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Minnesota Military Records
See Also Researching in Military Records and Colonial & United States Wars From Earliest to 1865
Initial research on a Minnesota volunteer in the Civil War should include the two-volume Board of Commissioners on Publication of History in Civil and Indian Wars' Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861–1865 (St. Paul: Pioneer Press Co., 1890–93 and 1891–99). The first volume includes regimental rosters and narratives. The second contains reports and correspondence. Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars: An Index to the Rosters was compiled in 1936 for the Minnesota Historical Society by the WPA and is available on microfilm at the society.
The society's reference library has an incomplete file “in progress” of veterans of these periods of warfare, including those who moved to Minnesota after the wars. The information, which may include residence, death date, widow's name, pension file number, regiment and company, has been accumulated from a variety of sources, including the 1890 Federal Census of Veterans, pension registers, names of participants in GAR parades, the reports noting deaths during the years, and a few biographical sketches.
Minnesota Historical Society Research Center holds numerous diaries of Civil War veterans, some regimental records, Grand Army of the Republic records, microfilms of service cards for Minnesota State Militia in federal military service in the Civil War, and Civil War Pension Registers of letters sent from the Adjutant General for 1877 through 1949. The name of the veteran, date of the letter, and amount awarded is included on the cards. Board of Auditors files at the research center includes minutes and registers of claims and certificates relating to the Dakota Conflict (Sioux Uprising) of 1862.
World War I military service cards for people who entered the service through the Minnesota National Guard are also at the research center along with photographic copies of original draft lists, induction lists, and Soldiers' Bonus Records. This file includes over 120,000 bonus applications for Minnesota soldiers, marines, sailors, and medical personnel who served in World War I. It is not indexed, but the fifty-one questions on the application include name, place and date of birth, names and residence of nearest relative, draft information, present residence and occupation, name of employer, business address, name and address of parents at time of enlistment, length of residence in Minnesota, and marital status.
The Public Safety Commission Gold Star Roll Records at the Minnesota Historical Research Center pertain to men and women from Minnesota who died in World War I. The four page form includes biographical information and may include family photographs, letters, and clippings.
Other military records at the Minnesota Historical Society Research Center include: Camp Ripley records for 1842–43, Mexican border service payroll records from the early twentieth century, Minnesota Soldiers' Home Records beginning in 1891, membership applications for the Sons of American Revolution, and information from the Mexican-American and Spanish American wars
- Submit a website for Minnesota Military Records
- Minnesota Military Books at Amazon.com
- Research In Military Records
- Overview of Military Records - from The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy.
- Military - The men and women called to serve their country in military duty are a source of pride to their families and to their nation. Now, with databases containing more than 16 million names and thousands of government records available to search, researching your veteran ancestors has become easier than ever before.
- Search Revolutionary War 1775-83 Service Records
, Rejected Pensions, Loyalists Records, 1775-1783 Pay Rolls, Courts-Martial, Officers, Pension Index
- 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 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
- Search Civil War Soldiers, Service Records, Regiments, General Officers, Battle Summaries, Pension Index: 1861-1934, CSA Field Officers and the War of the Rebellion
- Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Wisconsin (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
- Minnesota Civil War Soldiers: List of over 26,000 soldiers mustered from Minnesota during the American Civil War
- Minnesota Volunteers in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection: This database indexes names of persons from Minnesota who enlisted in the Spanish American War.
List conflicts dating from earliest to 1865
See Also Researching in Military Records and Colonial & United States Wars From Earliest to 1865
Conflicts involving Minnesota dating from earliest to 1865. Wars covered that are available are:
