Baffled by Military Records?

Photo by Midge Frazel, 2004, Elm Grove Cemetery

At the recent NERGC conference, I was once again reminded that I had not looked at the War of 1812 pension files for my maternal third great grandparents whose names were Issac Denison, Jr. and Levina Fish. She very much out-lived her husband and so I knew there must be a pension file. So, I decided that I'd best get to work finding out. 

Military records are not my thing. I find them hard to decipher and feel that that there is just another thing for controversy. Every time I read one, there is some mention of names not being in the record of the commanding officer. I think, did they serve or not? What is family lore and what is not? 

Isaac and his wife were colorful members of society. I would not have expected to find out so much about them. But, in the lush and beautiful plot at Elem Grove Cemetery in Mystic, CT, there are no flag markers or even flags. There is one war monument for the War of 1812 for a young Denison man killed in battle but it is separated from the plot by an grassy island.

I set aside time to look for the window's pension and found it easily. Now, I must struggle to analyze it.

Do you struggle with military records?