RG 101 Adjutant General

The office of Adjutant General was created by legislation on January 4, 1839 and is responsible for the administration, organization, equipping, and training of Iowa military forces. While the Governor is commander-in-chief of all Iowa military forces except when they are placed in federal service, the Adjutant General serves as the chief-of-staff to the commander-in-chief and is responsible for the administration, organization, equipping, and training of Iowa military forces. 

The State Archives has in its holdings the militia and National Guard records of the Adjutant General from the territorial period through 1950, including the military records of Iowa regiments mustered into U.S. service during the Mexican War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. These records not only document Iowa's involvement in these wars, they also contain limited information on the military service of individual soldiers. In 1965, the Iowa Adjutant General became the executive director of the newly created Department of Public Defense which combined military and civil defense functions in the state. Records created after 1965 by the Adjutant General are filed with RG 70 Public Defense.

Some or all of these records are available to search in the Iowa History Collections Catalog.