Different laws passed at various times after a particular military engagement qualified different veterans for various ranges of benefits. It is important to note here that just because a person did not receive a pension does not in any way imply that he did not serve faithfully in the military. He could have served but did not meet the criteria for necessary to qualify for a pension. And he could have served but applied under the wrong pension act. Wayne Pension records for twentieth century veterans are largely considered private though some information may be obtained by immediate family members from various governmental agencies.
Histories can be local, regional, state, national, or regimental.
Many of these compilations can look quite similar to service records in that they do provide at least secondary evidence that an individual served and list comrades with whom he served. A number of these records have been printed as government documents and other published sources. Increasingly large quantities of data on all America's military engagements are available on the Internet. Entering anything from the name of the war to the specific engagement into any Internet search engine should net some meaningful results. This is one of the largest and most easily accessible Internet sites for family historians.