When ordering wars records from before 1900, be sure to seek both the "Pension Records" and the Military Records" for each of your veterans. You will need both to have a perspective of the activities of that service person.
A vast number of the records of Veterans for all wars up to the 20th Century and WWI are housed at and available from the Natl. Archives - <NARA.gov>. The wars since 1900 are for the most part housed in St. Louis, and are available from there, rather than the Archives. For the pre-WWI wars, you will need Forms NATF-85 and NATF-86, and those forms may be had at
http://www.archives.gov/global_pages/inquire_form.html
The forms for the 20th Century and the wars after 1900 are at
http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/st_louis/military_personnel_records.html
Paul
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