Revolutionary War Pensions

Revolutionary War Soldiers' Pensions

 

One question about Revolutionary War veterans has kept popping up in my research. Why was it so difficult for them to obtain a pension? For example, my fourth great grandfather Henry Smith applied for a pension in 1818 and he died during the process. His widow, Sally Mathews Smith (daughter of Rev war soldier Moses Mathews), continued the process until her death in 1845, Her oldest son, Aaron Smith, continued to press the court for the pension to be awarded to the children. Finally in 1853, the government awarded a small pension to the family. (You can read about the Smith family’s pursuit on my blog It’s a Family Affair https://a.famfair.blogspot.com/2023/06/henry-smith-rev-war-patriot.html ).

There are several reasons for delays in soldiers pension payments, the most obvious one being that the federal government lacked funds to pay veterans. At the end of the war some were given promissory notes for future payment. Unfortunately, many traded their promissory notes for food or clothing until they could return home.  Although states gave many soldiers land, the bulk of the grants went to officers.

Promissory Note

Land Grant

A fire in the War Department on November 8, 1800, apparently destroyed all Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrant applications and related papers submitted before that date, though pensions filed after 1800 are housed in the National Archives.

It wasn’t until 1818 that Congress passed the first pension legislation, however there were requirements to be met in order to receive the pension. The soldier had to have served for at least nine months in the Continental Army or Navy and be in reduced circumstances. Soldiers who had served in state militias were not eligible to receive pensions. Although the  war had been over for 35 years and many men had died, about 20,000 applied for the pension. Pride kept some former soldiers from applying for a pension because they had to state they were in need. It was humiliating to admit that they were in poor financial   condition. For those who applied there were many obstacles in their way. For example, many had moved and couldn’t contact people who could vouch for them. It was a frustrating experience for many, including my ancestor Henry Smith.

 In 1832 Congress passed a pension act providing a yearly sum to men who had served six months or more. They did not have to state their financial circumstance, but they did have to prove that they had served by providing their discharge papers, marriage certificate, testimonies from respected people in their communities, former soldiers they had served with or Bible records.

For those searching for our family’s history, Revolutionary pension records can provide a gold mine of information. You can find Revolutionary War pension records by using ancestry,com, family search.org or the National Archives. Revolutionary War Apps has a list of pension applicants: https://revwarapps.org/pension.

References:

https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2015/summer/rev-war-pension

s.html

The Revolutionary War by Bart McDowell, National Geographic Society,

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff, Robert Fass, et al.