military records
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The Missouri State Archives holds the best military records for the state. Records from the War of 1812 through World War II have been transferred there from the Adjutant General’s Office. However, that office still holds records from after World War I. Indexed service records are available at the Missouri State Archives for the following conflicts: War of 1812, Indian Wars (1832-38), Seminole War (1837), Mormon War (1838), Iowa or Honey War (1839), Mexican War (1846-47), Civil War-both Union and Confederate.

The records also include confederate home applications and confederate pension applications. However, only about 20,000 soldiers out of the estimated 40,000 who served are listed in the accumulated records. There are also Spanish-American War indexes available, along with World War I Military Service Cards and World War II Reports of Separation, which are alphabetized and indexed.

County offices, historical societies, manuscript collections, and other locations may hold Loyalty Oaths, which were administered at the end of the Civil War and were sometimes called Ironclad Oaths. The Missouri State Archives also houses some of them. There is an online index to the Missouri part of the Union Provost Marshals’ File of Papers Relating to Individual Citizens, which was microfilmed by the National Archives. The oaths range in date from 1861 to 1866 and include: United States Allegiance Oaths,
Correspondence, Provost Marshal Court Papers, Orders, Passes, Paroles, Transportation Permits, Claims for Compensation for Property Destroyed By Military.

Researchers can contact the Missouri State Archives or search their online index for more information about any of those records.

The Missouri State Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 5 (1985), nos. 3 and 4; and vol. 6, no. 2 contain information on soldiers who served in the Revolutionary War and were buried in the state, but the list is incomplete. Vol. 6, nos. 1 and 2 of that same quarterly listed the names of known soldiers who are buried in the state and served in the War of 1812.

Missouri in the War of 1812

War of 1812 Website Links

Missouri in the Civil War

Civil War Website Links

Missouri Modern Wars

War Website Links