Coming Home: Civil War Pensions

By Sarah Falck, Historical Interpreter and Education Coordinator, BOFT

Originally published in the Battlefield Dispatch Vol. 3 No. 7 Summer 2019 - read the rest of the issue here.

On March 4, 1865, as the nation braced itself for the final struggles of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln gave his second inaugural address. His words spoke of the necessity of national reconciliation and reunification’s prescription. Part of the reunion, Lincoln stated, was “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” Through these words he affirmed the government’s promise to care for its veterans and provide for the families of those who perished on the battlefield.

Caring for Civil War veterans became a unique and difficult task. Nearly two million soldiers survived the war, a much higher percentage than previous wars due to medical advances. Most US soldiers were North American born white men under the age of thirty. A quarter had not been born in the United States — the largest group from Germany. While black men had been serving in official capacities in the Army throughout the entire war, in 1863 the US War Department established the Bureau of Colored Troops and enabled roughly 180,000 African Americans to fight too. Almost half of the soldiers were farmers before the war. So, when one in thirteen men returned home missing one or more limbs, their previous livelihood of farm work and manual labor became impossible. Hometowns threw celebrations, and families were elated to see loved ones finally home, but these communities were already often overextended financially by the long war and by the needs of their orphans and widows. Many veterans needed financial aid that their communities could not give them and thus relied on pensions.

Pensions required rigorous applications. Veterans needed to file a detailed report of their service, disability, and current status with verifying witnesses. Then, they had to submit to a physical examination by an approved doctor to authenticate the disability. Lastly, the Pension Bureau reviewed all the information and decided the monthly payment. These required time and money to travel — things that many veterans did not have to spare. Pension lawyers began offering aid in return for a percentage of the compensation later. This not only increased the number of pension applications, but created a whole new cottage industry.

African American veterans were also covered by federal pensions. There was nothing in the application process mandating candidates be white. However, former USCT soldiers were rejected at disproportionate rates and often faced more challenges. Ex-soldiers who abandoned their slave names had a tough time documenting their service. They were also less likely to be assigned combat roles and less likely to be taken to a hospital if injured so they often could not produce the appropriate documentation needed for a pension. Many freedmen were illiterate and did not have the money to travel to Pension Boards. Less than one-third of all USCT veterans even applied for a pension. Veteran organizations, like the Grand Army of the Republic, though, actively campaigned for black veterans to be granted pensions just like their white counterparts.

Confederate pensions were much more complicated. Just like US soldiers, most Confederates were under the age of thirty and farmers, so they faced the same problems of homecoming US soldiers. Ex-Confederates were ineligible for federal pensions. Each individual southern state provided for their own veterans. Most southern states initially only provided for artificial limbs and small payments, then for widows and men disabled in the war. Georgia’s pensions first varied from $5.00 to $150.00 per year based on the injuries sustained. Although the eligibility requirements varied considerably from state to state, each state required the veteran to have been honorably discharged from Confederate service and to currently be a resident of that state. The rewarding of pensions relied heavily on patronage. Confederate pensions gradually expanded those covered in the years after the war, although never quite to the extent of Federal pensions. Some states, like Arkansas, had to borrow heavily to cover pension costs. This was partly because a substantial segment of the states’ budgets went to pensions — Georgia spent 20% of its budget on pensions between 1900 and 1910.

Despite their high cost, there was limited political debate in the South about providing pensions to veterans. Confederate veterans were viewed as unsung heroes, and opposing pensions was in some ways opposing the Confederacy and the war itself. State pensions existed until 1958, ninety-three years after the Civil War, when Congress offered Confederate soldiers every benefit available to the US veterans. Although there is some debate, most consider the last pensioner to be Albert Woolson who died in 1956 with at least two dependents still receiving benefits in 2012.

Originally published in the Battlefield Dispatch Vol. 3 No. 7 Summer 2019 - read the rest of the issue here.