Another thought, have you checked the BLM site for a possible land grant for his service..if you will share the name your searching for, I'll look for you. I have found 20 of my ancestors who served in War of 1812, as well as the Rev. War, receiving land grants in Arkansas, Mo, Illinois and Ohio. Some of the widows took a small sum of money and stayed where they were. If your ancestor took land ( given to further the settlement of the "West") the original document will tell what unit he served in ..then you can attempt to trace him from there without ordering the expensive records from the NARA. In the case of the "Cook" surname, I have all the records for them, and also the "'Caldwell" surname if anyone is looking for those, I ll be happy to do a lookup in Rev. War or War of 1812. Hope this helps, Nelda