Iowa Military Records Research Guide

The applications and importance of Iowa military records in family history research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious but Iowa military records can also be essential to researchers whose immediate ancestors were not soldiers in any war. Mainly because of the quantity of genealogical details included in several Iowa military pension records they ought to never be ignored during the research process.The State Historical Society of Iowa’s military records section at the State Archives contains records including those for Iowa residents who volunteered for the Spanish-American War, the Mexican War and the Civil War. Those reports include the following elements: Regimental Muster Rolls, Enlistment Papers, Roster Books, Reports, Pay Books, Correspondence.

Some of those records are indexed and copies can be obtained for a fee. There are no pension records for any military volunteers in the state. The State Archives does, however, include records from for the Grand Army of the Republic posts. There are also casualty files available for those who died in WWI and WWII, which may include photographs of the deceased.

• Iowa Military Records (Fold3.com)
• Iowa Civil War Soldier Burial Records
• Iowa Military Record Books (amazon.com)

Iowa in the Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War Website Links

• Research in the Revolutionary War 1775-1783 (uswars.net)

Iowa in the War of 1812

War of 1812 Website Links

• Research in the War of 1812 1812-1815 (uswars.net)
• Iowa War of 1812 Books (amazon.com)

Iowa in the Civil War

Civil War Website Links

• Research in the Civil War 1861-1865
• Civil War links from fold3.com with original data from the National Archives:
  • Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Iowa
  • Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index from Iowa
  • Iowa Civil War “Widows’ Pensions”
• Iowa Civil War Infantry Regiments and Units
• Iowa Civil War Cavalry Regiments and Units
• Iowa Civil War Artillery Regiments and Units
• Civil War links from ancestry.com:
  • U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
  • U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
  • History of the Ram Fleet and the Mississippi Marine Brigade in the War for the Union on the Mississippi and its tributaries
  • Recollections of field service with the Twentieth Iowa Infantry Volunteers, or, What I saw in the army
• Iowa Civil War Books (amazon.com)

Iowa Modern Wars

War Website Links

• List of ex-soldiers, sailors and marines living in Iowa
• Iowa Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, 1885