Revolutionary War, 1775 to 1783: Difference between revisions

The first pension law in 1776 granted half‑pay for life to soldiers disabled in the service and unable to earn a living. The first pension law based on service was passed in 1818, but it was later amended to make eligible only those soldiers unable to earn a living. The pension act of 1832 allowed pensions again based on service and made widows of veterans also eligible to receive pension benefits. Fires in 1800 destroyed the earliest Revolutionary War pension application records. As a result, pension application papers on file at the National Archives begin after 1800. Certain pension records predating 1800 survive in the form of Congressional reports and other legislation. Reports available are arranged by state; they give name, rank, regiment, description of wounds, and disability; they also give information regarding pension, place of residence, and physical fitness. (FHL film 0944495.)

''Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800–1900''. National Archives Microfilm Publication M804. (On 2,670 FHL films beginning with 0970001.) The files are alphabetically arranged.

''Index to Revolutionary War Pension Applications in the National Archives''. Special Publication Number 40. Revised. and enl. Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 1976. (FHL book 973 M22ng.) This index contains the name of the veteran and or the widow with the state and pension or bounty land warrant number.

White, Virgil D. ''Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files''. Four Volumes.  Waynesboro, Tennessee: National Historical Publishing, 1990–92. (FHL book 973 M28g.) Some entries in this work have cross-references to the Virginia half-pay claims, state pensions, and state bounty lands. Volume four indexes the abstracts. This includes an every-name index for 350,000 names.

''Ledgers of Payments, 1818–1872, to U.S. Pensioners Under Acts of 1818 through 1858, from Records of the Third Auditor of the Treasury''. National Archives Microfilm Publication T718. (FHL films 1319381–403.) These pension payment volumes record payments to Revolutionary War veterans and others. The records are arranged by pension act, then by pension agency, and then alphabetically by the first letter of the veterans’ surnames. Entries list name, pension agency, record of payments made, death date, and the date of the final payment made to heirs. To find specific microfilm numbers, look in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

''U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants Used in the U.S. Military District of Ohio and Related Papers (Acts of 1788, 1803, 1806).'' National Archives Microfilm Publication M829. (FHL films 1025141–56.)