Facts

Military records subscription site Fold# has released a new collection of Navy Casually Reports, 1776-1941.

Pension files may contain birth date and place, and the names of the wife and children.

In the Virginia Militia, free males ages 18-50 were members unless exempted.  Each private was required to have a rifle or musket, a pound of lead and half a pound of powder.  A Company as supposed to consist of 40 to 64 men, who mustered 56 times a year for drill and training.

In Colonial days, men were eligible for service at age 16.

Microfilmed pension records are available from the National Archives, heritage Quest Online and the Family History Center (now called Family Search Library).

The first step is to examine indexes to compiled records on microfilm at the National Archives.  Of primary interest to genealogists are service records and pension records. Many records are available through the National Archives.

Veterans' pension records may hold clues to your African-American ancestors.  More than 250,000 slaves and free blacks fought for the Union in the Civil War.  Applicants were required to prove their identity, so you'll find their date and place of birth, as well as marriage records and names of parents and children.

For 19th and 20th century immigrants, check Civil War and WWI draft records. Your immigrant ancestors had to register for the draft regardless of their citizenship, and draft records may tell you where they came from.

During the Civil War, the Union drafted aliens who'd declared their intention to naturalize.  The records show these foreign-born draftees' country of birth.

in 1871, pensions were granted to veterans who fought in the War of 1812 and their survivors.  If you know your ancestor fought in the War of 1812 and cannot find his pension records, he may have died before the government granted these pensions.