Select Resource List for Colonial Militia Service

An estimated 150,000 men served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Contrast that figure with the estimated 800,000 free men over the age of 16 who lived in the British American colonies at that time. Most colonies had required militia service for men, generally between the ages of 16-60. Statistically, it is more likely that your Revolutionary-era ancestors served in a colonial or state milita, than the Continental Army.

Militias were typically organized at the county-level, and their records (and the retention of those records) vary greatly by time and place. Below is a select list of resources, arranged by state, where you may find militia records, followed by a chart comparing how each state organized its militia and what benefits it offered. This is in no way a complete list, but a collection of resources I update as I find additional resources.

Militia Records and Sources by State

New Hampshire

• New Hampshire Provincial and State Papers. Revolutionary rolls are in volumes 14–17. Volume 30, Miscellaneous Revolutionary Documents of New Hampshire, includes the 1776 Association Test and the state’s pension rolls.
• New Hampshire Historical Society, New Hampshire Military Pension Records, 1797–1907.
• New Hampshire gave no state bounty land, so check federal pension and bounty-land files.

Massachusetts (including Maine)

• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (17 volumes). Abstracts of muster and pay rolls, including Lexington Alarm companies and short militia tours. Digital copy available as “Massachusetts, U.S., Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War,” Ancestry.com.
• Massachusetts State Archives, Certificates of land bounties granted to Revolutionary War soldiers, 1801–1828, and the companion Applications for Revolutionary War bounties, 1801–1835. These covered Continental service only.
• FamilySearch, Massachusetts, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Applications (images from the Maine State Archives).
• Maine’s own 1835 bounty-land resolve: see Maine Revolutionary War Bounty Land Applications, 1835–1838.

Rhode Island

• 1774 colony census and 1777 military census, both indexed. The 1777 census lists men able to bear arms, town by town.
• Rhode Island Historical Society, Revolutionary War Military Papers: state regiments, county militia and independent companies, 1775–1783.
• Joseph Jencks Smith, Civil and Military List of Rhode Island, 1647–1800 (1900), for officer appointments; the General Assembly’s Acts and Resolves for company changes.
• John K. Robertson, “The Organization of the Rhode Island Militia, 1774–1783,” Journal of the American Revolution. Maps every regiment and company by town.

Connecticut

• Henry P. Johnston, ed., Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution (1889). Organized by Continental, state troop and militia service.
• Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men in the Revolution, 1775–1783 (Connecticut Historical Society Collections, vol. 8). Militia regiments year by year, plus pensioners.
• The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut and The Public Records of the State of Connecticut, for officer appointments by trainband and regiment.
• John K. Robertson, “Decoding Connecticut Militia, 1739–1783,” Journal of the American Revolution, with maps of each regiment’s towns.

New York

• James A. Roberts, New York in the Revolution as Colony and State (1897). Rosters of militia, levies, rangers and Associated Exempts by county, drawn from the land-bounty papers. Transcribed sections are at American Wars, including Land Bounty Rights.
• New York State Archives, Comptroller’s Office Revolutionary War Accounts and Claims (A0200). About 60% burned in the 1911 Capitol fire, so check what survives.
• New York State Archives, land patents for military service (A0447), and an overview of the Military Tract in central New York.

New Jersey

• William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (1872). Names about 12,286 militiamen.
• New Jersey State Archives: the Revolutionary War manuscripts and the “Revolutionary War Slips” card index (accounts, militia lists, pension papers). See FamilySearch’s New Jersey Military Records for microfilm, and the archives’ guide to militia pay records.
• The New Jersey Revolutionary Generation Project, built from militia pension files.
• County court records of widows’ state pension applications, such as those at the Monmouth County Archives.
• New Jersey Historical Society, MG 525, Essex County Militia record book, 1776–1778. For the laws themselves, see John R. Anderson, “Militia Law in Revolutionary New Jersey,” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society 76–77 (1958–59).

Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania Archives, particulary the Fifth and Sixth Series. Muster rolls, Associator and militia accounts, rangers, and depreciation pay (Fifth Series, vol. 4). Searchable copy on Fold3 (registration, but not a subscription, is required to view).
• Pennsylvania State Archives research guides: Revolutionary War Militia Overview and Revolutionary War Overview, which describe the Military Abstract Card File and the Associators and militia accounts.
• Pennsylvania State Archives, Revolutionary War Pension Files and Related Accounts, 1785–1809, and the Revolutionary War Pensioners Index.
• Pennsylvania State Archives: Donation and Depreciation Land Records. RG-17 Records of the Land Office. Donation Land Series and Depreciation Land Registers.

Delaware

• Delaware Public Archives, which holds colonial, Revolutionary and militia records from 1765 to 1841.
• Delaware Archives, vols. 1–3, covering Revolutionary militia and pensioners. See FamilySearch’s Delaware Military Records.

Maryland

• Archives of Maryland, vol. 18, muster rolls and other records of service.
• S. Eugene Clements and F. Edward Wright, The Maryland Militia in the Revolutionary War.
• Maryland State Archives guides: Militia in the Revolution and Revolutionary War records, including the Military Lots Ledger.
• Maryland Center for History and Culture, Revolutionary War military records (MS 1146), with militia enlistments and muster rolls, and its Guide to Sources on the American Revolution.
• Mary K. Meyer, Westward of Fort Cumberland: Military Lots Set Off for Maryland’s Revolutionary Soldiers, which also lists state pensioners.

Virginia

• Library of Virginia research guides: Revolutionary War Service Records, Revolutionary War Virginia State Pensions (646 files for disabled soldiers and widows), and Revolutionary War Bounty Land Claims.
• Public Service Claims, the Auditor of Public Accounts’ Militia Lists, 1779–82 (APA 225), and militia commission papers. Eric Creel’s “Virginia’s ‘Forgotten’ Revolutionary War Records” maps where these scattered series are now.
• John H. Gwathmey, Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, and John Frederick Dorman, Virginia Revolutionary Pension Applications.

