Missouri Military Records

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This entry was originally written by Marsha Hoffman Rising CG, FUGA, FASG, and Pamela Boyer Porter, CGRS, CGL for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.

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


The best source for these records is the Missouri State Archives. Many of the records previously held by the Office of the Adjutant General have been transferred, from the War of 1812 up through World War II. Service records are indexed and maintained for the following wars: War of 1812, Indian Wars (1832'38), Seminole War (1837) Mormon War (1838), Iowa or Honey War (1839), Mexican War (1846'47), and Civil War'both Union and Confederate. Confederate pension applications and application for admission to the Confederate Homes are also among these holdings. Accumulated files number approximately one-half of the reported 40,000 men who served from Missouri. Alphabetical indexes for the Spanish-American War (1898) are also extant. An online searchable database of Missouri veterans' World War I Military Service Cards is available at www.sos.mo.gov/archives/ww1. Record Group 133 includes World War II Reports of Separation, arranged alphabetically.

Records subsequent to World War I remain in the Office of the Adjutant General, Archives, 2302 Militia Dr., Jefferson City, MO 65101.

The Loyalty Oaths (often called 'The Ironclad Oath') administered after the Civil War can sometimes be located in local historical societies, county offices, in manuscript collections (see Missouri Periodicals, Newspapers(1), and Manuscript Collections), or among various record groups of Missouri State Archives. An index to the Missouri portion of the National Archives' microfilmed Union Provost Marshals' File of Papers Relating to Individual Citizens is available online at www.sos.mo.gov/archives/provost. These papers, dated from 1861 to 1866, include some oaths of allegiance to the United States, correspondence, provost marshal court papers, orders, passes, paroles, transportation permits, and claims for compensation for property used or destroyed by the military. Researchers can check the online index and then contact the State Archives for information about obtaining copies of the microfilmed records.

A list of the Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Missouri is not complete, but was published in the Missouri State Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 5 (1985), nos. 3 and 4; and vol. 6, no. 2. The known 1812 soldiers buried in Missouri were published in the same quarterly(2), vol. 6, nos. 1 and 2.

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