Introduction to the Texas Adjutant General Service Records

Related Links
List of Military Organizations |Search the Index


The Service Records series combines both official service record files from the Adjutant General's Office and alphabetical files created by other agencies that contain records related to an individual's service in a military unit. The information contained in an individual's file varies considerably. Some files contain only small strips of paper with one or two brief sentences while others contain several lengthy, detailed records. Information can include measurements of uniforms, payments for mustering-in, warrants of authority, individual equipment records, general orders, oaths of allegiance, pay vouchers, powers of attorney, and discharge verifications.

The names listed in the index do not represent all people who served in the various units, only those represented in the records described above. If an individual is not found in the index, it should not be assumed that they did not serve. They are simply not represented in this particular records series.

Confederate States Army (CSA) records in this series are primarily carbon and photocopies of the Texas Adjutant General's request for service information from the United States Adjutant General. The replies are not included in the files. The official service records of the Confederate States Army are available at the National Archives and Records Administration. For more information on these records and how to obtain them, please visit their Web site.

How to Search the Database

The Texas Adjutant General's Service Records can be searched in two ways: Search by Name and Search by Keyword.

The Search by Name option allows a variety of searches and options. To search by name, enter the last and first names in the search boxes. You may also search by a first or last name, allowing greater flexibility.

Additional search types are available in the Search Options box. You can select from Begins Like, Exactly, and Find Any. Results of a name search on House, A using each option, are given below.

Begins Like: 2 records found. House, A.; Houseton, A.
Both begin with the House in the Last Name field and A in the First Name.

Exactly: no records found.
The record for House, A. was not found because there was no period after the A in the original search. Therefore, there is no exact match.

Find any: 9 records found. Greathouse, Charles; Greathouse, Horace; House, A.; House, Charles; House, Edward; House, Frank; Houseton, A.; Shouse, Walter; Woodhouse, Nathan.
You will notice that each contains the string house somewhere in the last name and the letter a in the first.

The name search, along with the search options, can be limited by selecting a specific military organization. For example, if the Smith you are seeking was known to have been in the Frontier Forces, select that specific organization from the drop-down menu in the Organization search area. Once Frontier Forces is selected, the search finds only 3 Smiths despite the presence of more than 300 in the database. The dates of records associated with different organizations can be seen by clicking on the View List of Military Organizations link below the search box.

The Organization search can also be used to generate an alphabetical list of indexed names associated with a particular military organization. Leave all other fields blank and select that organization from the drop-down menu.

The Call Number search provides a list of files linked to a specific box and is generally used by staff.

The Search by Keyword option allows searchers to conduct the broadest search. Enter a word or sequence of letters and all name fields will be searched. For example, a search on the word men will find all first and last names that contain the combined letters men in the first or last name.

Results and Digital Images

The displayed results will provide the total number of records found and include name, organization and call number. If a digital image is available to be viewed, the last column will contain an icon. Once you click on the icon, one or more images will appear on the screen. You can either choose to display a larger version of the image by clicking on the specific image or view full-sized images in PDF format.

In order to view a PDF document you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader loaded onto your computer. Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher will give best results. You can download it for free from the Adobe site.

If you have problems with Adobe Acrobat Reader, visit the Adobe Web site for help. There you can find instructions for configuring browsers, troubleshooting printer problems, and other issues related to Adobe Acrobat.

Issues with Image Quality

During digitization, every effort was made to obtain the best possible image. The documents were created at a size of 300 dpi (dots per inch) in order to show all of the detail that is visible in the originals. In spite of these efforts, there were cases in which the original documents were so faded that you may find that there are details that are not readable even under magnification.

Page last modified: October 21, 2011