Southern Campaigns: Pension Transactions refer to the years after the Revolutionary War, when there are thought to have existed around 80,000 pension applications from soldiers who fought in the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution. The United States Government spent countless years implementing and amending pension laws for Continental soldiers. The first pension legislation passed in August 1776 while the last one passed in 1878. Most rejected pensions were due to a lack of service, however, in some cases soldiers were rejected due to their skin color. Native Americans who served, for example, were not rewarded properly for their service. In a recent project, historians Will Graves and C. Leon Harris, started to transcribe the pensions of the Southern Campaigns. This long and gruesome process was started in 2006 and continues today. When investigating these pensions, there is no question that some of them reveal fraud in the pension system. Nevertheless, the pension applications provide historians unique access into soldier rosters and battles during the Revolutionary War.
Pension Legislation
British colonies in North America have provided pensions for soldier's years prior to the Revolutionary War for more than a century. It wasn't until the war broke out that the United States government provided three types of pensions for soldiers during the war: A disability pension was granted to a soldier who was injured in the line of duty, a service pension was granted to any veteran who could prove their years served, and a widow pension was granted to women whose husbands were killed in the war.
In the American colonies, the first pension legislation was passed on August 26, 1776. The Continental Congress agreed on half pay for soldiers who were now unable to make a living due to repercussions from the war such as injuries or illness. Two years later in May 1778, Washington called for, and Congress confirmed, that all soldiers who stayed in service through the end of the war should receive half pay for seven years. Similarly in 1780, Congress also confirmed that widows of soldiers should receive the same benefit as enlisted men who served through the end of the war. These pensions were established not only to prevent resignation of soldiers but also to recruit more.
On June 7, 1785, a resolution passed in which the states adopted a method of providing for invalid pensioners. This was Washington's request as more and more soldiers were resigning in order to provide for their families. In September 1789, the first United States Congress declared they would continue to pay invalid pensions that were previously paid by states. Later in 1792, Congress permitted veterans to apply the Federal Government directly for invalid pensions. Finally in April 1806 to supersede invalid-pension legislation, enlisted men of state troops and militia service now had the ability to receive Federal pensions.
Not until 1818, forty-two years after the end of the war, did Congress decide to grant pensions to non-disabled soldiers. Under the act of 1818, soldiers were eligible to apply for pensions if they had served in the Continental Army, the Navy, or the Marines for at least nine months, and could prove it. These pensions would be available for life. To no surprise, pension applications soared into congress following this act. Financial problems quickly arose in the government as people were clearly starting to fraud the system to get benefits.
In an attempt to reduce fraud, Congress passed a remedial legislation on May 1, 1820 in which pensioners were now forced to give documentation of his estate and income to the Secretary of War, who would then decide if this person legitimately needed a pension. This dramatically reduced the pensioners by thousands, as many of them were illiterate. In May 1823, Congress granted full pay pensions to surviving officers and enlisted men who eligible who served through the end of the war. Later in 1832, a service-pension act provided that every officer or enlisted man who had served at least two years in the Continental or State troops was now eligible for a full pay pension for life. These pensions could be collected by the veteran's widow or children and did not call for the veteran to show need to receive it.
On July 7, 1838, widows of enlisted men were eligible for five-year pensions if their marriage was proven to be before January 1, 1794. Congress amended this law ten years later in which they pushed the marriage date back to January 2, 1800.