Most soldiers or their widows or minor children applied for a pension. In some cases,
a dependent father or mother applied. The pension files are indexed by the National Archives microfilm publication
T288, General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 (544 rolls) which is also available online at Ancestry.com (for
a fee).
The pension file will often contain more information about what the soldier did during the war than the Compiled
Military Service Records, and it may contain much medical information if he lived for a number of years afterwards.
For example, in his pension file, Seth Combs of Company C, 2d Ohio Cavalry, reported: "...my left eye was
injured while tearing down a building...and in pulling off a board a splinter or piece struck my eye and injured
it badly...it was hurt while in the Shenandoah Valley near Winchester, Va. about Christmas 1864--a comrade who
stood by me name Jim Beach is dead." In another affidavit, Seth said he "also got the Rheumatism while
on duty as a dispatch bearer on detached duty."
To obtain a widow's pension, the widow had to provide proof of marriage, such as a copy of the record kept by county
officials, or by affidavit from the minister or some other person. Applications on behalf of the soldier's minor
children had to supply both proof of the soldier's marriage and proof of the children's birth.
For more information on obtaining military pension records, visit the United States National Archives.
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