Marines in the WBTS

[GrumpyDave]

I have come upon a "muster out" sheet for 6 Marines and was wondering if someone could help with some questions I have about some of the listings on the sheet. Here goes:

The document is 11 & 1/2 x 32"
The document reads:

(U.S.N.)
TRANSFER, Pay, Receipt, and Muster Roll of: (switches to handwritten cursive) Six Marines From U.S.S. Steam Sloop "Paunee" to Barracks for discharge. 1st May 1865
U.S. Steamer Pawnee
Charleston Harbor, S.C.
1 May 1865

It lists each man, what his monthly pay was, your typical deductions for clothing stores and money, dates of enlistment, and expiration of their terms to name only some of the items included. There's one column I'm not sure about that I have listed below. Anybody know what it may be?

Here's a list of their rank, monthly pay and the amount of final pay they rec'd. The term of pay is listed as 25 March 1865 to May 1 1865, one month and 7 days:

Sergt.-$20/mo.-$52.44- he drew a bunch of clothing and stuff from the ships stores and shows $50 money being drawn.
Ord. Sergt.-$24/mo.-$107.14
Pvt.-$10/mo.-$264.56!!!(Exclamation mine)
Pvt.-$11/mo.-$211.04
Cpl.-$18/mo.-$104.09-shows $40 money being drawn.
Pvt.-$11/mo.-$142.90-He has $10- Maj.Carl(sp) & $2.29 S.S.(Ships Stores?) under a column marked: "Amount Given by Recruiting Officer"

Now there's a column with what seems to me a large amount of money listed. It comes on the sheet before the final pay listed above, before their deductions. I wish I had a scanner. It's heading reads:
"Amount Due From Other Vessels," then below that hand written is: A.A. Payne & Robt. W. Allen
Amounts for each Marine are listed in order:
$87.73
$139.00
$297.86
$270.52
$150.30
$203.47

Would this be these Marine's share of goods value in dollars captured aboard blockade runners? That would explain the large amounts of pay.

Why would Privates be paid different monthly rates, 10 & 11 dollars per month?

Also, none of these men could write. Their names are written in the signature column in the same hand. Followed by each of them marking the muster sheet with an "x," which is followed by the signature of a witness.

Thanks for the help. Any information or insight is apreciated.

[markj]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

Greetings,

It's hard to tell from your description but the men in question could, indeed, have received prize money from the sale of cargo taken from vessels their ship had captured. The 10 October 1863 "United States Army and Navy Journal," for example, carried a very lengthy "list of prizes ready for settlement" and the subject of "prize money" was discussed with some regularity in its pages.

Regards,

Mark D. Jaeger

[marine05]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

I'll have to double check on the differing rates of pay, but for a while Marines were paid a bounty for enlistment and some were given a higher rate of pay due to enlistment incentives. I have some Marine Corps references at home and I'll verify that.

All hands aboard a naval vessel were entitled to prize money, the rate varied by rank but crewmen generally shared in 1/8 of the share. The amount of prize money varied depending on the value of the vessel and her cargo. At times the Admiralty Courts were rather slow, but prize money could be advanced.

s/f

DJM

[10TnVI]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

Perhaps a perusal of David Sullivan's recently released four volumn set "The United States Marine Corp in the Civi War'" is in order? The level of information detail in these is staggering.

[markj]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

Greetings,

Since we're talking once again about Marines, here's a journal article (in Adobe pdf) I pulled off of "JSTOR" about the CSMC that Ralph Donnelly wrote "many moons ago."

Enjoy,

Mark Jaeger

[markj]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

I also found this master's thesis written about decade ago:

Pacious, Daniel M. Seawolves of the Confederacy: The Origin, Development and Operations of the Confederate States Marine Corps. 1993, M. A. Southwest Texas State University.

Interested individuals should be able to obtain it through interlibrary loan.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[MuleyGil]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

As an aside, at one time, Marines that served ashore and under Army command and Marines that served aboard ship were paid different.There was no such thing as an E-1, E-2, etc, standard for the Armed Forces.

[Sven Peters]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

Hi Mark Jaeger!
The attachment was deleted, do you still have this article?

Thanks
Sven Peters

Greetings,

Since we're talking once again about Marines, here's a journal article (in Adobe pdf) I pulled off of "JSTOR" about the CSMC that Ralph Donnelly wrote "many moons ago."

Enjoy,

Mark Jaeger

[Silas]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

FYI : Mark isn't likely to see your post for a while. He hasn't viewed the forum in three months and hasn't posted since 2014. Although a regular poster in the early days of the forum, he has only posted a handful of times this decade.

[Eric Tipton]

Re: Navy and Marine Corps Discussion

Got in contact with Mark. He will try to get some info posted. Like Silas said, it has been a while since he logged in, but hopefully, I got him squared away.

[markj]

Re: Marines in the WBTS

Hello,

Please contact me at markj@purdue.edu and I'll send you several CSMC articles that should interest you.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger