military records
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Several repositories, including the New Mexico Records Center and Archives, have Mexican, Spanish, and Territorial records on file. Many of those records pertain to the military and its members during each of those eras.

The 1850s Indian Wars are covered in the Territorial records. Confederate records, Union muster rolls from the militia, and Spanish-American War records are also available. NARA-M427 consists of 46 microfilm rolls featuring a list of volunteer Union soldiers who served in certain organizations and came from New Mexico Territory and is located at the Special Collections Library. Also on file there is an index called “Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the Territory of New Mexico.” Copies of both collections can also be found at the Family History Library as well. The Rough Riders Memorial Museum or the City of Las Vegas should be contacted for information on Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders members who came from new Mexico.

Grand Army of the Republic, Department of New Mexico for the period 1861-1903, manuscript collection 1960-044 can be found at the New Mexico Records Center and Archives. Also found there is the New Mexico Adjutant General Records (1847-[ongoing]), as manuscript 1973-019. That includes Office of Military Affairs records from 1847 to 1988, as well as National Guard and Adjutant General records. Among those records are muster rolls, casualty records, annual reports and discharge papers spanning all of the following engagements: Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War.

Civilian Conservation Corps, New Mexico District Records, 1935-1942, as manuscript 1959-030 is also on file at the The New Mexico State Records Center and Archives. It contains the names, birth dates, camp assignments, family information and discharge information for about 11,000 people. Obituaries of servicemen from New Mexico, discharge records, and photostats can all be found in the World Wars I and II Collection (1910-56).

Returns from Military Posts, 1800-1916 (NARA-M617) contains both Colorado and New Mexico information and can be found at the Special Collections Library. Also on file there are the Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 (NARA-T289) New Mexico rolls. In addition to that, the Special Collections Library also holds 16 microfilm rolls that make up the New Mexico, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards (1917-1918). More state military collections can be found listed on the “Online Archive of New Mexico.

New Mexico in the Civil War

Civil War Website Links

  • Research in the Civil War 1861-1865
  • New Mexico, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 (familysearch.org) Union service records of soldiers who served in organizations from the Territory of New Mexico. The records include a jacket-envelope for each soldier, labeled with his name, his rank, and the unit in which he served. The jacket-envelope typically contains card abstracts of entries relating to the soldier as found in original muster rolls, returns, rosters, payrolls, appointment books, hospital registers, prison registers and rolls, parole rolls, inspection reports; and the originals of any papers relating solely to the particular soldier. For each military unit the service records are arranged alphabetically by the soldier’s surname. The Military Unit field may also display the surname range (A-G) as found on the microfilm. This collection is a part of RG 94, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917 and is National Archive Microfilm Publication M427.
  • Civil War links from fold3.com with original data from the National Archives:
  • 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
  • New Mexico Civil War Books (amazon.com)

New Mexico Modern Wars

War Website Links