U.S. National
Archives & Records Administration
Military Bounty-Land
Warrant Records
From 1788 to 1855, the
United States (U.S.) granted military bounty land warrants for military
service. At the time of the
Revolutionary War, the U.S. and several of the original states used land
bounties to attract enlistments; the U.S. used the same incentive during the War of 1812. Most of these early Federal government
warrants could only be used in military districts, for lands now principally in
Ohio and several other eastern and central public land
states. Most of the Revolutionary War
bounty-land warrants were sold or assigned by the soldiers or warranties to
others. Between 1847 and 1855, the
Federal government granted a series of increasingly generous land bounties,
first to attract enlistments in the Mexican War, then to reward surviving
veterans of all wars since 1790 (including the Indian Wars), and finally to
include those who served in the Revolutionary War. Under the acts of the 1850s, eligibility was gradually
extended to include the regular army, navy, militia, and Indians mustered into
the service of the U.S. The majority
of those who received warrants under the acts of 1847 to 1855 did no use them
to make land entries themselves but sold them to others who did. These warrants could be used to obtain land
anywhere in the public domain. Most
bounty-land warrant acts allowed, in the event of the death of those eligible,
for the warrants to be issued to their immediate heirs. No land bounties were offered to Civil War
veterans, but Union soldiers could deduct the time they served from the
residency requirements of the Homestead Act of 1862.
The National Archives has
custody of the military bounty-land warrant files for the thirty Federal public
land states. There are case files for all states in the U.S. except the
thirteen original states, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maine, West Virginia, Texas, and Hawaii. These states were never part of the original public
domain.
Ordering Military
Bounty-Land Warrant Records from the National Archives
At the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, the National Archives has custody of those military
bounty-land warrants that were used, or surrendered to the Federal Government
in exchange for land. These files
include both the application and case file.
The application is the material submitted by the veteran or their
survivors to receive a land warrant. The
case file documents the actual transfer of the land from the Federal
government. Since most veterans assigned
or sold their land warrants and did not themselves
settle on public land, it is often helpful to order the bounty-land warrant
application file first to obtain the filing information to be cited when
requesting the surrendered bounty-land warrant case file, particularly for
those obtained under the acts of 1847-1855.
When ordering a Bounty-Land
Warrant Application File using the NATF Form 85 or Order Online!, you must provide the:
}
Veteran’s full
name
}
Branch of
service in which the veteran served
}
State from which
the veteran served
}
War (or dates of
service) in which the veteran served
When ordering a Bounty-Land
Warrant Case File using the NATF Form 84 or Order Online!,
you must provide the:
}
Year of the
Congressional act authorizing the warrant
}
Number of acres
(acreage)
}
Warrant number
Military Bounty-Land
Records Information Available from Other Sources
Refer
to these sources for information on the following:
}
General
Information Leaflet Number 67, Research in the Land Entry Files of the General
Land Office (Record Group 49)