Skip to Main Content

Virginia Revolutionary War Service Records

Guide to researching Virginia military service in the American Revolutionary War

Virginia Revolutionary War Records

Manuscript document titled Roll of the troops joined at Chesterfield C. House Since Sept. 1780
Roll of troops who joined at Chesterfield Courthouse since 1780 (Acc. 40). State Government Records Collection.

Virginians played a pivotal role in the struggle for American independence, 1775–1783. Virginia troops fought from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and many Virginians provided some form of military or public service.

There is no single source or index for Virginia Revolutionary War records, but a wide variety of records are covered in this guide. Most records contain few details about individuals' service, and records seldom contain genealogical data. People with the same name are easily confused with one another, since most records have little identifying data. Because names were often spelled in a variety of ways, be sure to check other possible spellings.

Revised December 2021