United States, War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files, 1812-1910

What is in This Collection?

Index to pension applications for service in the War of 1812. Most of the pension were granted based on two acts passed by Congress in 1871 and 1878. The files cover the years from 1812 to 1910 and is arranged alphabetically by veteran's name. The images are the face side of the file jackets. Most of the files are for veterans and their widows who were on the pension rolls in the 1870s and 1880s. The last pensioned veteran died in 1905. Widows continued to receive pensions after that date. The index is from National Archives microfilm publication M313 and is part of Record Group 15 Records of the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and the British Empire, including Great Britain, Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. The Treaty of Ghent, which became effective on February 18, 1815, ended the war. With the signing of the treaty the U.S. and Britain recognized the pre-war boundaries between the United States and Canada, and gave the United States fishing rights to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Tip: This collection contains searchable content in the NARA Catalog. They can be accessed by clicking on the National Archives identifier NAID 564415 in the Record Description. Once inside the Catalog, click on the "Search Within This Series".

Related National Archives Collections

NAID	Department of Veteran Affairs, Record Group 15
2812530	Correspondence and Other Records Concerning Investigations of Bounty Land Warrant Claims, 1870–1878
564415	War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, ca. 1871–ca. 1900
567388	Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, ca. 1800–ca. 1900
1105306	Case Files of Pension Applications Based on Death or Disability Incurred in Service between 1783 and 1861 ("Old Wars"), ca. 1815–ca. 1930
2600795	Registers of Pension Application Numbers Assigned to Claims Based on Service of Surviving Veterans and Widows and Other Dependents of Veterans of the War of 1812, 1871–1916
2600797	Registers of Pension Applications Based on Service of Surviving Veterans of the War of 1812, 1871–1889
2600800	Registers of Pension Applications of Widows and Other Dependents of Veterans Based on Service in the War of 1812, 1871–1916
2600809	Register of Pension Certificates Issued to Widows of Veterans of the War of 1812, 1880–1909
2600822	Register of War of 1812 Pension Certificates Reissued and Duplicated, 1871–1919
	Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49
4923870	Military Bounty Land Warrants under the Act of 1812, 1815 ?–1858 ?
2825004	Letters Sent Relating to Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Military Bounty Land Warrants, 1821–1878
5956642	Letters Received Concerning Military Bounty Land Warrants Destroyed in the Fire of 1814, May 12, 1833–January 12, 1882
4927019	Index to Patentees for Military Bounty Land Warrants Issued under the Act of 1842, 1842 ?–1858 ?
300280	Surrendered Bounty Land Warrants Issued Under the Act of September 28, 1850, ca. 1850–ca. 1900
4926993	Index of Patentees for Military Bounty Land Warrants Issued under the Act of 1812 Located in Arkansas, 1815 ?–1858 ?
5954612	Records Relating to the Private Land Claim of Moses E. Levy in East Florida, 1845 ?–1845
4926963	Index of Patentees for Military Bounty Land Warrants Issued under the Act of 1812 Located in Missouri, 1815 ?–1858 ?
23942688	Register of Patent Locations of Land in Illinois to Soldiers of War of 1812 Patents, October 6, 1817–January 28, 1819
23942690	Alphabetical Index to Veterans of War of 1812 to Whom Patents Were Issued for Land in Military Bounty Land District in Illinois, ca. 1815–ca. 1870
5956192	Letters Received from the Registers and Receivers at the Vincennes, Indiana, Land Office, March 28, 1807–January 27, 1839
5917113	Letters Sent Relating to Virginia Bounty Land Warrants Located in the Military District in Ohio, August 3, 1824–October 11, 1844
5917123	Letters Sent Relating to Warrants Issued for Land in the Virginia Military District in Ohio, April 22, 1848–August 15, 1851
5917132	Register of Letters Received Relating to Land in the Virginia Military District in Ohio, June 11, 1850–May 16, 1853
5956233	Annual Reports of the Virginia Military Division, January 3, 1857–June 30, 1872
5956641	Letters Received Concerning Military Bounty Land Warrant Scrip, April 16, 1832–July 7, 1844
7541368	Canadian Volunteer Warrants, 1816–ca. 1948
	Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, Record Group 217
2715030	Registers of Bounty Land and Pension Cases Certified to the Commissioner of Pensions, August 7, 1875–August 10, 1879
12652881	List of War of 1812 Claimants and District Paymaster Register, ca. 1812–ca. 1822
2662969	Claim Files Relating to Service in the War of 1812, 1812–1850
2662952	Register of Claims for Military Service in the War of 1812, July 1816–March 1827
2658457	Settled Claim Files and Related Records, August 10, 1816–December 5, 1854
2658392	Registers of Claims, 1816–1878
2658277	Index to Register of Claims, ca. 1816–ca. 1818
2658241	Letters Sent Concerning the Payment of Soldiers' Claims from the War of 1812, July 1, 1816–February 25, 1857
2642378	Register of Half-Pay Pensions Paid to Widows and Children of War of 1812 Veterans, November 1811–July 1862
2642341	Registers of Half-Pay Pensions Paid by the Office of the Paymaster General to Widows and Orphans of War of 1812 Veterans, May 1813–December 1820
605925	Settled Accounts of Pension Agents for Payments to Widows or Orphans of Veterans of the War of 1812, July 1818–August 1825

Related Articles

• Stuart L. Butler. Genealogical Records of the War of 1812. Prologue 23 (Winter 1991): 420-425. FS Library 973 B2p.
• Ruth Dixon. Genealogical Fallout from the War of 1812. Prologue 24 (Spring 1992): 973 B2p.
• Marie Varrelman Melchiori. War of 1812 records at the National Archives. NGS Magazine 35 (April-June 2009): 24-29. FS Library 973 D25ngs
• Claire Prechtel-Kluskens. Researching Volunteer Soldiers of the War of 1812. NGS Magazine 37 # 1 (January-March 2011): 36-41. FS Library 973 D25ngs
• Claire Prechtel-Kluskens, For Love and Money: Pension Laws Affecting Widows of Military Veterans NGS Magazine 42 #1 (January-March, 2016): 35- 39. FS Library 973 D25ngs
• Kluskens, Claire. Bounty Land Warrant Application Files NGS Magazine 49 #3 (July-September 2023): 14-18. FS Library 973 D25ngs
• Johnson, Susan Goss. An Underutilized Treasure: Bounty Land Warrant Applications NGS Magazine 46 #2 (April-June 2020): 18-24. FS Library 973 D25ngs.

Guide Book

• Eric Eugene Johnson, The Ultimate Guide in Researching War of 1812 Veterans. Berwyn Heights, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2024 FS Library 973 M27je

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

The section of the Index of 1812 pension application cards that reads "Service" may often include the rank of the solider followed by the name of the unit that he was assigned to. That may be confusing because the units are named after commanding officers. You will need to view the image to see all of the information on the pension index card.

Collection Content

Sample Image

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  Pension Index Card

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, War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files Digital Folder Number List.

• United States, National Archives, Military Bounty Land Warrant Records NARA Finding Aid