Question About State & Federal Records
I have an ancestor who was from Virginia and fought in the War of 1812. Unfortunately, I don't know if he fought as part of the Regular Army (Federal), the Virginia State Militia, or even the US Navy/Marines/Coast Guard. I also don't know whether he was a volunteer, or if that matters for the purposes of my search. Basically, I want to try to find him in a name index and have that lead me to original military records that might have genealogy info.
I was really confused by the documentation for genealogists at the NARA site--I was wondering if somebody could walk me through all the relevant name indices that I would need to consult to cover all the men who fought in the War of 1812.
- Virginia State Militia scenario - Seems like "Muster Rolls of the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812..." and "Pay Rolls of Militia Entitled to Land Bounty..." would cover me here. Is this correct?
- Regular Army scenario- This is where I'm most confused. From NARA, I thought I was supposed to check out the "Compiled Records" index, and Ancestry.com has a searchable database for those records. However, I only got results from the VA state militia. Do "Compiled Records" not cover the Regular Army? Is there a better name index to consult for the Regular Army scenario? Alternatively, NARA has an online database for Regular Army discharges--would that presumably cover all Regular Army soldiers who survived the War of 1812, or is that a faulty assumption?
- US Marines/Navy/Coast Guard - Is there a separate name index for these?
- Are there any other gaps in my search methodology? In other words, are there any other fighting units (and relevant indicies) that I should be covering in my search?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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