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The most common requests that we receive at the Spanish American War Centennial Website are requests to aid in finding information about readers’ relatives who served in the war. This is not as easy a task as it may seem, and, unfortunately, we cannot help everyone with their requests. The Spanish American War American military consisted of close to 325,000 men and we have no comprehensive list.

The information below should help readers in their search to locate basic information about their relatives. In most cases, if we are emailed with a question about how to find info. on tjose who served in the war, we will simply have to refer you to this page.
 

THE BASIC INFORMATION NEEDED TO FIND A SPANISH AMERICAN WAR RELATIVE:

The first step in researching your relative is to obtain as much information as you can. Can you find what seems to be a listing of his military unit? Even if the combination of numbers and letters doesn’t make sense to you, it will to someone else, and they will need this information to help you. Can you determine which branch of service the person served with (navy, marines, or army)?  Was the person in the regular army (a member of the Federal standing army) or a volunteer (a member of state military unit which joined for the extent of the crisis)? Lastly, where did the person serve (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines, or  in the U.S.)? Look for clues in letters, documents, the back of old photos, and through discussions with older family members. Armed with these answers, we, or some other historian or archivist you may contact, may be able to help you or direct you as to where you can find more information.
 

LISTINGS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL:

Below are the rosters of military units that we presently have available either in our collections or on the web. We hope to add more listings of military personnel on the website.  (For rosters listed below, but not yet on the website you can contact us and ask us to check the listing for you. If you have a unit roster you would like to contribute, please contact us us so that we can add it to the website.

The rosters we have at present:

Roster for the Rough Riders (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster for all volunteer troops from Connecticut
Roster for all volunteer troops from Illinois
Roster for all volunteer troops from Pennsylvania
Roster for the Pennsylvania Keystone Battery (Pennsylvania Battery A)
Roster for the "Sheridan Troop," Pennsylvania Cavalry (contributed by Joe Stuby)
Roster of the 1st California Volunteer Infantry (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 1st Idaho Volunteer Infantry (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster for the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery
Roster of the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Battery B. (courtesy of Pat Lukens)
Roster of the 1st Missouri Vol. Infantry, Co. E (contributed by Barry Iglinsky)
Roster for the 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Troop E (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 1st Rhode Island Vol. Infantry, Co. I (contributed by Gerald Jacquard)
Roster of the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry (contributed by Arthur Purcell)
Roster of the 1st West Virginia Vol. Infantry, Co. M (link the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 2nd Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, Co. M (link the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 2nd New Jersey National Guard (courtesy of Susan Hollenbeck)
Roster of the 2nd New York Volunteer Infantry, (Schenectady companies) (link the
   website by clicking here)
Roster of the 2nd Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, Co. K (link the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 2nd Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, (link the website by clicking here)
Surname Roster of the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company F
Roster for the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Co. H (link to the website by clicking here)
Partial Roster, 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Co. K (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry, (link the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 2nd U.S. Volunteer Infantry, Co. E (link the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of Mike Phillips)
Roster of members of the 3rd U.S. Vol. Cavalry from South Dakota (link to the website
   by clicking here)
Roster of the 3rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of Mike Phillips)
Roster of the 4th Pennsylvania Vol. Infantry, Co. D (Allen Rifles) (link to the website
   by clicking here)
Roster for the 4th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry
Roster for the 4th Virginia Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of Kathleen Simmons)
Roster of the 5th U.S Infantry, Co. M (courtesy of Sid Thurston)
Roster of the 6th Missouri Volunteer Infantry
Roster of the 7th California Volunteer Infantry (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster for 8th Illinois National Guard (courtesy of Anthony L. Powell)
Roster for Dead of the 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of  James & Cindy Kinas)
Roster of the 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of  Betty Leonard)
Roster for 9th U.S. Vounteer Infantry (courtesy of Anthony L. Powell)
Roster for 10th U.S. Cavalry (courtesy of Anthony L. Powell)
Roster of the 11th U.S. Infantry Association (Courtesy of Kendra Williams)
Roster for 12th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of Gina Gage)
Roster for 13th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry (A-L) (courtesy of Tim Richardson)
Roster for 13th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry (M-Z) (courtesy of Tim Richardson)
Roster of the 14th New York Volunteer Infantry, (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 14th Pennsylvania Vol. Infantry, (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 20th Kansas Infantry (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster for the 24th U.S.Infantry (Courtesy of Anthony Powell)
Roster of the 34th Michigan Infantry, Co. F (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster of the 35th Michigan Infantry, Co D (courtesy of Nancy Petersen)
Roster of officers of 48th U.S. Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of Anthony L. Powell)
Roster of officers of 49th Iowa Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of Judy Landauer)
Roster of officers of 49th U.S. Volunteer Infantry (courtesy of Anthony L. Powell)
Roster of the 51st Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Co. M (courtesy of Lori Fortner)
Listing of Spanish American War Veterans Buried in Alaska
Troops in Evergreen Cemetery Riverside, California (link to the website by clicking here)
Colorado Troops in the War database (link to the website by clicking here)
Illinois Troops in the War database (link to the website by clicking here)
Indiana Troops in the War database (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans from Kingman County, Kansas (link to the website by clicking here)
Roster of troops from Alpena County, Michigan (link to the website by clicking here)
Listing of Spanish American War Veterans buried in Marquette County, Michigan
Listing of Missouri Volunteers who received the federal service medal
Listing of Missouri Volunteers who received the Army Spanish Campaign medal
Listing of Spanish American War Veterans buried in Montana
Roster of officers in Nebraska units, (link the website by clicking here)
Listing of Spanish American War Veterans buried in New Mexico
Veterans of Delaware County, New York (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans buried in Manhattan, New York (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans buried in Ontario, New York (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans from Schenectady County, New York (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans buried in Wayne County, Ohio (link to the website by clicking here)
Listing of Spanish American War Veterans buried in Pennsylvania
Veterans from Clarion County, Pennsylvania (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans from Mercer County, Pennsylvania (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans buried in Mongomery Cemetery, Norristown, Pennsylvania (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans from Hood County, Texas (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans from Mills County, Texas (link to the website by clicking here)
Listing of Spanish American War Veterans buried in Texas
Listing of Spanish American War Veterans buried in Washington State
Veterans from Hampshire County, West Virginia (link to the website by clicking here)
Veterans buried in Mexico City, Mexico (link to the website by clicking here)
Muster roll of officers of the Institute of Volunteer Corps of Puerto Rico (link to the website by clicking here)
Listing of people of the Culpepper family in the War (link to the website by clicking here)
Listing of people of the Macomber family in the War (link to the website by clicking here)

Ohio Veterans listed in the Official History of the Ohio National Guard and Ohio
Volunteers:  The United States Volunteers in 1898-99 (with no promises and time-permitting, contact our volunteer Ohio correspondent by clicking here! Please specify as much information as possible:   regiment, corps, county, city, company, etc. Our volunteer researcher's time is limited, and the books not indexed! Giving her only the name will not get you results!)

For info.on Vermont veterans (with no promises and time-permitting) contact our volunteer Vermont correspondent by clicking here!

Crew roster for the BALTIMORE (Click here for link)
Crew roster for the BOSTON (Click here for link)
Crew roster for the CONCORD (Click here for link)
Crew Roster of the EAGLE
Crew roster for the HARVARD (courtesy of  Doris Roncin and Jack L. McSherry, Jr.)
Crew Roster of the INDIANA
Crew roster for the MAINE
Crew Roster for the MERRIMAC
Crew roster for the McCULLOCH (Click here for link)
Crew roster for the NANSHAN (Only American crewman -Lt. Benjamin W. Hodges)
Crew roster of NASHVILLE and MARBLEHEAD crewmen who took part in the
    cutting of the cables at Cienfuegos.
Crew roster for the OLYMPIA (Click here for link)
Crew roster for the OREGON
Crew roster for the PETREL (Click here for link)
Crew roster for the RALEIGH (Click here for link)
U. S.Marine contingent that served aboard the Auxiliary Cruiser YANKEE
Crew roster for the YOSEMITE
Crew roster for the ZAFIRO (Only American crewman  - Ensign Henry A. Pearson)

A list of Spanish-American War Medal of Honor recipients is linked to the website under our link section.

FINDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON YOUR OWN:

As you can see, the personnel listings above represents only a small percentage of all troops who served in the War. If your relative was not in one of the above groups, you will have to do some research yourself. Even if you do have relatives in one of the above, you can supplement this information from the sources below.

1.  National Archives pension records

The majority of those who served in the war applied for benefits at some time. Records of these requests can provide a wealth of information. Obtaining these records should be most researchers' first step when trying to find out information on individuals who served in the war. Pension records frequently contain a synopsis of the person’s military service, applications listing spouses, children, dates of birth, death, marriage, addresses, etc. Also, often these records include affidavits from people who knew the pensioner  which describe him, his health, and tidbits about his life. Sometimes these affidavits are written by people who served with the veteran in the field. Pension records can be obtained by visiting the National Archives in Washington (where you can look them up yourself), or by submitting an application. The processing of a records request application can be somewhat slow, and obviously the researcher does not know all of the idiosyncrasies which you would immediately recognize (looking at the records, you may suddenly remember that Uncle Pete’s real name was Buford?.but he never used it officially?except when he filled out that pension request form! The archivist would have no way of knowing this sort of information).

When filling out request forms for the National Archives, fill in the required data, but don’t guess unless you have no other choice. If you guess incorrectly, the archivist may be forced to come to a wrong conclusion. The archivist has to search for a record with the data you included in the request form. For instance, if you guess at the middle initial and are wrong, the archivist may decide that the record you are requesting does not exist since all of the data doesn’t match the Archives’ records. In this case, the response from the National Archives may be that there is no record matching the data you have provided.

