World War I, Military Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939

World War I, Military Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939

Family Search has published online the military muster rolls and rosters for the Army which can provide information about a solider that might not found elsewhere. For example besides the unit and location (at least in CONUS) you can see if somebody went AWOL, if they were court martialed, or received non-judicial punishment. It will also show if they were a gain or loss to the unit or if they were transferred in or out from what unit.  Some even show place / date of enlistment.

One thing I've noticed about the records is around Jun 1918 the records became a lot leaner in that remarks were not normally added. I'm sure this is because of the rapid buildup, units being overseas and just the hectic pace with limited 'typists' to compose the lists. Yes almost everything is typed and surprisingly with few apparent errors.

The first page of the monthly or bi-monthly report shows the unit, next level unit (i.e. regiment, division, etc.) and duty station. Along with the dates of the report.

 

  In the report itself, each person is listed along with serial number, date of enlistment and remarks. In this case on Clarence Radloff you can see he left for overseas service on Mch 30/18 - 30 Mar 18.  You will notice there is no rank. That is because they grouped the names by rank with a header for each section. So if you are looking for officers they were first. Privates towards the end of the report. So if you know the rank, then look for the right heading.

Later the rosters became a monthly list and was pretty much just that, a list.

At the end of every monthly report there was also a section of gains and losses - in this case notice Louis Radlof - KIA. Notice the headings of Losses, Sergeants, Corporals, Privates... this is how most of the reports will look when listing the soldiers.

Next blog is how to find your soldier.