How to look for records of... American Revolution

How can I view the records covered in this guide?

How many are online?

  • Some

1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide to understand the types of records held at The National Archives relating to the American Revolution and how to search for them. These records were originally created by British government departments, including the Colonial Office, War Office, Admiralty and Treasury and as such, these records primary cover the British perspective.

If you are researching the American perspective, including the military service of rebel (or “Patriot”) troops during the Revolutionary War, you should consult resources held in other archives (see section 10).

The records discussed here cover:

  • the final period of the British administration of America (1770-1773)
  • the American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence (1775-1783)
  • the British government’s relationship with the independent United States of America (1783 onwards)

Unless documents have been digitised you will need to visit The National Archives at Kew to see the content.

2. How to search for records

Every record we hold is represented in our online catalogue by a title, a reference and a brief description. When you use our catalogue to search for records you are actually searching across these titles and descriptions, rather than the contents of the records themselves. By clicking on any item in catalogue search results you can see what the options are for viewing that record. Search the descriptions of our documents in Discovery, our catalogue using keywords such as:

  • American Revolution
  • names of battles
  • place names

Most American Revolution records are in Colonial Office files. Use the catalogue’s advanced search to target departments (e.g. Colonial Office) by entering department codes in the reference boxes. Common codes include:

  • CO (Colonial Office records)
  • WO (War Office records)
  • ADM (Admiralty records)
  • T (Treasury records)
  • YHL (House of Lords records)

3. Key records and series

3.1 General

Click on the links below to search within specific record series known to contain material relating to the American Revolution. For records covering:

  • The colonial history of the English/British in America from 1574-1739 go to State Papers Online (institutional subscription required).
  • British Army Headquarters in America from 1775 to 1783 are held in PRO 30/55. Comprising the papers of Sir Guy Carleton, they represent the official notes of General Thomas Gage, Sir William Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, and Carleton as successive commanders in chief. Dispatches to Lord Cornwallis, one of the leading British general officers, are held in PRO 30/11.
  • The period up to the end of the American War of Independence in 1783, search in Colonial Office correspondence in CO 5. These records can be searched by keyword at Adam Matthew’s Colonial America, a subscription service available at universities and major reference libraries, including on site at The National Archives.
  • The period following the end of the war, search Foreign Office correspondence in FO 4 and FO 5.
  • The American Revolution itself from a military perspective search in British Army correspondence and papers in WO 1 to WO 5. For more detailed descriptions of these records than those in our catalogue, consult the “Alphabetical Guide to War Office and other Military Records”, available in The National Archives’ library.
  • The records of the House of Lords, search in the Main Papers YHL/PO/JO/10. Some can be identified by searching for the exact phrase “American Papers”. These include a contemporary manuscript copy of the US Declaration of Independence, laid before the House of Lords and digitised under reference YHL/PO/JO/10/7/542A.
  • A collection ‘American Papers in the House of Lords Record Office’ was published in a microfilm edition in 1983 with an accompanying guide, and is now digitised and available via a subscription service, British Online Archives.

4. British soldiers and military records

For brief details of individuals who served with the British Army in North America search by regiment name in muster rolls and paylists in WO 10, WO 12 and WO 13.

British Army correspondence and papers can be found in WO 1 to WO 5.

For Royal Navy operations, ships’ logs and journals please see our guide to Royal Navy operation and correspondence 1660-1914.

5. Maps and plans

We hold a significant number of maps relating to the American Revolution and to America as a colony. Search our catalogue using the search terms suggested in section two alongside the word ‘maps’. Many of these are in the colonial papers’ map series in CO 700. For more help finding maps, consult our guide to finding overseas maps and plans and the publication Maps and Plans in the Public Record Office, America and West Indies, available in The National Archives’ library.

6. Private papers of politicians and military officials

The following collections of private papers contain material related to the American Revolution:

7. Loyalist compensation claims

Records of the Claims Commission in AO 12 and AO 13 and the Treasury in T 50, T 77 and T 79 contain details of the compensation claims of Loyalists who had suffered hardship as a result of their loyalty to the Crown during the war.

Some records of the Claims Commission in AO 12 and AO 13 can be searched and downloaded from Ancestry (£).

You can find indexes to claimants’ names in the List of Records of the Treasury, Paymaster-General’s Office, Exchequer and Audit Department and Board of Trade and other useful material in A Bibliography of Loyalist source material in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Both items are available in The National Archives’ library.

8. Black Loyalists

All thirteen British American colonies were involved in the transatlantic slave trade to varying degrees. All trade with the rebel colonies was later banned under the Prohibitory Act of 1775. For an overview of relevant records, consult our research guide to slavery and the British transatlantic slave trade.

During the American Revolution, many enslaved people of African descent fled to British forces in pursuit of freedom. Freedom was offered under limited terms by the Dunmore Proclamation (1775) and the Philipsburg Proclamation (1779), which invited anyone enslaved by rebels to escape and join the British side, first in Virginia and then across the Thirteen Colonies.

Records relating to Black Loyalists are dispersed across several series, including Colonial Office correspondence in CO 5, the Carleton papers in PRO 30/55, and the Loyalist Claims Commission papers in AO 12 and AO 13.

A key source is the ‘Book of Negroes‘, held in PRO 30/55/100. For records relating to Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia after the war, see CO 217. Additional correspondence relating to Nova Scotia can be found in CO 267–CO 270.

9. Indigenous nations

Records relating to diplomacy between Britain and Indigenous nations are primarily found in Colonial Office correspondence in CO 5, with additional material in the Carleton papers PRO 30/55.

Relevant correspondence by the ‘Superintendents of Indian Affairs’, acting on behalf of the Crown, is in CO 5/65 and CO 5/82 (1760–1784). Records in CO 5 can be searched by keyword at Adam Matthew’s Colonial America, a subscription service available at universities and major reference libraries, including on site at The National Archives.

10. Records in other archives

Many resources concerning the American Revolution can be found in North American state archives and historical societies:

11. Further reading

Use our library catalogue to find recommended books which may provide all the information you need without needed to consult original records. Follow the link to consult our American Revolution recommended book list. The books are all available in The National Archives’ reference library. You may also be able to find them in a local library. You can buy from a wide range of history titles in our bookshop.

British History online contains a selection of secondary sources.