 Also, when filling out the pension request forms, be sure to check the box for pension records. The same forms are used for other records. If more than one type of record is checked, the Archives will search only for the first type of record checked. The Archives requires a separate form for each type of file requested.

For pension records, please see the National Archives and Records Administration, Textual Reference Branch, Washington, D.C. 20408. (http://www.nara.gov/research/ordering/milordr.html) for basic information. The pension records request forms (form NATF Form 85) can be obtained by requesting the form by email. Be sure to include the form number, the number of copies needed, and your mailing address.

The Pension request form provides several options. You can order copies of the full pension file for $37.00 or a smaller packet of the more important documents for $14.75.

2. Locate your relative’s gravesite.

If he has a government stone, it will list the unit in which he served. Also, if he has a government stone, he MAY have died poor, and a check of the County indigent soldiers records may turn up some interesting facts (cost of the funeral, etc.).

3. Volunteer unit sources.

The overwhelming majority of the army was made up of volunteers. Volunteer organizations were usually from a particular state, and usually a source of great pride. For this reason, a variety  of sources can be used to track members. If you only know that a relative served in the war, and know where he was from, check the following sources. This method is somewhat hit and miss, but represents your best chance:

a. Any local history books from the area where the veteran was from - These frequently listed the members of military units (entire rosters were included since, if someone’s name was mentioned, they were more likely to buy the book).

b. Check with the state’s archives for the state from which the veteran came for rosters of Spanish American War units. They usually have some information.

c. Check with the state or local library for the area which the veteran was from for published “unit histories” of  Spanish American War military organizations. These publications came out after the war usually give the chronology of a state unit’s service, often even if the unit never went overseas. These books almost always contain rosters since, again, these were sold to the members of the unit, and the public at large.

d. Newspaper accounts from the area where the soldier lived from the time of the war - Frequently, as units left the area, their complete rosters were printed in the local newspaper. Also, you will frequently find that the volunteer units had correspondents among its ranks that would keep the newspaper informed of the goings-on within the unit.

e. Check with the local historical society in the city or county where the soldier lived at the time of the war. Local historical societies frequently have unit rosters, or even records of groups such as the local camp of the United Spanish War Veterans.

4.    Navy rosters.

Personnel rosters for individual ships can be found by contacting the National Archives and Records Administration, Textual Reference Branch, Washington, D.C. 20408.

5. Field reports.

Once you have a unit designation, you can also look for field reports of the unit’s service. Check the _Abridgement of the Message from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress_ (Clerk of the Committee on Printing , Washington: Government Printing  Office, 1899). This four volume set includes field reports for units that were involved in military actions, both navy and army. They do not contain reports for units that remained in the United States, except for possible mention in a departmental report.

Beyond these sources, you will have to depend on your local researching prowess!
 

A  FEW WORDS CONCERNING UNIT DESIGNATIONS:

Many people are confused by military designations. The same unit can have several different designations (for instance, the “Rough Riders” were officially the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry). Just use some logic to figure out the abbreviations!

First, the navy usually just listed the rank, and the ship. That makes it easy! Most navy personnel were in the regular navy, however, there were some state naval militias that manned some vessels.

The Army was more confusing. The army was made up of regular units and volunteer units. Usually, regular army units were designated “U.S.” units with a regiment number, such as the 10th U.S. Infantry. In some cases, the “U.S.” was dropped, it being understood that if the unit had no other designation that it was a regular army group (i.e., 10th Infantry was the 10th U.S. Infantry).

Volunteer organizations usually were designated by number and state (i.e., the 1st N.Y. infantry). Military units were further broken down by their branch of service - infantry (“inf.”), artillery (“art.”) or cavalry (“cav.”). The basic unit was a regiment (often abbreviated “reg.”, “reg’t”, etc). Infantry regiments were subdivided into companies (abbreviated “co.” ) with a letter designation (i.e., “10th U.S. Infantry, Co. A,” or “Co. B, 71st N.Y.” or “1st U.S. art., Co. C”).  Artillery was subdivided into Heavy Artillery (H.A.) or Light Artillery (L.A.). If the type of artillery is not specified, it was a light artillery unit. Artillery regiments were broken down into batteries (“batt.”). Each battery was designated by a letter. Some artillery batteries were independent and not given a regimental assignment. A typical designation would be “2nd U.S. art, batt B” or “Pennsylvania Battery A.” Cavalry was typically divided into companies (“co.”) or troops, each being given a letter. (“9th  Cav., Co. C” or “1st U.S. Volunteer Cav., Co. B”). Note the odd combination of  “U.S.” being coupled with “Volunteer” in this designation. This is because this unit, the "Rough Riders" was not from one particular state but recruited nationwide, something highly unusual. Many units also had name designations. For instance, the “Rough Riders” were the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry.  The "Keystone Battery" was  “ Light Battery A, Pennsylvania Artillery."  These issues simply must be cleared up using further reading and research.

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