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A Guide for Claimants for Deceased Soliders

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  • A Guide for Claimants for Deceased Soliders

    Gentleman:
    I ran across this article while doing some research on another topic and thought it might be of interest. The ‘Guide for Claimants of Deceased Soldiers” provides information to families on how to receive back pay for their deceased relatives. It also serves as a guide for officers to help them determine how much a soldier may have been due. Within the guide are copies of the acts of the Confederate Congress repealing the commutation system. The date of the soldier’s death would help determine if he were due any back pay from the commutation system. Also included is a list of uniform prices as of 1864. What is striking is the amount of bureaucracy that families had to go through to get a claim processed.

    An Act to repeal the law authorizing Commutation for Soldiers' Clothing and to require Clothing to be furnished by the Secretary of War in kind.

    The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That so much of the existing law as provides commutation for clothing to the soldiers in the service of the Confederacy, be, and the same is hereby repealed; and hereafter, the Secretary of War shall provide in kind to the soldiers respectively, the uniform clothing prescribed by the Regulations of the Army of the Confederate States. And should any balance of clothing be due to the soldier at the end of the year, the money value of such balance shall be paid to such soldier, according to the value of such clothing, fixed and announced by order of the War Department. [Approved October 8, 1862.]

    II. In accordance with the above Act of Congress, no payment of commutation for clothing will be made for a period extending beyond October 8th, 1862. When payment of said allowance has been made prior to the promulgation of this Order, for a term which will not expire until after the date of this Act, issues of clothing in kind will be made, to commence at the end of such period. Where it has not been so paid, clothing will be furnished from the 8th October, 1862.

    III. A soldier is allowed the uniform clothing stated in the following table, or articles thereof of equal value. When a balance is due him at the end of the year, he will be allowed the money value thereof, as herein set forth; to be paid him upon the muster and pay roll of his company. When he shall have drawn clothing in excess of the amount allowed, it will be charged against him upon the muster and pay roll of his company. If discharged before the expiration of the year, and he shall not have been furnished with clothing in kind, or paid commutation thereof, for the period of service rendered since the 8th October, 1862, he will be entitled to receive the money value of the clothing allowed, in proportion to such period of service.Statement of the cost of Clothing for the Army of the Confederate States, for the year commencing January 1st, 1864
    • Cap complete, . . . . . $2.00
    • Cover, . . . . . 38
    • Jacket, . . . . . 14.00
    • Trowsers, . . . . . 12.00
    • Shirt, . . . . . 3.00
    • Drawers, . . . . . 3.00
    • Shoes, pairs, . . . . . 10.00
    • Socks, pairs, . . . . . 1.00
    • Leather stock, . . . . . 25
    • Great coat, . . . . . 25.00
    • Stable frock (for mounted men), . . . . . 2.00
    • Fatigue overall (for eng'rs and ord.), . . . . . 3.00
    • Blanket, . . . . . 10.00

    The guide is very extensive, even providing a travel expense for transporting the soldier’s body from one locale to the other. This information is from the ‘Documenting the American South’ website of the University of North Carolina This is an excellent research site and contains many facsimiles of documents from the era. http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/fowler/fowler.html (This work is the property of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text.)

    Regards,
    Bruce Blackmon

  • #2
    Re: A Guide for Claimants for Deceased Soliders

    Originally posted by Hagooder02 View Post
    • Stable frock (for mounted men), . . . . . 2.00
    • Fatigue overall (for eng'rs and ord.), . . . . . 3.00
    Bruce,

    Although not CS issue, mention of the federal version of a stable frock can be found on pages 32-33, 65 (photos), 272, n160, 274, and n258 of Army Blue: The Uniform of Uncle Sam's Regulars, 1848-1873 by John Langellier. Overalls, again the US version, can be found on pages 35, 274, and n258. Some of this information is postwar, but it reflects the changes of the era, such as an order for 5,000 stable frocks in 1867, or the photos of the 1872 era items on page 323.

    In light of that, do any known CS stable frocks or fatigue overalls exist in museums or private collections? Nice to see these items mentioned in the document you posted.
    [B]Charles Heath[/B]
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    • #3
      Re: A Guide for Claimants for Deceased Soliders

      Charles,
      I caught that tidbit as well. Apparently they were common enough that someone in the war department considered them to be an 'issued' item. Overall's are mentioned in several slave narratives I've found of the1840's & 50's. I did find an account of a 'pioneer' in a South Carolina regiment in Charleston who indicates he was issued a 'mechanic's outfit' but didn't elaborate on what it looked like.

      This Guide computes how much money each ration cost and how much a family could be reimbursed for unused rations. This begs the question, did Confederates receive a food stipend at some point in addition to the commutation stipend? Inquiring minds wanna know!

      Bruce Blackmon

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      • #4
        Re: A Guide for Claimants for Deceased Soliders

        It is funny how we all seem to focus on the same couple of items. Is there a similar Federal list out there? I wonder if there was an earlier list, based on the US standards. Could this (posted) list have been compiled by a fellow in Richmond who didn't know much about common issue items and just "borrowed" from the old list? Sometimes these document bring in more questions than answers, no matter which way we go on these items.
        Thanks for posting this; it sends light on commutation and a lot of issue items we aren't talking about, but do use a lot.
        Lindsey
        Pat Brown

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