Sunday, October 23, 2011

Veterans Pay / Civil War

News item, June 18th, 1864 in the Easton Maryland GAZETTE, as the war and the Union was in much disarray, title TO SOLDIERS FAMILIES.
"The widow, child, father, mother, brother or sister, &c., of any officer, soldier or seaman who dies in the service of the United States is entitled to bounty, pensions or back pay, &c. For full information and all such claims for prompt collection contact, William B. Hill, Government Claim Officer, 70 West Fayette Street, Baltimore, Maryland. All letters must contain stamps to ensure reply". Pay for enlisted men was $11 per month. A bounty was an inducement to volunteer enlistment, a bribe so to speak, paid by the well to do, who wanted to avoid service.
For the full story visit "Cincinnati Civil War Round Table/ Soldiers Pay" by William C. Moffat, Jr., by Google search.