Indiana Military Records

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This entry was originally written by Carol L. Maki and Michael John Neill for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.

This article is part of
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the Indiana Family History Research series.
History of Indiana
Indiana Vital Records
Census Records for Indiana
Background Sources for Indiana
Indiana Maps
Indiana Land Records
Indiana Probate Records
Indiana Court Records
Indiana Tax Records
Indiana Cemetery Records
Indiana Church Records
Indiana Military Records
Indiana Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections
Indiana Archives, Libraries, and Societies
Indiana Naturalization
Ethnic Groups of Indiana
Indiana County Resources
Map of Indiana


The Indiana State Archives holds the following military records of interest to the genealogist:

Indiana State Militia, 1812'51. Alphabetical index of officers commissioned, giving name, rank, and unit.

Card file of Indiana Civil War Volunteers. This may include name, rank, company, regiment, period of original enlistment, place and date of enrollment and muster, age, physical description, nativity, occupation, date, place and manner of leaving the service, information on promotions, and wounds.

Card file of Indiana Legion, which was the Civil War State Militia. This may include name, company, dates of active duty, age, and county and town where organized.

Card file of Civil War Substitutes. This includes the names of citizens who hired substitutes, the names of the substitutes, and the unit to which that person was assigned.

Veterans' Grave Registration. Card file of veterans; includes fifty-one counties.

Veterans' Enrollments of 1886, 1890, and 1894. The books are arranged by county and township. They include name, company and regiment, state from which the veteran served, number of children under sixteen, medical problems, and current physical condition.

The archives also has card files on Indiana Militia (1877'96), Mexican War Volunteer Index, Black Hawk War Militia Index, Gold Star Roll of Honor for 1914'18, Indiana Spanish-American War Volunteers microfilmed registration cards, and Registers of Visitors to the National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic at Indianapolis (4-9 September 1893). This repository has service records for all veterans who applied for the Indiana State Bonus for World War II and Korea; these records are restricted.

In addition to the Civil War material in the state archives, W. H.H. Terrell, comp., Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, 8 vols. (Indianapolis: Indiana Adjutant General's Office, 1869) is a printed source of service records.

The National Archives'Great Lakes Region holds Records of the Selective Service Board (1917'19) for Indiana. Included is an Index to Delinquent and Deserter Forms (incomplete for some areas) as well as docket books of registrants, arranged within state by county and division. Family historians with earlier settlers to Indiana may wish to reference Estella A. O'Byrne, Roster of Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution Buried in Indiana, vols. 1-3 (Brookville, Ind.: Indiana Daughters of the American Revolution, 1938'82).