Daily AncestorDischarge certificate
A discharge certificate was the paper given to a soldier when he left the service, stating his unit, dates of service and often the reason for discharge.
Early certificates state the day a man was discharged and may give the reason, his enlistment date, company and regiment, pay due and a physical description, added so that a lost or stolen paper could not be misused by someone else.
Veterans later submitted discharges as proof of service when applying for pensions or bounty land, so originals often survive inside pension files as well as in family papers. NARA also holds discharge certificates of Regular Army soldiers from 1792 to 1815 on microfilm M1856.
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Daily Ancestor. "Discharge certificate." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/military/discharge-certificate. Last checked 2026-10-03.