search Revolutionary War 1775-83 Service Records, Rejected Pensions, Loyalists Records, 1775-1783 Pay Rolls, Courts-Martial, Officers, Pension Index, 1841 Pensioner Census

Below is a list of online resources for Alabama in the Revolutionary War.

  • Alabama Revolutionary War Books at Amazon.com
  • Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers and Patriots Alabama
  • Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
  • Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M881. Compiled service records of soldiers who served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783.
  • Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication
  • Alabama Revolutionary War Soldiers Database: Home to less than 1200 persons before 1800, Alabama became involved in the American Revolution when Spain declared war on Britain in 1779. This database is a collection of records of men who served from Alabama during the war. Each record provides the soldier's name, age, residence, and biographical sketch. The records were taken from a variety of sources, including newspaper obituaries, the Revolutionary Pension Roll of 1833-34, the Census of Pensioners of 1840, tombstone inscriptions, published family histories, and the manuscript Pension Book kept officially by the State Branch Bank at Mobile. It was originally compiled by the Alabama State Archives, and published in 1911. For those seeking ancestors from early Alabama, this can be a source of valuable and detailed information M804.
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Civil War in Alabama

See Also The American Civil War

On January 11, 1861 Alabama became the fourth state to leave the Union, its secession convention calling for a meeting of delegates from all Southern states in Montgomery, the state capital, on February 4. At this meeting the new provisional government of the Confederate States of America was organized, with Montgomery selected as its temporary seat and Jefferson Davis elected president. The Confederacy went to war financed largely by a $500,000 loan from the state of Alabama.

In one section of northern Alabama, where antislavery feeling was strong, there was a movement to form a pro-Union state. State Rep. Hugh Clay feared that an attempt would be made "to excite the people of North Alabama to rebellion vs. the State and we will have a civil war in our midst," but the movement failed.

At the beginning of hostilities Alabama state troops seized forts at the entrance to Mobile Bay and the Union arsenal at Mount Vernon. There was no fighting in the state early in the war, but in 1862 invading Federal forces held sizable areas. To resist the invasion, almost every white Alabamian old enough to carry a gun enlisted in the Confederate forces. Some 2,500 white men and 10,000 blacks had already enlisted in the Union army.

Alabama supplied most of the iron used by the Confederacy, with an average annual output of 40,000 tons during the 4 years of war. Not only did its 16 ironworks steadily produce iron for shot and shell, but the state's munitions plants manufactured the products.

There are no statistics on Alabama's contributions to the Confederate army, but estimates vary between 75,000 and 125,000 fighting men from a population of just above 500,000 whites. Estimates of losses range from 25,000 to 70,000. The state furnished the Confederacy with 60-65 regiments of infantry, 12-15 regiments of cavalry, and over 20 batteries of artillery.

P.O.W. Camps in thew state: Cahaba (Castle Morgan), Mobile, Montgomery , Selma , Talledega, Tuscaloosa .

In 1895, 76 years after being admitted to the Union, the Alabama Legislature authorized the "crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white" in the "Acts of Alabama." Reminiscent of the Confederate battle flag, it was designated that the crimson bars must be 6 inches broad and were to extend diagonally across the flag. Because act 383 did not specify a particular format, the flag is depicted sometimes as a square and at other times as a rectangle.

The Armies



Confederate - 15 States and Territories
Total number of men recruited 107,547
Percentage of CSA Army 2.8%
Overall rank 12
Percentage of South's Pop. ?
Overall rank ?
Number of Actions in State 336
Regiments of foreign-born soldiers
None
Confederate Army Deaths
Killed/Mortally Wounded Officers ?
Killed/Mortally Wounded Enlisted ?
Died of Wounds Officers ?
Died of Wounds Enlisted ?
Died of Disease Officers ?
Died of Disease Enlisted ?
Total ?
State Military Units
Artillery over 20 batteries
Cavalry 12-15 regiments
Infantry 60-65 Regiments
Union - 43 States and Territories
Total number of men recruited 7,547
Percentage of Union Army 0.3%
Percentage of state's population 0.8%
Overall rank 30
Union Army Deaths
Killed/Mortally Wounded 50
Disease 228
Disease in Prison 22
Accidents/Drowning 5
Murdered ?
Military Execution ?
Executed By Enemy ?
Known/Not Classified 2
Unknown 38
Total 345
State Military Units
Artillery ?
Cavalry ?
Infantry ?

 

 

 

 

  • Confederate Officers Photograph Album - This collection contains one hundred and ninety-two cartes-de-visite photographs of officers who served in the Confederate army. The majority of the officers served as either major generals or brigadier generals in the Confederate forces. The collection includes the photographs of many lesser known officers as well as the famous; such as Robert E. Lee, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, John Tyler Morgan, Stonewall Jackson, and JEB Stuart.
  • Civil War Pensions Index Cards - Each card gives the soldier's name, unit, the application number, the certificate number and the state from which the soldier served. In some cases, the soldier's rank, terms of service, date of death and place of death are given. The index cards refer to pension applications of veterans who served in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917. The majority of the records pertain to Civil War veterans, but they also include veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, Indian wars, and World War I.
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