War is an unfortunate event in the history of nations. War can bring so much sorrow and create heroes. But with war comes volumes of records which is fortunate for those wanting to know more about their loved ones who served in these wars. The Revolutionary War is abounding with records that have been preserved and digitized after all these years.
The Revolutionary War’s duration was from 1776 to 1783. The typical ages of service were from 16 to 60 years old. If your ancestor was born between the years of 1715 – 1767, they could have served in the Revolutionary War.
Fold3.com, a subscription website owned by Ancestry, is available for free during holidays that celebrate the military or available for free at the St. George FamilySearch Center. Fold3.com has ALL 80,000 pension applications digitized. These records are from The National Archives and are images of the originals, so you get to see the handwriting, water stains, and all that these records went through during the war.
If your ancestor or heirs applied for a pension, you have a goldmine of information available. These pension records can give you the veteran’s history and the battles they fought in. Many times, it is the wife applying for the pension and to prove their marriage they would take pages out of the family bible for evidence. You can find out their state of health and more about their life after the war.
Be prepared for many pages of information. Some pension files can be up to fifty pages or more. To prove that the pension applicant had served in the Revolutionary War, they sent many pages of correspondence from military leaders and fellow soldiers as proof. These letters were handwritten and often included descriptions of the battles they fought. Heirs had to prove their relationship to the veteran, so they too sent letters as evidence of those relationships. The government kept all evidence and correspondence associated with these veterans. The information you can glean from these records is: birth date and place, their children, death date and place, spouse and marriage date, the military unit served in, physical description, and their residency.
The information available in the pension files is astounding. The battles our ancestors served in become more personal. It also brings these ancestors to life to see letters they, their family and associates have personally written.
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