Military records are yet another very useful set of records that will help you in finding more about your ancestors. There are a ton of records that are available for free online, and there are some very robust collections (such as Fold3 and Ancestry) that have sizable online military collections as well.
Typically, military records online fall into 5 different categories:
- Military Service Records:
Includes enlistment information, such as location and date enlisted. Also includes demographic information, such as full name, birth date and location, residence, and occupation, plus contact information of next of kin, medical and military information, and unit assignations while in the military. - Selective Service Records:
Includes full name, residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, contact information, physical description, and other information. - Bounty Land Warrant Applications:
Includes similar information as in service records as well as other information. Only used between 1775 and 1855. - Pension Records:
Will include birth, marriage, and death records, demographic information, plus information about the spouse, and possibly children. - Special Records:
May include information if the person was a prisoner of war, was wounded or killed in action. 1910-1940 Census Records include questions about military service. Includes those buried in Veteran’s cemeteries.
A good primer on Military Records is found on FamilySearch’s Military Records page, available on their wiki.
Note: Some of the links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage, please make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
Below, listed by state are links to military records that are available for free online. Included in each state’s page are links to free nationwide collections since there are a sizable number of collections that are available for the entire country.
(Updated May 2024)
Connecticut Military Records
National
- American Battle Monuments Commission – Korean War Honor Roll
- American Battle Monuments Commission Burials Database
- American Prisoners of War During the Korean War, 1950-1953
- Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations,1768-1921
- Card Register of Burials of Deceased American Soldiers, 1917 – 1922
- Casualties of Army Personnel, Dependents and Civilian Employees, 1961-1981
- Casualties of the Vietnam War, 1956-1998
- Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890
- Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917
- Civil War Confederate Applications for Pardons, 1865-1867
- Civil War Confederate Papers of Citizens or Businesses, 1861-1865
- Civil War Records of Confederate Nonregiment Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Civil War Service Records of Union Colored Troops, 1863-1865
- Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1864-1866
- Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database
- Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865
- Civil War Unfiled Papers of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files, 1861-1934
- Compiled Military Service Records Of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served With The Colored Troops, 1861-1866
- Confederate Navy and Marine Service Records, 1861-1865 Images only.
- Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865
- Doughboy MIA Database 1917-1918
- Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939
- General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 Index Only.
- Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1949
- Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904 Index only.
- Index to Indian Wars Pension Files, 1892-1926
- Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers, 1918
- Index to Service Records, War with Spain, 1898
- Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946
- Japanese Registers of POWs WWII, Index.
- Korean War Battle Deaths, 1950-1957
- Korean War Dead and Army Wounded, 1950-1953
- Korean War POW/MIA List
- Korean War Repatriated Prisoners of War, 1950-1954
- Lists of Fatal Casualties of the Korean War (6/28/1950 – 3/10/1954) and the Vietnam War (6/8/1956 – 5/28/2006)
- Mexican War Index and Service Records, 1846-1848
- Mexican War Pension Index, 1887-1926
- Mexican War Soldiers & Sailors Database
- Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam War, 1956-2003
- Mormon Battalion Pension Applications, 1846-1923, Index
- Muster Rolls of the Marine Corps, 1798-1937, Index and Images
- National Archives, Archival Databases, Civil War
- National Archives, Archival Databases, Korean War
- National Archives, Archival Databases, Vietnam War
- National Archives, Archival Databases, World War II
- National Cemetery Administration – Nationwide Gravesite Locator
- National Graves Registration Database
- National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938 Partial Index and Images.
- National Park Service – US Mexican War Soldiers and Sailors Database
- National Society Daughters of 1812 – Ancestor Database
- Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891, Index and Images
- Navy Widows’ Certificates, 1861-1910, Index
- Never Forgotten, Taiwan POW List
- Old War Pension Index, 1815-1926
- Original Mormon Battalion Roster – Mormon Battalion Association
- Pearl Harbor Casualty List
- Prisoners of the First World War
- Records of Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861-1865
- Records of Headstones of Deceased Union Veterans, 1879-1903
- Register of Confederates and Civilians Who Died in the North,1861-1865
- Registers of Enlistments in the Army, 1798-1914
- Remarried Widows Index to Pension Applications, 1887-1942
- Revolutionary War Compiled Service Records, 1775-1783
- Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900
- Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872
- Revolutionary War Records – Daughters of the American Revolution
- Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783
- Revolutionary War, Virginia Pension Application Files, 1830-1875
- Roster of All Regimental Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons in the Late War, with the Service, and last-known Post-office Address (1882)” Compiled by N. A. Strait. The Text is Searchable.
- Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783
- Service Personnel Not Recovered Following WWII
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Military Servicemen in World War I Records
- United States French Combatants in the Revolutionary War, 1778-1783
- Veteran’s Administration Master Index, 1917-1940
- Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- Vietnam War POW/MIA List
- War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files, 1812-1910
- War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815
- War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
- War Relocation Authority Centers, Final Accountability Rosters, 1942-1946
- World War I American Expeditionary Forces Deaths, 1917-1919
- World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
- World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
- World War II Casualties for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard
- World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
- World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
- World War II Prisoners of War of the Japanese, 1941-1945
- World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1945
- WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualties
- YMCA World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919
Connecticut
- Barkhamsted, Military
- Connecticut, The Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service during the War of the Revolution 1775-1783, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War
- Connecticut Men in the Military in the Revolutionary War
- Connecticut, 1813 Pension List
- Connecticut, 1820 Pension List
- Connecticut, 1832 Pension List
- Connecticut, 1840 Pension List
- Connecticut, 1883 Pension List
- Connecticut, 26th Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers
- Connecticut, Catalogue of Connecticut Volunteer Organizations (Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery in the Service of the United States, 1861-1865)
- Connecticut, Catalogue of Connecticut Volunteer Organizations, with Additional Enlistment and Casualties to July 1, 1864
- Connecticut, Catalogue of Connecticut Volunteer Organizations, with Additional Enlistment and Casualties to July 1, 1864
- Connecticut, Catalogue of Connecticut Volunteer Organizations: (Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery) in the Service of the United States, 1861-1865, with Additional Enlistments, Casualties, & c., & c., and Brief summaries showing the operations and Service of the Several Regiments and batteries
- Connecticut, Catalogue of Connecticut Volunteer Organizations: (Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery) in the Service of the United States, 1861-1865, with Additional Enlistments, Casualties, & c., & c., and Brief summaries showing the operations and Service of the Several Regiments and batteries
- Connecticut, Colored Troop Enlistments during the Civil War
- Connecticut, Connecticut Fatal Casualties of the Vietnam War
- Connecticut, Connecticut in the Spanish American War
- Connecticut, Excursion of the Second Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, to Washington, D.C., March 4, 1873
- Connecticut, Fitches Home for Soldiers
- Connecticut, In memory of the Men of Connecticut Who suffered in Southern Military Prisons 1861-1865
- Connecticut, List of Officials, Civil, Military and ecclesiastical of Connecticut Colony: from March 1636 through 11 October 1677, and of New Haven Colony throughout its separate existence, also Soldiers in the Pequot War Who then or subsequently resided within the Present Bounds of Connecticut
- Connecticut, List of Revolutionary Soldiers Mentioned in Beckwith’s Almanac, New Haven, 1850-1870 Inclusive: also War of 1812; 1856 to 1889 Inclusive
- Connecticut, Lists and Returns of Connecticut Men in the Revolution, 1775-1783
- Connecticut, Members of American Expeditionary Forces from Connecticut Who lost their lives in the World War
- Connecticut, Military Census Questionnaires, 1917
- Connecticut, Military Service Personnel Photograph Index
- Connecticut, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard World War II Casualty List
- Connecticut, Noble Pension Database: Records Relating to Civil War and Spanish American War Veterans
- Connecticut, Pensioners of the Revolutionary War Who were struck from the Rolls
- Connecticut, Record of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy during the War of the Rebellion
- Connecticut, Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service during the War of the Revolution 1775-1783, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War
- Connecticut, Record of Service of Connecticut Men in I. War of the Revolution, II. War of 1812, III. Mexican War
- Connecticut, Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States during the War of the Rebellion
- Connecticut, Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps of the United States in the Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection and China Relief Expedition, from April 21, 1898 to July 4, 1904
- Connecticut, Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the I. War of the Revolution, II War of 1812, III Mexican War
- Connecticut, Roll and Journal of Connecticut Service in Queen Anne’s War, 1710-1711
- Connecticut, Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men in the Revolution, 1775-1782
- Connecticut, Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762
- Connecticut, Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762
- Connecticut, Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, Volume 1
- Connecticut, Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, Volume 2
- Connecticut, Roster of Connecticut Volunteers Who Served in the War between the United States and Spain, 1898-1899
- Connecticut, Service Records, Connecticut Men and Women in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War, 1917-1920
- Connecticut, Seventeenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry
- Connecticut, Stamford Soldiers’ Memorial
- Connecticut, The Connecticut Civil War Centennial: Connecticut Military and Naval Leaders in the Civil War
- Connecticut, U.S. Military Fatal Casualties of the Korean War
- Connecticut, U.S. Military Fatal Casualties of the Vietnam War
- Connecticut, Veterans on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- Connecticut, World War I, Military Census of Nurses, 1917
- Connecticut, World War II Casualties – Army, Air Force
- Connecticut, WWI Veterans
- Connecticut Civil War Honor Roll, Part 1, [First to Fifteenth Regiments]
- Connecticut Civil War Honor Roll, Part 2, [Sixteenth Regiment to Second Heavy Artillery]
- Fairfield County Military Records
- Griswold, Revolutionary War Soldiers
- Hartford County Military Records
- Hartford County, Early Militia, 1658-1884
- Litchfield County Military Records
- Middlesex County Military Records
- Middlesex County, Military Records
- Middlesex County, Revolutionary War Returns, 1775
- Middlesex County, Revolutionary War Returns, 1777-1779
- Middlesex County, Revolutionary War Returns, 1781
- Middlesex County, Revolutionary War Returns, 1783
- New Haven County Military Records
- New Haven County Military Records
- New Haven County, Military Records
- New London County Military Records
- New London County Military Records
- Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Men In The Revolutionary War
- Tolland County Military Records
- Tolland County Military Records
- Tolland County, Military Records
- Tolland, Tolland County, Military Rolls, 1758 – 1782
- Waterbury, New Haven County, Civil War Soldiers
- Windham County Military Records
- Windham County Military Records
- Windham County, Military Records
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!