The applications and significance of Mississippi military records in family history and genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are apparent but Mississippi military records can also be valuable to researchers whose primary ancestors were not soldiers in any war. Because of the amount of genealogical details contained in several Mississippi military pension data files they ought to never be overlooked all through the research process.The area that later became Mississippi Territory was actually a British province when the Revolutionary War began. James Willing, a Patriot, led raids against the British along the Mississippi River in 1779. Those raids foreshadowed events to come. Soon, British West Florida fell under Spanish control. The British Provincial Records have information on those raids and battles. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History holds those records.
The Fifth Series records can be particularly helpful. They are records pertaining to the West Indies and America. The Oliver Pollack Papers in National Archives Record Group 360 can also be useful, since they contain papers from the Continental Congress. The British Public Record Office in London supplied those records for the archives.
The Mississippi Society of the DAR published “Family Records: Mississippi Revolutionary Soldiers,” which contains information on Revolutionary War veterans who became pioneers. Although not official, those records can be valuable resources. The publication has an index, but may contain some errors. There are no official Revolutionary War records located at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, since Mississippi didn’t join the Union until after the Revolutionary War. Nevertheless, cemetery records of Revolutionary War soldier burials in Mississippi are available.
Indexes and service records for Mississippi residents who served in the War of 1812 are available at the National Archives. Copies of those records can also be found at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Grave registrations may also provide information on those soldiers.
Grave registrations for Mississippi and copies of the National Archives service records from the Mexican War can be found at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Pension applications, muster rolls, and other records of Mississippi residents who served on the Confederate side in the Civil War can be found on microfilm at the National Archives. Copies of those records are also located at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Those records include veteran and widow names and genealogical information, as well as each soldier’s rank and organization within the military at the time. A Union veteran list is also available with an index. “Selected Records of the War Department Relating to Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861-1865” is located in Confederate Records, Record Group 109 of the War Department Collection. A copy is available at the state archives.
In 1907, some confederate soldiers were enumerated by county courthouses. Any known soldiers who served on the Union side and were buried at the National Military Cemetery can be found at the Vicksburg National Military Park. Family members who were also buried there from 1866 onward may be listed as well. The list can be found in Vicksburg at the Old Courthouse Museum.
The Ceder Hill Cemetery is where Confederate soldiers were buried. Any lots purchased from 1840 onward are listed alphabetically and according to state of origin.
Military records from later wars may be restricted for privacy. However, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History does hold some records that are available to researchers. Those include a typescript index of World War I Mississippi veterans. Draft registration cards from World War I can be found at the National Archives-Southeast Region. Mississippi soldiers who served in Korea are listed in an index at the state archives called “Record Group 33.” Researchers should also consult “Official Records, Mississippians killed in World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam Conflict.” Mississippi also has grave registrations for those who served in each of the conflicts below, though some records may be incomplete: Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Indian Wars, Mexican War, Civil War, Philippine Insurrection, World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict.
- Mississippi Military Records (Fold3.com)
- Louisiana Military Record
- Mississippi Pension Project (usgwarchives.net)
- Mississippi Military Record Books (amazon.com)
Revolutionary War Website Links
- Research in the Revolutionary War 1775-1783 (uswars.net)
- see Robert V. Haynes, The Natchez District and the American Revolution (Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, 1976)
- Mississippi Final Payment Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864 (fold3.com) These slips serve as an index to final and last payments to over 65,000 veterans of the Revolutionary War and some later wars.
- Revolutionary War links from http://search.ancestry.com:
- Mississippi Revolutionary War Books (amazon.com)
Mississippi in the War of 1812
War of 1812 Website Links
- Research in the War of 1812 1812-1815 (uswars.net)
- Mississippi Pension Files (fold3.com)
- War of 1812 Service Records – Mississippi (fold3.com) Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the War of 1812 in Organizations from the Territory of Mississippi
- Eron O. M. Rowland’s article, “Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812,” found in volume four (Centenary Series) of Dunbar Rowland, ed., Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society (Jackson, Miss.: the society, 1921)
- Lynda J. Lasswell, “First Regiment of Mississippi Infantry in the Mexican War” (master’s thesis, Rice University, 1969)
- Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812
- Mississippi War of 1812 Books (amazon.com)
Mississippi 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 Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Mississippi – Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Mississippi units, labeled with each soldier’s name, rank, and unit. Original data from the National Archives
- Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index from Mississippi
- Mississippi Confederate Amnesty Papers – Case Files of Applications from Mississippi of former Confederates for Presidential Pardons (“Amnesty Papers”), 1865-1867
- Barred and Disallowed Mississippi Claims – The Southern Claims Commission denied these claims by Mississippi citizens seeking compensation for property loss. They were barred or disallowed for a number of reasons. Original data from the National Archives
- Mississippi Civil War Maps – Maps, charts, and atlases depicting battles, troop positions and movements, engagements, and fortifications in Mississippi during the Civil War, 1861-1865.
- Mississippi Civil War Infantry Regiments and Units
- Mississippi Civil War Cavalry Regiments and Units
- Mississippi Civil War Artillery Regiments and Units
- Civil War links from ancestry.com:
- U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 – This database contains an index to compiled service records (CSRs) for soldiers who served with units in the Confederate army. Most of the men whose names appear in this index served with units from 15 different states or territories; others were soldiers raised directly by the Confederate government, generals and staff officers, and other enlisted men not associated with a regiment. Compiled service records are files of cards that abstract original military records relating to an individual soldier. A typical CSR will include an envelope that lists a soldier’s name, rank, unit, and card numbers, followed by cards with details extracted from muster rolls, rosters, hospital rolls, Union prison records, payrolls, and other records, with a new card being created each time a soldier’s name appeared on a new document. The CSRs may also include original documents pertaining to the soldier. The CSRs do not constitute an exhaustive list of all men who served in the Confederate army.
- U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
- Mississippi, Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers, 1812-1815
- History of the Ram Fleet and the Mississippi Marine Brigade in the War for the Union on the Mississippi and its tributaries
- List of staff officers of the Confederate States Army
- Mississippi Civil War Heritage Trails (civilwarheritagetrails.org)
- Mississippi, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Mississippi, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Mississippi, Confederate Records, 1889-1942
- Mississippi, Confederate Veterans and Widows Pension Applications, 1900-1974
- Mississippi Civil War Books (amazon.com)
Mississippi Modern Wars
War Website Links
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