North Carolina

• State Archives of North Carolina, State Pensions to Invalids and Widows, under the 1784 act for men disabled in the militia service.
• Revolutionary Army Accounts and North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers; troop returns and draft records.
• MosaicNC, History of Revolutionary War Pension Legislation.
• Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters, with transcribed federal pension applications for NC, SC, GA and VA.

South Carolina

• Accounts Audited of Claims Growing Out of the Revolution (11,170 files) and the stub books of indents, both at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. They’re now online; see the National Park Service announcement and SCDAH’s Sources for Researching the American Revolution in South Carolina.
• Laurence K. Wells, “Revolutionary Pensions Granted by the State of South Carolina,” South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, explains how to find state pensions in the Statutes at Large. See FamilySearch’s South Carolina Military Records.

Georgia

• Georgia Archives, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants, and the certificates in the Virtual Vault. Georgia’s grants included militia and “refugee” citizens.
• Marion R. Hemperley, Military Certificates of Georgia, 1776–1800; Mary B. Warren, Georgia Revolutionary Bounty Land Records, 1783–1785; Lucian Lamar Knight, Georgia’s Roster of the Revolution.
• Georgia Archives, Summary of Georgia Land Grant and Land Lottery Records. The 1820, 1827 and 1832 lotteries gave Revolutionary veterans extra draws.

Additional Records

Also, check the federal pension and bounty-land files. Militia veterans were left out of the 1818 pension act, but the act of 7 June 1832 covered anyone with six months’ service in any capacity, and the 1855 bounty-land act covered as little as 14 days. For many militiamen, a pension declaration is the only narrative of their service.

• Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (National Archives M804). See the NARA M804 descriptive pamphlet for how the files are arranged. See also “Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files,” FamilySearch.org. This collection is included in the Full-text search.
• Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments (1996). A master index to about 35,000 people named in state grants. See the digital copy as the collection “Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants,” Ancestry.com.

How the states compared

Laws changed periodically, so this chart as an overview.

State	Militia origin	Compulsory? (changes)	Ages	1776 Congressional quotas	State pension	State bounty land	Other non-Continental service
New Hampshire	1631; reorganized 1680	Yes	16–60 (colonial law)	One militia regiment for Canada		None	Stark’s brigade (1777); rangers
Massachusetts	13 Dec 1636	Yes; new militia act 22 Jan 1776	16–60	2,000 for New York; four regiments for Canada	Yes	Continental only (1801 resolve: 200 acres in Maine or $20)	Minutemen; state regiments
Rhode Island	13 May 1638	Yes; alarm companies 1776, senior classes 1779	16–50 train; 50–60 alarm	None	Yes	None	Independent chartered companies; 15- and 12-month state regiments
Connecticut	1630s; regiments 1739	Yes; alarm list 1776–1782	16–60 (1702) → 16–45 (by 1774)	5,500 for New York; two regiments for Canada	Yes	None	State regiments; coast guards; light horse
New York	Colonial; militia bill 22 Aug 1775	Yes	16–60 listed (1775)	3,000 for New York; one regiment for Canada	Yes	Levies and classes (1781, 1782)	Levies; rangers; Associated Exempts
New Jersey	1668 law	Recommended June 1775; compulsory 25 Oct 1775; acts of 1777 and 1778	16–50	3,300 for New York; replaced Flying Camp men (July 1776)	Yes	None	Minute Men; state troops (1776, 1780)
Pennsylvania	No militia law until 1777	Voluntary Associators; compulsory from 17 Mar 1777	18–53	6,000 Flying Camp	Yes	Pennsylvania Line only	Associators; rangers; PA Navy
Delaware	First own act 1776	Yes, from 1776	18–50	600 Flying Camp		None	Flying Camp battalion
Maryland	Early colony; Convention call 12 Dec 1774	Voluntary 1774, then compulsory	16–50	3,400 Flying Camp	Yes	Maryland Line only (Military Lots)	State troops; independent companies
Virginia	1607	Yes; minute battalions 1775; militia act May 1777	16–50	None	Yes	Not for militia (State or Continental Line, 3 years’ service)	State Line; State Navy; minutemen
North Carolina	1667; county regiments 9 Sept 1775	Yes; minutemen dropped 1776	16–60	None	Yes	Continental Line only (640 acres, in Tennessee)	Minutemen; state troops; NC Navy
South Carolina	1670–71	Yes, from 1671	16–60	None	Annuities via audited claims	Authorized 1778; mainly regulars*	State troops; partisan brigades
Georgia	1733	Yes	16–60	None	No	Yes, including militia and refugees (1781, 1784)	State troops; refugee militia

Federal benefits that reached militiamen

• 1806: federal invalid pensions opened to disabled state-troop and militia veterans.
• 1818: service pensions for Continentals only, with need required. Militia were left out.
• 1832: pensions for six months’ service in any capacity, militia included; full pay at two years.
• 1836: widows’ pensions, if married before the war ended in 1783. Later acts relaxed the marriage date.
• 1855: 160 acres of bounty land for as little as 14 days’ service or any battle. This was the first federal land for most militiamen, and widows and minor heirs could claim it.

Further reading

• Journals of the Continental Congress, 3 June 1776 and 16 July 1776.
• U.S. Army, “A Successful Failure”, on the Flying Camp.
• “Explaining Pennsylvania’s Militia,” Journal of the American Revolution.
• “Militia,” Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
• “Militia,” South Carolina Encyclopedia.
• Eric G. Grundset, [State] in the American Revolution: A Source Guide for Genealogists and Historians (DAR), e-books.