Special Presidential Pardons for Confederate Soldiers

Following the Civil War, many of the men who were not given amnesty in the general amnesty proclamations were required to apply for a "special pardon" granted by President Andrew Johnson. There were fourteen exclusions for the southern soldiers. If one fell under one or more of these exclusions, there was no pardon, and the individual had to apply for a special personal pardon from the president. A Presidential pardon would restore a citizen to his former civil rights and would also provide immunity from prosecution for treason and confiscation of property. Because of the benefits of receiving a pardon, the courthouse became flooded with applications, and the president had granted 13,500 individual pardons by the fall of 1867. Over 15,000 men applied, and this book is a compilation of the five House of Representatives documents giving their names, reasons for exclusion and those Union citizens who vouched for them. These rolls contain all of the original applications with the letters and statements of reference for almost 20,000 former Confederate Soldiers. There are over 30,000 names in the full-name index covering the entire south from Maryland to New Mexico.