Seeking military service records of Harry Stewart

Dear Mr. Beerman,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We examined the copies of the 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 you already located on Ancestry at U.S., Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914. The register indicates that he enlisted in E Battery, 3rd Artillery Regiment.  In February 1901, this unit was redesignated the 28th Company, Coast Artillery Corps.  The remarks section for him says “Des. July 11, 1901.” Des.” is normally an abbreviation for “Deserted.”  There are no notations indicating he was subsequently located by the Army.

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located Returns of Military Organizations, ca. 1800 - 12/1916 in Record Group 94 that includes the returns for the 28th Company, Coast Artillery Corps. These records have been digitized and may be viewed online using the Catalog. Image 1 notes the redesignation of the unit. Image 14 states that he deserted July 11, 1901 at Fort Winfield Scott, Presidio, California. See line 6 under the heading “By Desertion”.

We also located the series Enlistment Papers, 1798 - October 31, 1912 in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1917 (Record Group 94) that includes military service files of the Regular Army. These records are not available online. To order copies of service records for specific soldiers, please fill out a NATF Form 86 for the service records and mail the completed form to the address listed on the form. For more information see Requesting Copies of Older (pre-WWI) Military Service Records. There is a reproduction fee for this service.

Finally, we located Carded Medical Records of the Regular Army, 1894 - 1912 in Record Group 94 that may have a record for him if he was ever hospitalized while in service. For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) at Archives1reference@nara.gov

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT1. Also, NARA has suspended reproduction and digitization services until further notice due to COVID-19. Orders will not be serviced until operations can resume safely. NARA has also temporarily suspended the option for placing online orders using eservices.archives.gov. Once operations resume, document reproduction requests will be filled in the order in which they were received. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Lastly, we searched online and located the following unofficial articles with information about the 1901 reorganization of the Coast Artillery and the unit he served in:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Air_Defense_Artillery_Regiment
• https://cdsg.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/FORTS/CACunits/CACorg2011.pdf;
• https://cdsg.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/FORTS/CACunits/CACcomp.pdf

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