Confederate Pension Records

United States U.S. Military U.S. Civil War Confederate Pension Records

State Resources for Pension Records

Confederate pensions are not at the National Archives. Many of the previous Confederate states passed laws approving pensions for Confederate soldiers at the state level. The National Archives has a list by state of where the original Confederate pension records are located with descriptions of state pension laws and addresses and telephone numbers of state archives that hold these records.

Note: Confederate soldiers requested a pension from the state where they lived at the time of application and not necessarily the state they enlisted and served under.

The following states Civil War pages have more information on Confederate pensions from their states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Also see: Confederate Soldiers Home Records

Pension Records by State

Alabama

Confederate pension applications, ca. 1880-1930's (FHL 1502476) (Worldcat)

Arkansas

Confederate pension records, 1905-1934, Cleveland County, Arkansas (Worldcat)
Confederate pension records, 1905-1937, Garland County, Arkansas (Worldcat)
Confederate pension records, 1869-1929, Hot Spring County, Arkansas (Worldcat)
Pension records, 1901-1939, Independence County, Arkansas (Worldcat)
Ministers' credentials, 1878-1931, Logan County, Arkansas; Confederate pension records, 1931-1939 (Worldcat)
Soldiers' and sailors' discharges, 1919-1947, Marion County, Arkansas; Confederate pension records, 1901-1933 (Worldcat)
Naturalization records, 1921-1934, Washington County, Arkansas; Confederate pension records, 1901-1915 (Worldcat)

Online

Arkansas Confederate pension records, ca. 1901-1929 (FHL 1722443–563)

The following are indexes to Arkansas Confederate pension records, ca. 1901-1929:

Arkansas Confederate Veterans and Widows Pension Applications (FHL 976.7 M28f) (Worldcat)
Entries include the following information for the veteran or widow or both: name, application number, military unit of service, application date, county, and death date.
Allen, Desmond W. Confederate Pension Applications... , Two Volumes. Conway, Arkansas: Arkansas Research, 1991. (FHL book 976.7 M22adl; film 1697962 item 2.) Contains the name of the veteran or widow or both, company, regiment, year of application, and death date.

Florida

Florida (FHL films 0006717‑6885). These records are indexed in:
White, Virgil D. Register of Florida CSA Pension Applications. Waynesboro, Tennessee: National Historical Publishing, 1989. (FHL book 975.9 M2w.) Entries are listed alphabetically and include unit of service; widow’s name including maiden name; county of residence, and number of pages in file.

Georgia

Georgia (FHL 634 films). Index. (FHL films 1493047–85.) These records are indexed in:
White, Virgil D. Index to Georgia Civil War Confederate Pension Files. Waynesboro, Tennessee: National Historical Publishing, 1996. (FHL 975.8 M22w.) Arranged alphabetically and contain name of veteran, military unit, widow’s name or witnesses, and county of residence. Covers pensions paid to veterans and widows from 1879 to 1960.

Kentucky

Kentucky (FHL films 1670795–844). These records are indexed in:
Simpson, Alicia Simpson, compiler. Index of Confederate Pension Applications, Commonwealth of Kentucky. Frankfurt, Kentucky: Division of Archives and Records, 1981. (FHL book 976.9 M2k.) Arranged alphabetically by the name of applicant, veteran, or widow, county of residence, date application was received, and application number.

Louisiana

Louisiana Confederate Pensions,1898-1950 (FamilySearch)
Louisiana. Application Record for Pensions, 1898–1944 (FHL films 1412743–44)
Record of Pensioners of the State of Louisiana, 1898–1940. (FHL films 1412742–43)
Louisiana Confederate Veterans Pensions, 1912–1936. (FHL film 1704156 item 17)

Mississippi

Mississippi (FHL 94 films)

Missouri

Missouri (FamilySearch) (FHL films 1021101–27). These records are indexed in:
Fox, Peggy Barnes, compiler. and editor. Missouri Confederate Pensions and Confederate Home Applications Index. Hillsboro, Texas: Hill College Press, 1996. (FHL book 977.8 M2fp.) Arranged alphabetically and includes the name of the veteran and the county of residence.

North Carolina

North Carolina. (FHL 105 films)

Oklahoma

Oklahoma (FHL films 1001529–48). These records are indexed in:
Index to Applications for Pensions from the State of Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Oklahoma Genealogical Society, 1969. (FHL book 976.6 M24o; fiche 6046932.) Alphabetical by name with application and reel number.

South Carolina

The Family History Library has pension-related material for veterans residing in the following counties: Abbeville, Anderson, Charleston, Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union, Williamsburg, and York. For film numbers see the Family History Library catalog.

Tennessee

Tennessee (FHL 181 films). These records are indexed in:
Index to Tennessee Confederate Pension Applications (not published), 1964. (FHL book 976.8 M24t; film 0873919; fiche 6051232.) Arranged in three parts: veteran, widow, and colored applications. The entries contain the name of applicant, county of residence, unit served, and application number.

Texas

Virginia

Related Records

Some veterans received artificial limbs. The following publication provides information on available records.

Artificial Limbs for Confederate Soldiers by Patrick McCawley (FHL 975.7 A1 no. 109) (Worldcat) contains an index to artificial limbs vouchers and applications. The entries include name, county, year, folder number, and item number.

Additional Resources

Additional Confederate records are available at state archives and historical societies.

The following archive may also be helpful in researching Confederate soldiers:

Confederate Research Center
P.O. Box 619
Hillsboro, TX 76645
Telephone: 817-582-2555, ext. 242

FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

An online collection containing this record is located in FamilySearch.org

A wiki article describing this collection is found at