Military Bounty-Land Warrant Records

From 1788 to 1855 the United States granted military bounty-land warrants for military service. This guide explains who received them, which states are covered, and what you must supply to order a copy.

Who received a bounty-land warrant

At the time of the Revolutionary War the United States and several of the original states used land bounties to attract enlistments, and the U.S. used the same incentive during the War of 1812. Most of these early Federal 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 warrantees 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 the regular army, navy, militia, and Indians mustered into the service of the United States.

The majority of those who received warrants under the acts of 1847 to 1855 did not 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.

Which states are covered

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.

Application file or case file

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 the 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. That is particularly true for warrants obtained under the acts of 1847 to 1855.

What you must supply to order

When ordering a bounty-land warrant application file (NATF Form 85) 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 (NATF Form 84) you must provide the:

• year of the Congressional act authorizing the warrant
• number of acres (acreage)
• warrant number

Where to read more

• Land records at the National Archives

Sample images

These show the kind of record this reproduction contains. They are examples only and are not your record.

A military bounty-land warrant application, filed 31 May 1855 under the act of 3 March 1855. The image is the first page only; the link below it opens the complete file.

The complete 14-page military bounty-land warrant application file (PDF)