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Overview

The English Light Horse Brigade attacking French Artillery

After the French Revolution of 1789 Britain was involved in a series of campaigns, known as the Napoleonic Wars, against Napoleon Bonaparte's forces on land and sea.

Did you know?

• In 1798 Horatio Nelson won his first great victory against the French navy in the Battle of the Nile.
• 110,000 died in the Battle of the Nations, in 1813.
• Both prostitutes and wives travelled with the British army; many gave birth in army camps.
• The Light Dragoons captured the silver chamberpot of Joseph Bonaparte, which became the regimental punchbowl.

Military service and pension records

If your ancestor was in the army during the Napoleonic Wars, you should look for his service or pension records. These are stored at The National Archives, and contain details of where the soldier was born, his age at enlistment, and discharge information.

For further information on service and pension records:

To search TNA's Catalogue by name:

Separate records exist for officers.

For further information:

Limited pension and service material survives for naval ratings, warrant officers and commissioned officers. These records are stored at The National Archives.

For further information:

Military musters, pay lists and official histories

Many soldiers were not discharged to pension, so you may have to look for them in the quarterly or monthly pay lists and musters. Although these records do not contain much personal information, you can compile a complete career history - though you will need to know the regiment in which they served. The records are stored at the National Archives.

For further information on musters and pay lists:

For further information about locating which regiment your ancestor was in:

Similarly, sailors moved from vessel to vessel and you can trace their movements via ships' pay lists and musters, provided you know the name of at least one ship on which they served. These records are also at The National Archives.

For further information on ships' musters and pay lists:

Military births, marriages and deaths

In addition to civil registration, introduced in Britain at various dates from the mid-19th century, the army and navy kept their own records relating to the marriages and deaths of their members, as well as payments to military widows. These records can be searched on microfilm at the National Archives and various family history centres, or online at sites such as and . Duplicate certificates can be ordered from .

It is also worth searching the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database for information on burials.

For further information: