History of the Civil War Military Pensions, 1861-1885

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. This was done by an act of Congress passed on July 22, 1861. After authorizing the President to accept the services of volunteers, not exceeding five hundred thousand, the following guarantee was inserted. Any volunteer who should be wounded or disabled while in the service, shall be entitled to the same benefits which have been or may be conferred on persons disabled in the regular service, and the widow, if there be one, and if not, the legal heirs of such as die, or may be killed in service, in addition to all arrears of pay and allowances, shall receive the sum of one hundred dollars.3 No discussion whatever attended this provision when it was introduced, and the readiness with which it was accepted, illustrates the attitude of Congress toward offering inducements for volunteering. This act marks the beginning of the Civil War pension legislation. Within the next half century our country was to witness the enactment and operation of a series of pension laws, the liberality and ex pense of which have no parallel in the history of any nation.