General Information
From the mid-17th century through present day, residents of the United States and their ancestors have been participants in various wars. Before discussing military records in great detail, it is important for genealogical and historical reasons to have an idea when specific wars were fought and conflicts among nations occurred. They played an important role in the history of the United States, including immigration. Below is an abbreviated list of some of the more widely known wars and conflicts. These are extracted from the History Guy's American Military History. Other sources include The Source and Wars of the United States. For more information on the specific war, do a general search on the Internet through your preferred search engine.
For more information on the involvement of Wayne County, Ohio in the wars, see Military.
Colonial Wars
| Name of Conflict |
Beginning Date |
Ending Date |
Primary Opponent
|
| King Philip’s War |
1675 |
1676 |
|
| King William’s War |
1689 |
1697 |
|
| Queen Anne’s War |
1702 |
1713 |
|
| King George’s War |
1744 |
1748 |
|
| French and Indian War |
1754 |
1763 |
|
Revolutionary War and Frontier Conflicts
| Name of Conflict |
Beginning Date |
Ending Date |
Primary Opponent
|
| The American Revolution |
1775 |
1783 |
Great Britain
|
| The Indian Wars |
1775 |
1890 |
Native (Indian) Tribes and Nations of North America
|
| The Whiskey Rebellion |
1794 |
1794 |
Anti-tax rebels in Western Pennsylvania
|
Post-Revolutionary Wars through the Civil War
| Name of Conflict |
Beginning Date |
Ending Date |
Primary Opponent
|
| The War of 1812 |
1812 |
1815 |
Great Britain
|
| Mexican-American War |
1846 |
1848 |
Mexico
|
| U.S. Slave Rebellions |
1800 |
1865 |
Various slave groups
|
| “Bleeding Kansas” |
1855 |
1860 |
Pro-slavery vs. Anti-slavery Kansas
|
| U.S. Civil War |
1861 |
1865 |
U.S. (North[blue, Union]) vs. The Confederate States (South [gray, Confederate])
|
Post-Civil War through pre-World Wars
| Name of Conflict |
Beginning Date |
Ending Date |
Primary Opponent
|
| The Spanish-American War |
1898 |
1898 |
Spain
|
| U.S-Philippine War, a.k.a. Philippine Insurrections |
1899 |
1902 |
The Philippines
|
| U.S. Occupation of Vera Cruz |
1914 |
1914 |
Mexico
|
Modern Wars
| Name of Conflict |
Beginning Date |
Ending Date |
Primary Opponent
|
| World War I (American involvement only) |
1917 |
1918 |
Germany
|
| World War II (American involvement only) |
1941 |
1945 |
Germany, Japan, and Italy
|
| The Cold War |
1945 |
1991 |
The Soviet Union & Communist China
|
| The Korean War |
1950 |
1953 |
North Korea and China
|
| Vietnam War |
1956 |
1975 |
North Vietnam and South Vietnamese “Viet Cong” Rebels
|
| Desert Storm |
1991 |
1991 |
Iraq
|
| “No-Fly Zone” War |
1991 |
2003 |
Iraq
|
| Afghanistan War (Operation Enduring Freedom) |
7 Oct 2001 |
Present |
The Taliban and Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida Organization
|
| Operation Iraqi Freedom |
19 Mar 2003 |
Present |
Iraq
|
| U.S. Intervention in Somali Civil War |
Dec 2006 |
Present |
The Islamic Courts Union and Al-Qaida
|