Seeking military records of great-grandfather in the Spanish War

Dear Mr. Barao,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the Spanish-American War  in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1917 (Record Group 94).  This series is indexed by Indexes to the Carded Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the Spanish-American War in Record Group 94. Some of the service records and the index cards in these series have been made digitized and made available online through the Catalog.

We also located the series Enlistment Papers, 1798 - October 31, 1912 and Registers of Enlistments in the United States Army, 1798 - 1914 in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1917 (Record Group 94) that include records of soldiers who served in the Regular Army.

Service records of officers of the US Navy may be found in Abstracts of Service Records of Naval Officers, 5/1798 - 7/1924 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24).

US Marine Corps service records may be found in Service Records of Enlisted Men, 1798 - ca. 1900 and Records of Military Service of Marine Corps Officers, 1849 - 1904 in the Records of the U.S. Marine Corps (Record Group 127).

There may also be a pension record for him that has not been digitized yet.

The records listed above are in the custody of the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1). To order records from RDT1 that have not already been digitized, please fill out a NATF Form 86 for the service records and a NATF Form 85 for the pension records and mail the completed forms to the address listed on the form. You also may place your order online using eservices.archives.gov. For more information see Requesting Copies of Older (pre-WWI) Military Service Records.  Youalso may email RDT1 at Archives1reference@nara.gov with questions.

Please note that the RDT1 has suspended reproduction and digitization services until further notice due to COVID-19. Orders will not be serviced until operations can resume safely. Once operations resume, document reproduction requests will be filled in the order in which they were received. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

If he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, we suggest that you request his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and medical records of enlisted men of the U.S. Navy who were separated from the service after 1885 and prior to 1958 are located at NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO  63138-1002.  To request these records, please mail a completed GSA Standard Form 180 to NPRC. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.

Due to the coronavirus public health emergency, the National Personnel Records Center is servicing only urgent requests related to homeless veterans, medical emergencies, and funerals which may be faxed to 314-801-0764.  We thank you for your patience and look forward to resuming normal operations when the public health emergency has ended.

The Prologue Magazine article "Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines of the Spanish-American War" provides a description of the types of records available for each category of serviceman. 

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!