United States, Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891

What is in This Collection?

A rendezvous was the recruiting station where the men enlisted in the Navy. Officers at the rendezvous kept a record of each man enlisted and reported the information weekly to the Navy Department. These documents are known as the "weekly returns of rendezvous reports."

The largest number of enlistments occurred during the Civil War. The number of men in uniform for these years is estimated at between 26,000 and 51,000.

This collection consists of these enlistment registers for the years 1855 to 1891. The original records are located in the National Archives Record Group 24 (NARA publication M1953): Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel. The records were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 2003.

They are arranged in the following order:

• Volume
• Chronologically by week
• Name of naval rendezvous
• Date of enlistment

The indexes to these records, both arranged alphabetically, are available on microfilm from the National Archives in the following publications:

• T1098, Index to Rendezvous Reports, Before and After the Civil War, 1846–1861, 1865–1884
• T1099, Index to Rendezvous Reports, Civil War, 1861–1865
• M1974, Quarterly returns of enlistments on vessels, April 1866 to August 1891

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

• See Also:
• Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
• Craig Roberts Scott. Naval-Records Research in the National Archives. National Genealogical Society Quarterly 79 (September, 1991): 207-217 FS Library 973 B2ng
• Lee D. Bacon Early Navy Personnel Records at the National Archives, 1776-1860. Prologue: Journal of the National Archives 27 #1 (Spring 1995): 76-80. FS Library 973 B2p
• Lee D. Bacon Civil War and Later Navy Personnel Records at the National Archives. Prologue: Journal of the National Archives 27 #2 (Summer 1995): 178-182 FS Library 973 B2p

Related National Archives Collections

Finding Aids

• United States, National Archives, Muster Rolls of Naval Ships, 1860-1900 Searchable by ship
• Navy/Maritime Records in Washington, DC
• U.S. Navy Ships - Index by Ship Name
• Navy Deck Logs Available in the National Archives Catalog

Record Group 24 Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel

• Index to Muster Rolls of Naval Ships and Shore Establishments, January 1898–June 30, 1939
• Records of Service of Officers, 1866–1867 (Includes war of 1812 and Mexican War)
• Summaries of the Service of Naval Vessels in the Mexican War, February 28, 1879–October 7, 1884
• Correspondence Relating to United States Vessels Engaged in the Mexican War, ca. 1885–ca. 1885
• Muster Rolls of Naval Vessels, 1.1.1860 - 6.9.1900
• World War Casualty Reports, 1939-1945, RG 24, NAID 651298
• Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 1/1/1949 - 12/31/1971 RG 24, NAID 601767
• Indexes to Enlistment Returns of Boys, 1864–1885

Record Group 94 Records of the Adjutant General's Office

• Lists of Deaths in the United States Naval Service During the Civil War, 1861 - 1865. RG 94. NAID 1226166
• Carded Medical Records of Gunboat and Naval Service, 1861–1865 NAID 655722

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Collection Content

Sample Images

• 

  1855 Weekly Return

Digital Folder Number List

This collection was published as a DGS browse collection. The list does not contain any description of the DGS folder's content. A table listing each DGS number and its contents can be found at United States Naval Enlistment Rendezvous Digital Folder Number List.